We are proud to be partnering with Art in Motion and many other organizations on a project to facilitate 150-200 children painting in Carrefour, Haiti this July.
Monies raised from this project will be used to help develop sustainable projects for our Small Community of family and also establish  an  arts school in Carrefour within 3 years!

Art Day Celebration is an art program designed to empower children from grassroot non-profit organizations like ours, and who live in poor rural communities such as Carrefour, access to quality art activities such as painting, drawing, coloring, photography, music, etc. and support or establish art education in those rural communities. 

Please visit ADC's website  at www.artdaycelebration.org to learn more and find out how you can get involved in this exciting  project.

Last Sunday, Velouze Gabriel our Small Community of Family in Haiti's House Mother got married and became Velouze Jean-Baptiste. Congratulations Velouze.

The children of KTFND along with the members of Diakonos International are eternally grateful for your love, generosity, devotion and kindness that you have shown all the kids of our Small Community of Family in Haiti.

Les enfants de KTFND ainsique les membres de Diakonos International sont tous reconnaissant de ton amour, ta générosité, dévotion et la gentillesse que tu manifeste chaque jour envers tous les enfants de Kominote Ti Fanmi Nou de Diakonos.

Que toi et Rolin viviez des moments très marquants à garder en souvenir de votre mariage pendant longtemps et que les années viennent à poursuivre ce que vous reconnaissez déjà comme étant l'une des joies les plus grande à partager ensemble. 

Manoushka  touched our souls so gently, that on the sand of each of our lives, we can see her footprints. 
 We are most grateful to Manouska for her devotion, commitment and most of all her abundant love for all us at Kominote Ti Fanmi Nou de Diakonos. In time her face might
  fade away even her name might to the children, but not her footprints right there along our side. R.I.P.

Thanks Mitchell for these beautiful words:
 
"Imagine the world as bed of flowers, if you were God would not pick the most 
beautiful flowers amongst all the flowers to bring to your house. Manoushka one 
of the most beautiful flowers in Haiti. Now she is adorning God’s house in 
heaven

What an amazing month December has been. Starting with Art Fair Now at Art Basel in South Beach, Florida December 1-4th, to the Art of Beauty Experience auction and gala event in New York on the 15th of December. That night was amazing. Filled with great music from Patrick Cannell and his beautiful violinists and cello player, songwriter and recording artist, Shontelle and another wonderful singer Julien, whose beautiful, inspiring song I will always remember.

Thanks to the collaborating efforts of Ford Agency model/beauty activist/artist/producer/ philanthropist, Monica Watkins, who is one of the very few pure souls on planet earth; Mary Nguyen of Art Strong Bag, whose incredible, big as the universe maternal heart drives her passion for charity; Emmanuel Fremin of Emmanuel Fremin Art Gallery in New York, Brian and Mathew of Art Now and last, but certainly not least, Leora Edut of Makeup by Leora. These individuals have worked tirelessly to create something beautiful and lasting for GEMS  girls  and the children of our "Small Community of Family" in Carrefour, Haiti.

Meeting and conversing with Rachel Lloyd, Executive Director and Founder of Girls Educational and Mentoring Services (GEMS) was the highlight of the night for me. Through GEMS Ms. Lloyd, who has been named "One of 50 Women Who Change the World” by Ms. Magazine, has over the last 12 years not only rescued thousands of girls in America who have been commercially sexually exploited but also has "played a key role in the successful passage of New York State’s groundbreaking Safe Harbor Act for Sexually Exploited Youth, the first law in the country to end the prosecution of child victims of sex trafficking."  This type of organization will be so welcomed in Haiti where thousands of young girls as young as 7 years old are being sexually trafficked and commercially exploited every day. Most of them by their own parents for food.

I was my honor to have been among such empowering women and my passion to impact and change the lives of the downtrodden children in my motherland of Haiti was revitalized and propelled me to remember this quote which I dedicate to each of them and also to my brother, Wilfrid:

"WE ALL DIE. THE GOAL ISN'T TO LIVE FOREVER, THE GOAL IS TO CREATE SOMETHING THAT WILL" (Daniel Webster)

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW 2012 YEAR TO EACH AND EVERY ONE OF OUR GOD-PARENTS, DONORS, SUPPORTERS AND FOLLOWERS. THANK YOU FOR ALL YOU HAVE DONE AND CONTINUE TO DO FOR OUR KIDS AT OUR SMALL COMMUNITY OF FAMILY IN CARREFOUR, HAITI.  YOU ROCK AND TOGETHER WE CAN AND WILL CHANGE THE WORLD IN THE 21st CENTURY.

May God Almighty keep watch over you during this holiday season and every day of your lives and may HE reward you greatly for helping and giving to those who are poor, homeless, abandoned and rejected.

Much love and blessings,

Martine Longchamp

YOU ARE INVITED SO PLEASE MARK YOUR CALENDARS TO BE SURE YOU REMEMBER THESE TWO VERY IMPORTANT DATES:
December 1-4 in Miami - Art Fair Now where the artwork of our God-children will be shown from 6pm-10pm at the Catalina Hotel (1732 Collins Avenue) in Miami Beach.
 and December 15th in New York - Art of Beauty Experience art exhibit and gala where the amazing artwork of the beautiful and talented girls of GEMS' will be featured from 6-10pm at The Emmanuel Fremin Gallery (547 W. 27th Street, Suite 508) in New York City. 
A Haitian Turkey Recipe
Recipe Source: Adapted from Rafael Mateo

INGREDIENTS:

8 cloves garlic, peeled
salt, to taste
8 sprigs flat-leaf parsley
8 sprigs thyme
2 sprigs oregano
1 cup fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
20 pounds brined or kosher turkey, trimmed of excess fat and skin, and rinsed, neck and giblets reserved
6 limes, halved
2 tablespoons adobo
freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup ham, finely chopped
2 Scotch bonnet peppers, diced
8 sweet small peppers known as cachuchas or ajicitos dulces
OR
1 large Cubanelle pepper, seeded and cut into 1/3-inch dice
1/2 cup red onion, finely chopped
1/4 cup manzanilla olives with pimento, finely chopped
20 capers, finely chopped
1 bottle dry red wine
1 teaspoon ground achiote
6 ounces tomato paste
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 cups chicken stock or broth
1/2 red onion, peeled and thinly sliced
1/2 red bell pepper, thinly sliced

PREPARATION:

To prepare for marinating the turkey, use large mortar and pestle or small food processor to mash or puree garlic with pinch of salt, 5 sprigs parsley, 5 sprigs thyme and oregano. Transfer to bowl. Add lemon juice, 1 tablespoon vinegar and 2 teaspoons water. Set aside. 
 With long paring knife, make slits 1/2 inch to 1 1/2 inches deep about 1/2 inch apart all over turkey, including legs and wings. Widen slits with fingers or spoon. 
 Rub limes over turkey, squeezing out juice and massaging into the meat. Discard halves and excess juice. 
 Sprinkle turkey all over with adobo, and season with salt and black pepper to taste. 
 Strain the garlic-herb puree, reserving liquid. Place puree in a mixing bowl, and add chopped ham, Scotch bonnet peppers, sweet peppers, chopped onion, olives and capers. Mix well. 
 To protect hands from being irritated while handling the hot pepper mixture, wear thin latex or rubber gloves. 
 Press large pinches of the hot pepper mixture into turkey slits. If any mixture remains after holes are filled, place it in cavity, along with reserved neck and giblets. 
 Place turkey in deep nonreactive pot, and pour reserved juice from garlic puree on top, massaging it in well. Pour wine over turkey, cover and refrigerate overnight. 
 To prepare for roasting turkey, set oven rack low. Heat oven to 375degrees F. 
 Reserve 3 cups of wine liquid, and set aside. Discard rest. 
 Into wine, stir achiote, tomato paste, remaining tablespoon vinegar, olive oil and chicken stock. 
 Place turkey in roasting pan along with sliced onion and red bell pepper and remaining parsley and thyme. Pour half the wine mixture over turkey. Reserve rest for basting. 
 Begin roasting turkey breast side up, basting every 15 minutes. Every 30 minutes for the first two hours, flip turkey, first breast side down, then breast up. 
 After the first two hours leave breast side up, and continue roasting and basting 60 to 90 minutes longer. (Turkey is done when thickest part of breast registers 160 degrees F on meat thermometer and thickest part of thigh registers 165 degrees F.) 
 Remove from oven; cover with foil, and rest 20 minutes before carving. 
 Strain pan juices into small saucepan, skim off and discard fat and serve drippings as gravy. 


WE THANK GOD FOR ALL OF YOU OUR SUPPORTERS AND DONORS AND REMEMBER HOW YOU CAME TO THE RESCUE OF THESE WONDERFUL AND TALENTED GOD-CHILDREN.

REMEMBER WHILE SEATED AT YOUR TABLE TO REFLECT AND THANK GOD FOR HIS MANY BLESSINGS IN YOUR LIFE.

Happy Turkey Day!!!!!

A TRIBUTE TO THE ART OF OF BEAUTY EXPERIENCE FROM THE KIDS OF OUR SMALL COMMUNITY OF FAMILY IN CARREFOUR, HAITI WITH AN EXCERPT FROM A QUOTE BY WALT WHITMAN: "Nothing is ever really lost, or can be lost, No birth, identity, form — no object of the world. Nor life, nor force, nor any visible thing; Appearance must not foil, nor shifted sphere confuse thy brain...."

“Artists to my mind are the real architects of change, and not the political legislators who implement change after the fact."
- William S. Burroughs






"The greatest gift you could ever give another human being: the ability to have hope and the ability to know that they can change."
(Kirsty Alley)

 Come out and support the children of our Small Community of Family in Carrefour, Haiti at the Catalina Hotel in Miami Dec. 1-4 during Art Basel! This is going to be amazing and Wilfredo Steel Imaginations will have a featured sculpture in the exhibit! 

Desperation is the raw material of drastic change. Only those who can leave behind everything they have ever believed in can hope to escape. (William S. Burroughs)

Our website is getting a makeover. So stay tuned for some cool pages filled with information

What an amazing month of love and blessings God so graciously provided for the kids of our Small Community of Family of KTFND. First they were blessed by the ladies from the fall rally of the Trinity Lutheran Church Women's Club who donated the most BEAUtiful dresses and shoes for our girls at KTFND. We had a mini fashion show at our special orphanage, with an invisible red carpet runway. The girls modeled their outfits. They were deliriously happy and excited. THANK YOU SO MUCH LWML LADIES, your show of love demonstrates your obedience to the bible quotation found in 1 Timothy 6:17-19
"Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life."

To top it all off, Monica Watkins from Artinmotion returned once more to our special orphanage of KTFND to encourage them to create some amazing art for The Art Of Beauty Experience.

Unfortunately, as we were writing this newsletter, we received word from our God-Mother Extraordinaire, Monica Watkins that she was robbed in Haiti  the day before she was to return to the US. All her camera and sound equipment were stolen along with about 40 of the kids new paintings for the Art of Beauty Experience.

Please pray that God will give her a double portion blessing for all her trouble as HE  replaces her equipment with even better than what was stolen.

The Art of Beauty Experience is a project of Ms. Watkins and Leora Edut  to create a bin-national initiative for young, disadvantaged women living a world apart to celebrate and embrace their common inner-beauty. Partnering with GEMS and our organization in the initial project they inspired the girls from GEMS in NYC and the children of our Small Community of Family in Haiti to paint their experience and arranged for the  artwork to be auctioned off to raise money for the other respective organization at a gala at the Emmanuel Fremin Gallery in Chesea, NYC. 

Rootchy receiving his portion from the sale of the 2 paintings sold at the Pou Soley Leve (For a Rising Sun) art exhibition last July. Thanks to Monica Watkins from Artinmotion and Liony Batista form Haiti's Hope this was such a joyous occasion  for Rootchy as this was the first of prayerfully, many times  he has actually received monetary compensation for his talent.

Below, Robendes also receiving his portion from the sale of his painting sold at the Pou Soley Leve (For a Rising Sun) art exhibition last July.


This workshop not only harnessed the hidden talents of the kids of our special orphanage but it also encouraged us to press on even through the difficult times as it infused us with strength to carry out our mission to empower the orphans, abandoned, homeless and neglected children of Haiti with a vision of a better and prosperous tomorrow and the strength to believe in that vision.

K.T.F.N.D'S KIDS HAD FUN THIS SUMMER. WE BROUGHT THEM TO THE LAND WHERE EVENTUALLY THEY WILL GET TO HELP WITH FARMING AND RAISING CHICKENS AND GOATS.  
THEY ALSO EXPERIENCED FOR THE FIRST TIME A SIT DOWN 2 COURSE DINNER IN AN ACTUAL RESTAURANT, COURTESY OF JULIANA HAMPTON AND THEY GOT TO GO TO WALLACE ZOO IN FERMATE.