Flooding in Gressier/Leogane

If you have liked our ATN Facebook Page, then you have noticed some pictures and videos of some severe flooding in and around the orphanage in Haiti. Basically, it just rained constantly for days and Leogane (the nearest big city to us) and Gressier (the city where ATN is located) were completely flooded.

So far there have been 42 reported deaths, 85 reported injuries, and thousands of people displaced and looking for somewhere new to live, but the actual numbers are almost definitely higher than what will ever be reported. ATN was in the middle of the flooding, but our kids and most of our employees are ok. 

We had 2 house moms that have reported pretty severe damage to their homes from the flooding, but all family members are safe and accounted for. One of our employees knows someone who lost their life in the floods and many know people who are displaced or injured.

At the same time, this event made it even clearer that it is time to move our kids to a new home. I am going to share more about this next week, and hopefully after we have already started moving, but we really made the decision before the flooding occurred.

The orphanage was having a lot of issues with toilets and bathrooms, and we were waiting for the landlord to fix those issues, but he did not. He instead built a couple of bathrooms outside in the very back of the kids' yard and that is not what we want and it was not what we were looking for. To make a long story short (and I will write a followup blog next week with a lot more information about it) we were planning on moving prior to the flooding, but the flooding actually postponed our move.

During the rain, however, the stream next to the orphanage rose a lot, and the house had water inside everywhere. It was leaking on both floors and in almost every room. There does not seem to be a lot of physical damage and most of the kids' belongings are ok, but it was not a good situation.

The new house we are hoping to move into is right down the road, and I promise to share more once details fall into place.

In the meantime, please be in prayer for Haiti. This flooding was absolutely devastating to many in Gressier and Leogane, and devastating to people who had already been in the midst of devastation. 

Pray for our employees, especially the house moms who had damage at their homes and to our employees who lost friends and loved ones over the last few days.

Pray for our move. There will be some emotional ties to the old home and it will cost some money to get to the new place, but it really seems like the right move for us.