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Haiti Solar Oven Partners Update
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Empowering People Through Self-Help
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May 2013
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In the Words of
Our Volunteers...
"Working at the
HSOP workshop is an experience everyone should have.It's our responsibility to help Haitians with their ability to provide for their families, and getting the oven assemblies prepared is something I can do on this end to make a difference."
--Bonnie Smith
April 2013
HSOP Volga Workshop
Volunteer
Haitian Proverb
"Lespwa fe viv."
Hope let's you live.
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A Ministry of Ovens, Trees and Bread
There's hope in a tree sapling, and Haiti Solar Oven Partners (HSOP) is a mission of hope. When the 300 participants of the latest HSOP survey of solar cooks walked away in May with a small fruit tree, smiles were abundant. The tree was one of the gifts current solar cooks received for answering questions about the use of their ovens. They also went home with a French bread loaf pan, baking cloth and a tutorial on planting and care of the trees. Hope in ovens. Hope in trees. Hope in bread. Hope in the HSOP Partners who make it happen. Thank you!
To read the story behind the trees and the French bread loaf pans, check out the April 2013 edition of Patnč Fou Solčy, HSOP's print newsletter.
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New Workshop Hits Prime Time
HSOP's new Moffit, ND, workshop--and our solar ovens--made the news in May. KXNews, a CBS affiliate in Bismarck, sent a reporter out to interview Advisory Board Member Dave Silbernagel and other volunteers manufacturing the new reflectors at the workshop. Nice job Dave and crew! Watch the video!
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Haitian Staff Hopes to Visit Dakotas
Exciting news for all those who partner with HSOP! Plans are underway for Montas and Raymonde Joseph, the husband-wife team for HSOP in Haiti, to itinerate in the Dakotas this coming fall.
Montas, who directs HSOP in Haiti, and Raymonde, who is in charge of cooking demonstrations at our solar oven cooking semi- nars, are expected to be here September 6-23, visiting hosting churches a nd talking about Haiti Solar Oven Partners from the perspective of those who see the mission impacting the lives of Haitians day-in and day-out. Watch for more information as it unfolds! If your church is interested in being a host church, contact Rick Jost.
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Be a Partner
CONTACT US TO VOLUNTEER: MISSION TEAMS TO HAITI (SPRING, SUMMER, FALL); YEAR-ROUND WORKSHOP TEAMS AT VOLGA, SD AND MOFFIT, ND
DONATE: DAKOTAS ADVANCE #637 (CHECKS TO: DAKOTAS CONFERENCE OFFICE, PO BOX 460, MITCHELL, SD 57301--CHECK DESIGNATION: "HAITI SOLAR OVENS"); UMCOR ADVANCE #418812 |
HSOP Workshop Volunteers Doing 'Amazing Kingdom Work'
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Volunteers have been answering the call
at the Volga workshop.
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Due to the continued and growing demand from Haitians eager to receive a solar oven and training, the supplies of ovens in Haiti have been depleted. Work at the Volga, SD, and Moffit, ND, workshops is going on at a feverish pace in order to get a new shipment of ovens off to Haiti as soon as possible.
Understanding the need to press on, and trying to coordinate the logistics of getting materials and supplies delivered in order to meet HSOP's fast-track schedule, Director Rick Jost says he sometimes focuses on the urgent demand and what's left to do in order to get the
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The new workshop in Moffit, ND, has
been turning out the oven's new
reflector successfully with the
help of enthusiastic volunteers.
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shipment complete. "I forget to marvel at the amazing kingdom work into which volunteers are pouring their hearts!" "Working their hearts out for Haiti"
That message was especially poignant after a recent Saturday work day at the Volga shop. "I paused to wonder at the incredible amount of work that eight motivated people could accomplish in seven short hours," says Rick. "From an orderly start at 8 a.m., to a blitzing finish at 4 p.m., their work was piled up and pushed into and beyond the shop's corners, overflowing into the shop's center. These volunteers had worked their hearts out for the people of Haiti!"
We'd love to have you join us
If helping out at either one of our workshops sounds like an excellent way to partner with HSOP--and to work your heart out--we'd love to have you join us. You can gather a group from your church, organization or community, or come on your own. To arrange a day and time, contact Rick Jost for the Volga workshop location at 605-692-3391, rjost@brookings.net. To schedule with the Moffit workshop contact Dave Silbernagel at drsilber@bektel.com, or call 701-387-4500. If you want to be placed on a work call list, where you are notified when volunteers are needed, contact Rick.
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One More Exciting Development...
An 18' x 36' addition to HSOP's Volga workshop is underway, and none too soon! "This addition is very important," says Director Rick Jost. "When we are working up to the final packing stage of the ovens, there is barely room for someone to turn around without bumping into someone or something. Even now we are packed to the gills."
The new addition, he explains, will allow room for storage space for the entire contents of the sea container prior to loading, plus storage for tool shelves and floor-model tools.
Morton building materials were delivered May 3. Concrete will be poured soon, with construction to follow.
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 | | Coins turned to dollars and a raised awareness for the work of HSOP in a creative children's mission moment at Britton UMC. |
A Teachable Moment for HSOP
One of HSOP's solar ovens was used recently in a fun and creative way to raise awareness of--and funds for--Haiti Solar Oven Partners. During the children's sermon at the United Methodist Church in Britton, SD, the young participants used measuring cups (to be later donated to HSOP) to go out into the congregation to collect coins. The children then dropped the coins into the black enamel pots that come with each solar oven--making lots of noise.
"They loved it," says Pam Moeckly, chairperson in charge of missions. Pam says she then led the children in a cheer before they went back to their seats: "Give me an O-O. Give me a V-V. Give me an E-E. Give me an N-N. What does it spell? OVEN!" The children also made the shape of the letters with their bodies as they left. "It really perked up the church service," admits Pam.
What's Your Story?
HSOP would love to hear unique ways your church or organization has spread the HSOP message to others. E-mail your stories, with photos, to Connie Smith, editor, HSOP Update.
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Contact Info
Haiti Solar Oven Partners Program
605-692-3391
Haiti Solar Oven Partners Update
605-363-5097
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