When I (Pam) was in Haiti March 2019, all of Apparent Project was in one building. There was childcare, the preschool through 1st grade, the AP Institute, storage for Market Haiti, and an office for AP’s Haitian Director. And whenever volunteers and staff came to Haiti, we were sleeping on the floors of the classrooms and moving our beds and other items every morning. It was a tight fit but the space worked. However, Marilyn, AP’s director, was looking towards the following year and knew more space would be needed for 2nd grade. She took me to look at a home across the street as a possibility. But she called it “the Band-Aid house” because it would only work temporarily. Then she looked next door and said, “THAT is the house that I REALLY want.” The problems were that it was being lived in, the electricity and plumbing were bad, and it was too expensive.
So, for the school year of 2019-2020, the Apparent Project made the original building work. The second graders had a space carved out of the hallway and the Haitian director moved his office into a bathroom. But there was NO WAY that 3rd grade could be added in the existing space. We considered eliminating the elementary school until we had more income. We looked at other properties to rent or purchase. We talked to the mayor of Delmas. We prayed. And, then we had a “But God…” experience.
The house next door became available…. They fixed the electricity and plumbing… They lowered the rent… WE SAID YES! We could easily fit all of our existing programs into the two buildings and would have some extra space for our housing needs and to grow our school. After getting this house, Marilyn mentioned to me that she had always loved the house on the other side of our new one and thought it would be perfect for our Early Learning Center. It was possibly available for rent but we didn’t need it at the time because we already had enough space. But, maybe in the future…
Then, as we struggled to pay rent for the next year and dealt with the difficult landlord of our original space, the third building was offered for us to rent. After thinking and praying about it, Marilyn decided to let our original building go and rent the two new buildings. We see this as another BUT GOD moment. The rent for BOTH buildings is not much more than we paid for our original building and there is MUCH MORE space.
This year, we have our Early Learning Center in the 3rd building and it is a perfect space for us. We have our elementary school, AP Institute, our Haitian director’s office, and space for us to stay when we visit in house #2. AND, there is a basement that will allow us to have classes through 6th grade as well.
Now, we are looking for another BUT GOD experience. Rent is paid yearly and our rent is due by July 1. It costs $18,000 for both buildings and we are looking for donors who would like to partner with us in paying this expense and making a difference in the lives of our staff, children, and families in Haiti. Might it be you? You can make a donation here: https://apparentproject.kindful.com/
