Batteries for SOPU-Orphanage

Over the past four months I spent A LOT of time at SOPU-Orphanage (if you hadn't noticed). Throughout my time there I feel as though I gained 11 new babies: 10 adorable, intelligent, infuriating at times, and resilient girls and one lumbering dog. My mom wanted to do something for these 10 (11 really!) souls that made me smile every single day. When she asked me what we could do I knew the immediate answer: ELECTRICITY.

As I have mentioned before in various posts, electricity in Haiti is...well pretty nonexistent. The general power grid provides electricity for as much as 2 hours a day and as low as 5 minutes. That means that in order for houses to have electricity at night they must either have solar panels, batteries to store what little electricity is given by the grid, or a generator. The orphanage has none of the above. While it might not sound too bad to be lacking electricity for a few days, think about what a life without electricity is. No refrigerator. No lights. No music. No TV. No fans (that one will really get you in Haiti). Basically when the world goes dark at 7, you go to bed. The girls miss it the most on the weekends, when other than church and chores, the biggest thing they look forward to is watching cartoons. Whenever the electricity will turn on (for 15-30 minutes usually) everyone will cheer and crouch beneath the TV.

SO the next project Rea told me she really wants to support is for the orphanage: to get them batteries and an inverter to charge during the day while everyone is at school, so that they can have electricity at night. We are so excited that with generous contributions from Allison Tilley and our Haiti Solidarity donors - we are able to fully fund this project this coming summer. Something we take for granted every day plays a much larger role in our lives than we know, and we are so glad to have the opportunity to help provide electricity to these amazing girls.