February 2012

For those of you who are familiar with the other 2 areas of giving at ALF, the "bleed-over" between the 3 segments continues! We took boxes and boxes of leftover t-shirts from our Discovery program to St. Helene and gave every adult a brand new, free t-shirt. Also on our February trip, we took about 70 new and gently used shoes to St. Helene and lined them up inside the school for the community to go shopping! A special thank-you to our friend, Shawn Mack, for getting all those shoes donated.

Meanwhile, back on the island of Roatan, we continue moving forward with what we are calling the "Dignity Housing" project. We have hired people to clear the 12 acres of land, which of course is all being done by hand with machetes. Tedious, hard work, but as the underbrush is cleared, you can see what an outstanding piece of property this is! Most everyone living here should have a beautiful view of the ocean, including its cool breezes.

Here is a picture of a road that they cut and cleared, providing access to the top of the hill. Beautiful! Housing will predominantly be on the hillside, with a church/school, shops and recreational area (hopefully with a soccer field) on the bottom flatland. The world class architect working on the Grand Roatan is donating his services for free to do the site plan. Thank you, Juan Carlos Choussy... again! (He also designed the school for us in St. Helene!)




Again, the commitment is that, for every condo sold at the Grand Roatan Resort in West Bay, together, we will build an affordable "dignity home" for a qualified family in need. So we'd better get busy because the Grand Roatan is going up! Incredible views from every unit - but watch your step!

This is "Building 1". It is going up fast!













David and I were asked to announce the Dignity Housing program to an international audience in San Pedro Sula, Honduras as the owners/developers of the Grand Roatan began marketing their condo sales. We were very excited to tell this group of 100 people how we plan to benefit the island and its people through a joint effort with developers on the island.


While in San Pedro Sula our friends, the Chahin family, invited us to go on a TOMS Shoe drop with them. For those who don't know about TOMS Shoes, their commitment is that for every pair of shoes sold, they donate a pair to a child in need around the world. We have been moved and motivated by Blake MyCoskie's passion and vision for several years, and it inspired inspired us to the "1 for 1" idea with the dignity housing. So to go on a shoe drop with this amazing family and witness the TOMS Shoes vision in action was a thrill! There were around 1200 kids at this one school in San Pedro Sula who ALL received a free pair of TOMS Shoes! Amazing! They are always given a black pair of shoes as that is what is required to attend school. So every child receiving a pair of TOMS not only receives protection for their feet, but entrance into school to receive an education.

This is Andrea Chahin. Although a child of affluence herself, she was very aware of the poverty all around her. When she was 16 she wrote a letter to TOMS and asked if they could extend their free shoe program to Honduras. Now, 2 years later, she and her mother head up the entire country of Honduras for TOMS and their free shoe distribution program. In 2012, they estimate that they will distribute roughly 45,000 pairs of TOMS shoes in Honduras alone! Roatan was added to their distribution list last yaer, and in April this yaer, they will make their first shoe drop to the children in St. Helene!! More than that, once a school gets on their list, they re-visit them with new shoes every 6 months. So the kids in St. Helene have no more worries about shoes for school! Thank you TOMS!! And thank you to Vivian and Andrea Chahin for the excellent work they do throughout Honduras!