Bunco for Louvenet

Just go home from a wonderful evening of dice rolling, food and friendship.  30 people gathered this evening at Ginny's house to raise money for Louvenet's journey and play a little Bunco.  Jaclyn and Autumn put together a great time.  They had many door prizes......one of which I won!! A beautiful red platter.  We all brought an appetizer, so the food was great too!  Nothing like little quiches, sausage rolls and meatballs, washed down with a glass of wine, sangria or a margarita!!!
Martha was our big winner...17 wins, while we had to have a roll off for our biggest looser!  All in all, we raised $500 dollars tonight!  And had a lot of fun doing it!
Jaclyn is planning another trip down to Haiti, leaving November 29th.  She is combining a mission trip, to help with the cholera outbreak and go with Louvenet and his parents to the Embassy Visa interview on Dec 6th.  Please keep her in your prayers while she is away!! 
It is amazing how quickly everything is coming together.  Hopefully, Louvenet will be here within 3 months!!

Trip to Haiti a Success!!

It has been awhile, but Jaclyn is back from her trip to Haiti.  She was able to get Louvenet's application in for his Visa.  It had to be done online, so she brought her computer.  It was challenging getting Louvenet's picture on the application to fit all the qualifications the government set up.  I saw it.....looked like your average mug shot....guess smiling for small pictures is not common place in Haiti.  Luckily there was a computer savy guy that helped them out.  It is amazing how difficult it is to transfer a tiny picture onto an application!  Now a date just needs to be selected for the oral interview at the consulate.
Jaclyn had other adventures on this trip to Haiti.  It was raining for a lot of the time she was there.  Not the little sprinkling, drizzling rain that we get here.....but torrential down pouring that caused 3-4 inches to be running down the roads and hills.  She was riding into Port a Pax, when the moto (motorcycle to you and me) she was riding with 2 other people on it, got into a minor wreck.  Now a minor wreck here would not mean much....but the bike fell over and landed on Jaclyn's calf....with the muffler.  She then walked in the run off with a large, deep burn.  When she finally got home, can we all say....".infection"?  She went to the walk in clinic and had to get a antibiotic shot in her hip and have the burn debreded.  It is looking much better now...but there's going to be evidence of this trip for a long while!

Jaclyn in Haiti

     The on going story of Louvenet......Jaclyn's in Haiti!!!   Autumn and she signed all the papers at Grace Academy and paid the tuition for next year schooling.  They received the Sevis (sp?) forms from Home Land Security to take to Haiti to be able to apply for the Visa. She flew down on Saturday 9/18 to Miami and into Haiti on Sunday.
     From the little tidbits I can gather from short phone conversations and  phone texts plus her FB posting, she arrived safe and was able to get from Port au Prince to Port De Paix without problems.  She will be starting the Visa application process soon.  I did hear about a little motorcycle accident.......nothing broken, that I am aware of, but did have a exhaust burn to her calf..Praying she is OK!

     Here is her FB posting:
          In Haiti. Made it just fine. Slow going getting stuff done here. No big surprise though! Lou is well. I am ok. hoping to get application done tomorrow. hot! miss my family alot. see you guys in a few more days.

She will be coming back on Monday 9/27...Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers for safe travel!

Louvenet's Has Been Accepted at Grace Academy!!!

     After many months of waiting and praying.....waiting for Leah to come back from Haiti with the testing completed by Louvenet for Grace Academy, waiting for the admission coordinator from Grace Academy to look over test and waiting for them to make a decision.....Louvenet has BEEN ACCEPTED as a student at Grace Academy!!!!!
     It is such a wonderful thing, but no time to sit and rest!  Jaclyn is off to Haiti with the paperwork- showing acceptance into the school with tuition paid (although we are still a little short on the funds).  While there, she will need to pay the fees to apply for his Visa application and apply for his F-1 education Visa online.  Now, you may ask, how and why would he need to apply online for the visa when most people in Haiti don't have Internet access (or even computers)?  Good question....but who can truly understand our government's reasons!!   Please keep Jaclyn and this trip in your thoughts and prayers that it may go smoothly and all applications are able to be completed in a timely manner.  If all goes well, within three months, Louvenet will have his Visa granted!!!!

Louvenet with his sisters in their "school clothes"

The Fundraising Begins

     The passport in hand, Jaclyn and Autumn sat down to figure out how to raise the needed funds to get Louvenet to the United States and pay for his first year of private schooling.....oh....and to find a school that would enroll him!! 
     First, they thought he could enroll into the community college here in Everett.  After looking into that option, they realized that Louvenet would benefit from a smaller, more personal school.   They began to research private high schools.  They found Grace Academy, which fortunately, was just down the street from their homes.  Making an appointment, they talked with the principle and realized that this could be Louvenet's school.  The school needed Louvenet to take some tests to see what class he would start in.  Jaclyn and Autumn had a friend, Leah, they met on their first visit to Haiti, who was taking another trip in Aug.  She's a school teacher..and she agreed to give Louvenet the tests.  With this hurtle cleared....on to the fund raising.
     The first fund raiser was at their work place.  They had a bake sale.....very delicious...and they raised $600.  Many of their co-workers baked their most scrumcious goodies to sell!   Autumn made a beautiful fund raising thermometer and colored in the six hundred dollars...it did not make much of a dent in the needed  $15,900 for tuition, applications fees and flights to and from Haiti.
    The second fund raiser this summer was a car wash.  Thank goodness it was a warm day...not that we have had many this summer.  Jaclyn was in New Orleans for work, but Autumn gathered her family around her and washed her heart out!!  They raised $430 that sunny Sunday!

Autumn washing the vehicle spotless!

     The funnest fund raiser this summer had to be the Wine Tasting at the Marysville Wine Styles. (Fun for all participants that is!!)  They had a huge turn out....more than they thought would come!  Even King 5 Television was there, with their cameras rolling!  Jaclyn was very poised when speaking in front of the camera....we made the 6 o'clock news. Found out Jaclyn's favorite adjective is "jubilant".  That afternoon, over $900 was raised!!! 

Jaclyn, Tricia (blog author), Rebecca and Dean toasting to a great fund raiser!!

    The most time consuming fund raiser was definitely the garage sale.  Jaclyn and Autumn put the word out that they were looking for donations for a garage sale.....and boy, did they get some donations.  Autumn's husband had to move his truck out of the garage (which he was not too pleased about!!) just to store all the items.  More and more kept pouring in.  A MD that the women worked with opened his storage unit and gave enough ski equipment to outfit the US Olympic ski team!  Multiple people volunteered their time to help price and sort all the items.  The weekend before the garage sale, they thought they had gone through most of the donations........but more came in.  The weekend of the garage sale came...and of course, because it is the summer of the NorthWest....it rained!!  But still, they raised over $2100!!

    The next fundraiser is going to be a Lunch-a-thon at work.....multiple crock pots with delicious soups and some yummy rolls to fill our stomachs!

    This summer has been very busy with all kinds of activities.  Still have a way to go to cover all expenses, but tuition is almost covered.....anyone know philanthropist who wants a new cause?

The First year

    After Jaclyn and Autumn returned home, they had so many stories and experiences to share with us.  The ones that came up the most were about Louvenet.  Both women were dedicated to their promise to help bring Louvenet to the United States for school.  From Feb 2009 to Dec 2009, there were many phone calls and text messages between the three of them. 
    The mountains of paper work needed to apply for a passport for Louvenet was overwhelming.  At one point, Jaclyn and Autumn consulted with a lawyer just to get a handle on what was needed to bring Louvenet into the US.  Finally, the paperwork was complete, money sent to Haiti for payments of passport, and the missionary couple took Louvenet and his parents into Port-au-Prince to apply for it.
    Jaclyn and Autumn were planning another mission trip to Northern Haiti on January 20th, 2010.  Before they could go, Haiti experienced a 7.0 magnitude earthquake centered around Port-au-Prince on January 12th.  The city was in ruin.  There were no airlines flying into the country, no communication out of the country.  They didn't know if Louvenet and his family were OK.  Several days later, they were contacted by Louvenet.  His family was fine.  Even his brother who lived in Port-au-Prince was not hurt.  The best news was he had received his passport in the days just before the earthquake!  What a miracle that was.  Because now, the embassy was in rubble.
     Jaclyn was determined to get to Haiti to help.  She got into contact with Smile Train, a non profit medical organization, and flew into Port-au-Prince two times to work at a small hospital with the survivors of the earthquake.  She was not able to see Louvenet during this time.  Travel between north and south Haiti is very treacherous.  She stayed in Port-au-Prince for both weeks.  Once back in the USA, Jaclyn and Autumn began their planning to raise money to provide tuition, flights and living expenses for Louvenet......(to be continued ....)

Autumn, Jaclyn and Louvenet tiling the hospital

How Louvenet's adventure Begins.

January 2009, Jaclyn Owings and Autumn Kostelecky traveled to Haiti on a medical mission trip.  This was Jaclyn's 2nd mission trip and Autumn's first.  They were excited about all the experiences they would have together.  What they didn't expect was to meet an exceptional young boy, who's dream would change their lives.  Louvenet Fertilus is a 16 yrs old boy, who has a great dream.  He wants to become a doctor and return to his country and care for his people.  He has taught himself English, using an English/creole dictionary.  He continues to excel in school, when most boys his age are working and have quit going to school.  Autumn and Jaclyn were approached by a missionary couple, who asked if they could help Louvenet come to the United States to go to school......and so their adventure begins.