Educate Haitian Immigrant Children in the DR

On Jan. 24, our rental contract ended. The landlord sold the buliding so we were not able to renew the contract, and had to move out. He gave us  the first chance to purchase and although it was a great spot for the time we spent there, it is not an ideal permanent home. We had our eyes on a building down the street. 

However, this is a HUGE fundraising project. We did not have the funds raised by the time we had to move out, so we searched around for rentals. What we found were buildings of similar price to where we just left but way too small, or very nice, expensive buildings, that we could fit into, but still were too fancy for the school. 

Finally, we tried again to negotiate with the owner of the property we hope to buy. We struck a deal. He has given us one year to pay off the property. We have had to give a deposit of 300,000 pesos, which is around $6,750 US. If we pay the remainder within six months, this money goes into the total sale. If we pay the remainder in one year, half of it goes to the total sale. If we fail to pay by the end of the year, the deposit serves as rent for the year. The owner could then sell the building to someone else, raise the sale price, etc. so we are in full fundraising mode! 

The deal was to move in on the 24th and the landlord had promised that the building would be ready, as it was bing used as a carpentry shop and was therefore covered in lumber, machinery, and dust! Well, he didn't start moving out until we ran him down on the morning of the 24th! We worked hard on the 24th, 25th, and 26th (a Monday but a Dominican holiday, so no school) to at last completely clear out, clean, and paint the giant back room. We finished around 9PM on the 26th and received students the next morning.