Neighbors, Our family's wonderful babysitter, Rachel Vinciguerra, spent last year working at an orphanage in Haiti. The orphanage was hit hard by the hurricane last week and Rachel is helping to collect donations through the website linked in the email below. I can personally vouch for Rachel and what an amazing person she is. She is a local resident (East Liberty) and a graduate student at Pitt. She welcomes anyone with questions about how they can help to contact her directly at rachel.vinciguerra@gmail.com. Thanks for your consideration. Emily ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Rachel Vinciguerra <rachel.vinciguerra@gmail.com> Date: Fri, Oct 7, 2016 at 5:58 PM Subject: Pwoje Espwa Orphanage (message from Tuesday 10/4) To: Emily Nicholson <emilynich@gmail.com> Dear friends and family: Today, hurricane Matthew passed directly over the orphanage I worked at in Haiti: *Pwoje Espwa <http://espwameanshope.blogspot.com/>* (Project Hope) in Les Cayes. *Espwa* is home to 350 children. This is the worst hurricane to hit Haiti in decades. The staff at *Espwa* moved around 200 boys from their houses—below sea level—into the school buildings on property last night before the storm. The girls remained in their housing on higher land. Thankfully, all of the children and staff are safe. People from Les Cayes have found some refuge at *Espwa* as the staff works tirelessly to help where they can. It is currently too windy for the staff to cook in the kitchen so the kids are eating emergency stores of food in shifts. I was in communication with friends and staff at *Espwa* until the power went out around noon. The damage is extensive: · The tin roofs of 20 houses in the boys’ village are gone; · The secondary school building is destroyed; · Most trees on the property are down and the crops are destroyed; · The electricity is out for all of southern Haiti and the on-site satellite is not functional; · And the road to Port-au-Prince is impassible as are roads into the town to get supplies. The kids at *Espwa* had more notice than some in Haiti who had no idea the storm was coming. Thankfully they have the support of committed staff and a safe place to ride out the storm. Nevertheless, they will need to rebuild. *If you are interested in donating toward rebuilding efforts at Pwoje Espwa please follow this link <https://interland3.donorperfect.net/weblink/weblink.aspx?name=E232974&id=15>.* *Pwoje Espwa* is among the largest employers in Southern Haiti and a fixture in the local community. I can personally vouch for the work they are doing and I am available to answer any questions or address any concerns. Personally, my heart is broken knowing what the Haitian people have endured today. Many of my friends and my 4-year-old godson are at *Espwa*. If you are able and interested in contributing, it will make a real difference to these kids. All the best, Rachel -- Rachel Vinciguerra | (339) 222-2478 MSW/MID Candidate | University of Pittsburgh '19 BA | Ohio Wesleyan University '14