its ok to dream.

what are they made of? are they made of helping people. baking a yummy cake. owning your own landscaping company. starting a garden in your backyard. traveling the world. adopting a child.

for all my sweet babies at CAD they have no idea what it truly means to dream. they have no idea of even the possibility of what dreams are made of. they don't even know that its ok to dream. when you are surrounded by such a mess everywhere your dreams are on the back burner. when you have no idea if you will get 1 meal a day or 2 meals & if you are lucky you can get 3. the most basic of needs is what they know to hope for. it crushes me. it drives me to make a way for all of their dreams. its sad. to see these kids & how much potential & how amazing they are & THEY have no idea of what is on the inside of them waiting to be awoken. they don't even know the potential they have because they have never had anyone look at them & say what do you want to be? they don't even know to think that way. when they go to sleep at night in their awful rooms that are filled with nothing of inspiration they have nothing in their dreams other than fear of their future & what will happen to them. they are children. sweet kids that have never had parents to comfort them. to hold them when they cry. to cultivate their imagination. can you imagine? i am so blessed to have a mom that always let me push the creative envelope. i wouldn't be who i am without her.

with all that being said one of the projects we are doing in march is teaching them to dream. teaching them that when they put God first he will give them the desires of their heart. now someone literally asked me, is it ok to teach these kids to reach for something that may not happen? if you want to see me really angry please please please ask me that to my face. i will not mind speaking my thoughts. how could you ever say that. a child's dreams are what shape so much of their character. THEY are the ones that will change their country. THEY are the next generation of kids to be leaders. to own businesses. to help others in need. to be doctors. to BRING TRUE CHANGE. they are worth it. every single tear i cry. every single one. i could never look at them & say your dreams do not matter.  i want them to know when they think of their future & what they will be they have peace. i don't want them to be scared. these are children. i can't even imagine what its like for them BUT i can do something. YOU can do something.

my mother, myself, grace & tia will be going to haiti march 18th & staying on CAD property & doing a lot of projects BUT this one i am really excited about. we will be completely re-doing the boys bedrooms. right now they are depressing. they are sad. you might say what does a bedroom matter? it matters a lot. these kids go to bed at night & their little minds fill up with their worries. will i get food tomorrow? will i get water tomorrow? we want to make it a space when they sleep at night their minds are free to think of possibilities. to dream. to be excited about making a difference in their own country. THEY WILL CHANGE THE WORLD. we want to create a space that holds them responsible for something. they will each get one cabinet for all of their belongings to go into. THEY are in charge of putting all of their stuff into it. we taught lessons everyday this past trip on taking care of what you are given. if you want God to bless you with more you need to take care of what you have been given.

so how can you help? if you would like to donate to help us do all of this you can. you can email me -- evanda.estes@gmail.com & let me know. these kids do not even have a pillow. what we are thinking is buying each kid a twin sheet set along with a pillow. we will paint. i have photos of all the kids i am printing out to hang in their rooms. photos of their smiles. photos of happy things. along with some cool posters. this might seem meaningless to you BUT it means so much. we have to teach these kids that its ok to have happy thoughts. to want a better future. to KNOW their is good for them. KNOW their father wants good things for them. pray about partnering with us. baby steps that will lead to HUGE things. i can't wait to do this project. we will be going back in 50 days. we can do this together.

bondye beni ou. mesi anpil. tanpri lapriye pou nou.

-- e

CAD Garden Part 3.

so excited to let you all know about one of the projects we did this past week in haiti.

you all might remember the garden we started back in the summer, if not you can read about it HERE

WELL this time i took my sweet husband, my dad & my mom with me to haiti. i was more than excited to introduce them to the kids & for them to see my heart & love for this amazing country & these incredible kids.

cory, phil, matthew & a few others worked so hard building the fence around where the trees would be planted. if you were wondering why we have to build fences around all the trees it is to keep all the goats from eating them up. when they get bigger we can take this fence down a re-purpose it in another area to plant more trees. right now we are in need of more water for the kids. food for the poor & water missions international put a water purification system at CAD so they can clean their water BUT it still costs money to bring in the water for them to clean it. the kids currently have limited drinking water, & they bathe with water that is not clean. if you want to partner with me to get these kids CLEAN water in all areas & make it where the DONT have a limit on drinking water PLEASE email me--- evanda.estes@gmail.com

i mean can you imagine being in the sun all day & being told when you are allowed to have water because there is not a lot? it breaks my heart. lets work together & get this done.

so here are some photos of all the work! enjoy :)

this is their new water purification system. the concrete box to the left is where they put the unclean water. the clean water goes to the top & comes down near the window so they can fill up their containers with it. what i want to happen is to pipe this clean water down to the bathrooms & to the kitchen so they have easy access to this. this is a very long walk up the hill where the school is. this is a project that needs to happen ASAP. so many things cannot continue until we get this done. WATER IS SO IMPORTANT. if you are a business & looking for a way to help, if you are a student that feels a tug at your heart, if you have nothing to give PLEASE pray. PRAYER is everything. 

phil showing the guys how to dig holes. 

cory doing work. 

the kids LOVE helping. 

the ladies & kids gathered rocks to put at the bottom to keep the goats away. 

my mom doing her part.

all these little cuties. 

brandi & taina.

jennifer. 

pouchon, guytho & wilderson. 

THIS guy always helps me. he helped do the other gardens & LOVED helping with this one. he came running up to me when i got there & told me he had watered the garden that morning. he was so proud of himself. i am so proud of them. they love learning. 

jerry planting one of the moringa trees. if you do not know much about trees you would happy to know that you can use every single part of this tree. it is literally called the tree of life. 7 times the amount of vitamin c of an orange, 4 times the vitamin A of carrots, 4 times the calcium of milk, 3 times the potassium of bananas, 2 times the protein of yogurt. you can use the bark to make cooking oil & the list goes on. another plus size is moringa grows with almost no care at all! it really is a miracle tree. for kids who do not get a huge nutritional diet this tree will help them get a lot of vitamins. so excited to see them grow. 

we had some left over compost so we cleaned dead stuff out of the vegetable garden & added some there. 

you can see how big the papaya is. its amazing. i remember it being to my knees. 

my little group of farmers. 

CRAZY FACES.

here we are planting a mango tree. 

i get all my plants from double harvest. the place is something else. i love seeing the same faces when i go & giving my business to help another business in haiti. you can ask the others in the group i am a little excited when i take people here. i see future jobs. i see good food for my babies. i see hope. i see dreams being filled. all good things. 

all together we planted 4 mango trees, 2 avocado trees, 2 moringa trees & 2 big shade trees. 

AND guess what? 

i go back march 18th with 3 other girls & we will be taking 2 groups to double harvest for farming classes. 

i literally cry thinking about it. 

why? because these kids need skills. they need to know what kind of jobs they can have. what kind of dreams to dream. they need their minds stimulated with possibility. they could partner with each other & one day start something amazing. they WILL do great things. i am super excited about this project. if you would like to sponsor a kid for a lesson please email me-- evanda.estes@gmail.com

also in case you didn't know--- m'ap aprann kreyol!

--e