Helping Hugs

Since 2012, generous donors have continued to support the operation of three elementary schools in our twin parish. The funding includes teacher salaries and training, teaching and learning supplies, a school lunch program and salaries for support staff. Beginning in 2017, we extended our support to include tuition assistance for students attending the Catholic secondary school in Cotes-de-Fer. In addition, three c;asses have graduated from the computer program established in Cotes-de-Fer in 2021. Students from age 10 to adults have studied Microsoft Office, Excel and PowerPoint. Having these skills will make it easier for the graduates to find work.

Reconstruction of buildings and homes devastated by earthquakes and hurricanes has been ongoing. We have improved accessibility at chapels by building ramps and provided better seating by replacing rotted pews. A fresh coat of paint provides the chapels with an extra layer of protection. We recently learned that the 100 year old chapel of St. Anthony is crumbling and very unsafe. The material that was used then was an earthen mixture with straw. It will need to be rebuilt. This will be a multi-year project.

Most Haitians in the remote villages of our service area have never seen a doctor or taken any medicine. It can take more than five hours to reach medical care by walking or donkey ride. Medical missions to the parish and its chapel communities are conducted with up to 1,000 patients treated for hypertension, infections, diabetes, parasites, mosquito-borne illnesses, leprosy, machete wounds and dog bites. A program to treat hypertension was established in 2018 to re-evaluate patients and resupply medications. We are grateful for our partner in this effort, the Brunswick, Georgia Chapter of the Links, Inc.

Haiti is severely deforested. The lack of tree cover reduces agricultural productivity, raises average temperatures and makes rural areas more susceptible to flooding. Low agricultural productivity leads many of Haiti's smallholder farmers to take up producing charcoal to supplement their low incomes. As a result, this causal link between deforestation and rural poverty continues. The Smallholder Farmers Alliance developed an entirely new social business model that makes trees worth more alive than dead. In this program, slated to begin in July 2023, every tree grown, transplanted and looked after earns credits farmers can exchange for crop seeds, tools and agricultural training. Trees have become a form of currency to improve agriculture, with crop yields going up an average of 40% and household income by 50 to 100%. After the establishment period of five years, it is anticipated that this tree nursery will be managed by the farmers who have been trained by Haitian agronomists.