A look back at 2025

January : Celebrating Independence Day and EEGC 5th anniversary

In January 2025, we shared a joyful and meaningful moment with the children in our community by enjoying a special meal of pumpkin soup, a powerful symbol of Haiti’s independence as the first free Black nation in the world. We also celebrated the 5th anniversary of EEGC.

Celebrating Independence Day

EEGC 5th anniversary

February: Python program & pressure washer at CERMICOL

Despite the uncertainty, we were blessed to launch the Python program at CCS and also to bring encouragement to CERMICOL through the donation of a pressure washer, helping make daily life in the prison a little cleaner.

Python Program

Pressure washer at CERMICOL

March: New perspective

Seeking a fresh perspective and a sense of revival, we brought Scheska on as a consultant this year. She provided the “new eyes” we needed to see our blind spots. Her impact was so transformative that we couldn't let her go; she has since transitioned into a permanent role on our leadership team.

April: Jesus film for CCS & Easter Celebration.

We rejoiced in the opportunity to share The Jesus Film with the CCS children in their own language and also enjoyed a wonderful Easter celebration at Haiti Awake, where every child received a warm Haitian meal and a care package.

May: Rome-Carmel’s graduation and Fritz moved into his new home provided by HA

What a blessing and significant accomplishment it has been: Rose-Carmel, one of our staff members and the CCS coordinator for Haiti Awake in Haiti, graduated from seminary with full support from Haiti Awake. In addition, this same month, Fritz Augustin, a young man we met through CERMICOL, moved into his new home which was provided by Haiti Awake. Glwa pou Bondye!

Rome-Carmel’s graduation

Fritz moved into his new home provided by HA

June : Interns in Haiti for the first time

Haiti Awake had always utilized interns for summer in the past. However, they were always Americans. This year for the first time we welcomed two Haitian young people as interns in Haiti. When they first came it was a learning period about Haiti Awake vision and mission. Furthermore, they participated in our weekly psychology class. 

Samuel has transitioned from summer intern to having a permanent staff position.

Our interns were a huge help.

July : Start of VBS (Vacation Bible School) and the graduation of some CCS Tabarre kids

VBS this year was such a blast. It was not only a moment of enjoyment and relaxation filled with challenges and prizes, but it was also a moment of learning.  This year, we implemented several learning clubs such as cooking and pastry, crochet, photography, and civic engagement. The kids chose the one they would like to be part of and had fun learning new things they would be able to use in the future. Also, 3 young ladies graduated from CCS Tabarre. We had a good farewell meeting with the other CCS children.

Summer camp participants

August : VBS at Caradeux

This month was a follow up to VBS. We started the learning club with the children at Caradeux.

Python learning at the VBS

September: Back to school

Among all that we accomplished this year, September stood out as one of the most amazing months. We are deeply thankful for the generosity of our sponsors, whose support helped bring bright smiles to the faces of parents and their children as they prepared for the back-to-school season. Glwa pou Bondye!

Back to school

October: Happy 11th anniversary to Haiti Awake and Farewell Phebe

Happy 11th anniversary to Haiti Awake! October was a month filled with mixed emotions both joy and sadness. We celebrated with joy as we marked our anniversary, while also feeling a sense of sadness as Phebe, one of the children who had been in our care at Kay Timoun, graduated. Though it was bittersweet, we are truly happy and proud of her. That is what made October a month of mixed emotions.

Happy 11th anniversary to Haiti Awake

See you soon, Phebe

November: Getting ready for Christmas

We could say that our Christmas began in November, as we started preparing packages for all our children, community members, the youth at CERMICOL, and our staff. We are deeply grateful to our dear sponsors for making this possible. November was also the month when we supported CERMICOL by providing solar panel lights, helping improve safety and living conditions for the youth there.

Getting ready for Christmas

December: Becky’s surgery and Christmas

We thank God for our dear friend, Becky Graves, who successfully underwent a surgery on December 10th. While we experienced moments of concern at Haiti Awake, we found peace and joy in the assurance that God was fully in control. We are also grateful to God for blessing us with a wonderful Christmas celebration at Haiti Awake.

Becky’s surgery

Christmas party

"Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.".

Ephesians 3:20-21

A look back at 2024

As we close out another year, we wanted to take time to reflect month-by-month on the faithfulness of God toward our organization, even as we have walked through what was, without a doubt, the most difficult year Haiti Awake has yet to face.

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In January we celebrated the 4th anniversary of the EEGC. Leading up to that special day, we did not know if it would be possible due to increasing insecurity in the area. But by God's grace, we were able to gather and celebrate.

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In February, we were able to hire a new English teacher for Saturdays, David. We were able to do this because so many friends from The Bridge decided to partner with us in CCS.

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In March, Becky and Hudson worked on new designs for necklaces, bracelets, and earrings for Mission Made Jewelry before she had to leave Haiti, as the airport shut down.

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In April, school was canceled due to insecurity, but because we have Starlink and solar at both locations, we could communicate with sponsors and help the children continue to learn from home.

We still schedule calls like this. For more information, e-mail Hudson at haitiawake@gmail.com

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In May we celebrated our flag day together. We are proud to be Haitian!

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In June, a series of incredibly events came together to make it possible for Steeve to have his US visa renewed - in Jamaica, no less!

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In July, we said goodbye to Migerlson as his time at Kay Timoun came to a close. We were so proud of him and celebrated his departure with a party.

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In August we organized a soccer tournament for the boys at the CERIMCOL prison, and we had summer camp with them.

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In September, we went back to school, and we were able to help CCS parents get uniforms for their children.

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In October, we celebrated Haiti Awake’s 10th birthday. Our theme was Remember to Remember.

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In November, because of the generosity of a faithful friend, we had a special Thanksgiving meal together with the children in our community.

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In December, we celebrated Christmas together with parties for CCS, as well as the staff and children of Kay Timoun.

As we look ahead to 2025, we continue to pray a Scripture that has guided us all of these years:

“Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.
Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.”

— Ephesians 3:20-21

Tout glwa pou Bondye.

Our 2021 Year in Review

Life in Haiti has never been easy, but this year life reached a new level of difficult.

As one friend put it:  “It’s like you’re in the middle of an ocean, and while you’re trying to swim and keep your head out of the water, others count on you to take them out of the water - to rescue them. Some are even pulling you down the water because of their own panic.  It’s just the sad reality that we are facing.”

People from our community were kidnapped.   We faced day after day of no electric power.  Finding what we needed to just function day-by-day became almost impossible at times.  This was our reality.

And yet, by God’s grace, we continued to walk on.   And in walking, we found another reality - what a beautiful year we had at Haiti Awake.

We wish we could tell you everything, but that would be impossible.  So we have chosen to work together to give you one bright spot we experienced each month.


January

In January our friends Michelle Carr and Lauren Risedorf came to visit.

February

In February we started having monthly meals together as part of English class.

March

In March we celebrated Becky’s birthday together and the anniversary of the Graves’ family’s first trip to Haiti in 2012. (We won’t tell you how old Becky is, but let’s just say it was a significant birthday. Oh, wait! Does Hudson’s photo give away the answer?)

April

In April we celebrated Caleb’s 6th birthday, remembering all that God did during that special week in 2015.

May

In May we celebrated Haitian Flag Day by taking the CCS children out to a local restaurant.

June
In June Michelle, Alexandria, and Ethan came to visit.

July

In July we had our first fully Haitian-run summer camp. The children had so much fun every day. Snacks, games, stories, songs, instruction . . . and so much more!

August

In August Steeve went to the US for a visit, and while he was traveling home, an earthquake shook the southern peninsula of Haiti. We had the opportunity to do outreach in Les Cayes, Camp Perrin, Pestel, and Jeremie in the weeks that followed.

September

In September,  we began rebuilding in Camp Perrin.

October

In October our friend Keverly came to visit. It’s not easy for people to come to visit any more, so it meant so much to have her here. She encouraged us so much.

November

In November,  the extreme fuel shortages nearly closed down Port-au-Prince,  but by God's grace,  we pressed on and did what we needed to do day-by-day.

December
December was a month of celebration - celebrating being together, celebrating the birthdays of Handy and Wesly, celebrating the birth of Vorb’s new daughter, celebrating Christmas.

Because He First Loved Us

Back in October, we first told you about our Christmas for our Community - Doko project. This evening, our staff and children who participated returned safely to Port au Prince.

“There will always be a reason why you meet people. Either you need them to change your life or you’re the one who helps to change theirs. And everywhere you go you will learn something different. For me going to Doko helped me see a lot of things in a different way. It was so good to see so much joy in people face and how they welcomed us. They were so thankful.”

— Polo Charles, Director of Economic Development for Haiti Awake

Thank you to all who participated this year, and we look forward to more opportunities to show love in action in the future.

“Thanks to everyone who helped to make this happen. Thanks for speaking life this way to fill people’s hearts with joy.”

— Louis Hudson, Photographer for Haiti Awake

“I was happy to know Doko and people in Doko. I was glad also to spend some of my time there for Christmas this year.”

— Dieussait Dera, House Supervisor for Haiti Awake

“Doko is one of the greatest place in Haiti, and people there are awesome . After receiving their Christmas gifts yesterday for the first time in their community, they were so happy.”

— Steeve Derard, Ground Director

“People were so happy to receive their Christmas gifts. They didn’t expect that, but God who knows everything sent our team on time to share hope, love, joy to people in that community which I am from and where my parents are living. They are very grateful for that and so are we!”

— Makendy Lindor, Staff at Haiti Awake

We love because He first loved us.

I John 4:19

2017 in Review

It's been another year.  We have another opportunity to look back and see God's providence, His faithful hand, His leading...and to see that once again, we never walked alone.

The first four months of the year were marked by change as the children came under our care. We also began to discuss the idea of expanding Haiti Awake outside of Port au Prince, hosted teams in the new upstairs guesthouse, launched our child sponsorship program, and added stateside coordinators - Hannah Telman, Liz Kyle, and Alicia Mercer.

Glwa pou Bondye.

The middle four months were characterized by teams - five of them to be exact . . . in addition to the four we had already hosted in the first four months of 2017.  Fun times.  Busy times.  Times of growth.  Many of this summer's team members became sponsors to our children, and for that we are grateful.  

Relationships. 

Gospel. 

Hope.

The latter part of 2017 brought great joy, as well as some hard times.  The children returned to school for their 3rd year of schooling since Haiti Awake began providing for their tuition, and we rejoiced. Haiti Awake was also able to open the copy center and begin its first chicken project during this same period. We are thankful that God continues to expand our resonsibilities. We also were forced to think about the brevity of life when Wesly and Idelmy were involved in a serious accident.   And we finished out the year with a wonderful Christmas celebration provided by friends and sponsors.

We look forward with great anticipation to where God will providentially lead in 2018.  We anticipate growth through new business opportunities as well as outreach and expansion of responsibility outside of Port au Prince.  But we recognize and affirm the truth found in Proverbs 16:9:

“We can make our plans, but the LORD determines our steps.”

Tout glwa pou Bondye. Toutan.

Celebrating Christmas on a Sunday afternoon in Haiti

Thanks to the generous donations of so many of you, Christmas for our Community was a blessed time on Sunday afternoon, December 17th.  All of the families and individuals we had featured were sponsored, and God multiplied your gifts in such a way that we were able to not only provide the items listed in the original announcement, but each family got two bags of beans and $150 in Haitian money, as well.

Steeve prayed with everyone and shared the truth of I John 3:16 - "This is how we know what love is.  Jesus Christ laid down His life for us."  God loved us so much that He sent His son, Jesus Christ, in the flesh, as a baby, to be our Redeemer.  

Steeve shared that we at Haiti Awake and those of you who support our ministry are motivated by love, true love, love found only in Jesus Christ.  He explained that the gifts were not from the staff but from others - most of whom have never been to Haiti and have never met anyone in our community.

Steeve went on to explain that our community is important to Haiti Awake, and how the gifts being distributed were not benefiting anyone associated with Haiti Awake.  Instead, we are looking outward, to care for people in our community.  We want our community to know that they matter to Jesus; and because they matter to Jesus, they matter to us.

“I have community with others and will continue to have it only through Jesus Christ.  The more genuine and the deeper our community becomes, the more everything else between us will recede, and the more clearly and purely will Jesus Christ and his work become the one and only thing that is alive between us.  ”

— Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Thank you to all who showed love by financially giving to this initiative.  We pray that it will be an annual event that God will continue to grow for His glory.

Glwa pou Bondye.

“Where there is hope, there is a life.”

— Louis Hudson

“For you, O LORD, have made me glad by your work; at the works of your hands I sing for joy.”

— Psalm 92:4