Haiti

"In imitation of Jesus and Francis, we have an intrinsic desire to help the poor.  We choose to build a mutual relationship with the people of Haiti.  We wish to accompany them, empower them, and witness with them the love of Christ." 
-Vision Statement 

HISTORY AND PURPOSE Our mission in Haiti is stafffed by Sisters Fidelis and Josephine, but many others help the ministry to thrive, especially our community's Haiti Stateside Committee.We have had a continuous presence in Haiti since 2001, but even before then Sylvania Franciscans had visited regularly.  Though we have begun many projects in the field of health and economic development, our main thrust has been the empowering of Haitians themselves through leadership development.  To this end we created a development group with them called Kretyen Pwogre Ansanm (Christians Progress Together) whose acronym, KPA, is close to the Creole word "kapab" which means "can."  Our aim is to serve the most needy among us. 
 
OUR WORK       
We work mainly in the mountains above Pestel, a coastal town in the southern peninsula. Very rural, very poor, and isolated, the needs are many and have increased dramatically with the recent influx of earthquake survivors.KPA’s projects have included the building of cisterns to collect much-needed rain water, a visiting nurse program which concentrates on health education in our fourteen villages, a centralized clinic open weekly, occasional eye clinics, services for the more gravely ill at major hospitals, and direct assistance to a handful of malnourished children, isolated elderly, and AIDS patients.We were also instrumental in bringing micro-crediting into the area. We occasionally sponsor a young person in a professional school. An LPN we sponsored works with us and we hope that an agronomist we are presently sponsoring will join us soon.
    
THE FUTURE       Ideas for improving farming techniques and food preservation and processing are sparking a lot of enthusiasm for us.Catholic Relief Services has recently accepted us into their social assistance program. They will provide us with food each month to distribute to the most-needy in our area.

LIAISON  We see linking Haitians and Americans as an important part of our mission. We want Americans to experience the people and culture of Haiti and to build relationships of their own.Dr. Ben Fredrick of the Hershey Medical Center in Pennsylvania has been a friend of ours for a number of years and has had a great impact on our area. His most recent effort is a children’s health program which has distributed worm medicine and Vitamin A to 12,000 children.Little Flower Parish of Toledo, OH is twinned with our parish of St. Joseph in Pestel. Other groups who have established a helping relationship with our people are Transfiguration of the Lord Parish in Upper Sandusky, OH; St. Andrew School in Columbus, OH; St. Joseph School in Lake Orion, MI; and St. Odilia’s Faith Formation program in Shoreview, MN. We are grateful to them and to all our wonderfully caring donors who are true partners in our ministry.

NEEDS

Donations toward our ministry are warmly accepted. To donate, please contact Sister Carol Ann Grace, 419-824-3625, cgrace@sistersosf.org. Dentists are always in great demand in Haiti, mostly for pulling teeth. If you are interested in learning more, please e-mail us at Haiti@sistersosf.org.

THE LATEST

Fitho Jeudy, a 26 year old Haitian man who came to the States for heart surgery, returned home to his family on July 14 after spending four months with us. Fitho is very grateful to the Sisters, St. Vincent Mercy Hospital of Toledo, OH and Doctor Hashmi, and the many kind people who became his friends, as well as all those who worked so hard to make this life-saving operation possible.
JPIC/Haiti Happenings Newsletter

RESOURCES

Please see Dr. Ben’s blog at http://www.thrivingvillages.com for videos, pictures, human interest stories and more information about ministry in the Pestel area.

A Prayer for the Haitian People

Gracious God, Creator of all,
We are brothers and sisters sharing our Mother Earth, yet living miles apart. Giver of all good gifts, we share not only common ground but food that nourishes us, water that quenches our thirst, sorrows that burden us and as well as joys that enliven us. Lift the burdens of our Haitian brothers and sisters.
Give us open and generous hearts to meet one another’s needs.
Bless us as we learn from each other.
Help us embrace our common blessings in serving You.
Keep us, as brothers and sisters committed to Your Gospel.
Empower us with your love. Bind us together in love and support.