HAITI UPDATE
We are pleased to announce that our most recent Haiti project (a three classroom schoolhouse) is now nearing completion. To date $20,000 USD has been advanced with a further $5,000 USD to be sent on completion. The school is 80% finished – all that remains is the interior/exterior plastering, window installation and painting. Even in this unfinished state, the children could not wait to get into the new school and have already moved in. This means that the school will not be completed until the children finish school for the summer.
It is with sadness that we announce that Sister Monica will be leaving Haiti on June 30 to return to her home in LeSotho, Africa. Sister Monica has been our go to person in Haiti. She has been responsible for overseeing all our parish projects and without a doubt, the one person most responsible for establishing our Parish Haiti Ministry. She leaves Haiti having spent 8 years as Regional Director for Chalice (formerly CCCI). During this time she was responsible for establishing and overseeing the sponsorship of over 3,000 children. Sister Monica dearly loves our parish and would often refer to us as her second family and home.
On our last parish visit to Haiti, Sister Monica expressed personally to us how she believed in our Haiti Ministry and encouraged us to continue after her departure. In order to achieve this, she introduced Father Jean as our new contact in Haiti and brought to our attention a new project opportunity that would accomplish this:
INFORMATION ABOUT THE SAINT JEAN BOSCO SCHOOL SPONSORSHIP PROGRAM
- following the Parish mission visit in October, 2008 the Parish was invited to participate in a sponsorship program for students in St Jean Bosco School in Jeremie, Haiti
- it was an opportune time as we witnessed the need of these students (ie. no shoes, uniforms, school materials, etc.)
- in order to fully fund the operations of the school, we were told it would cost $25.00 per month for each student to provide the necessary supplies to educate and feed the children one meal a day
- after six months, we had the opportunity to revisit and were pleased to note that enrolment in the school had only changed by 4 students. Also, a donation that had been left had been put to good use and that the project was legitimate
- the genuine need was there and it was noted that there was no other consistent avenue of support for the project
- with this information we thought it was a worthwhile mission to bring to the attention of the Parish and seek individual sponsorship for the students
- should you decide to sponsor a child, we are asking for a sponsorship commitment for one year commencing July 1, 2009 to June 30, 2010. The project will be evaluated after one year and if the Parish deems the project to be a success, it is our intent to continue with the sponsorship program
Please don’t hesitate to Contact contact us if you have any questions. David Lowe, Yvonne Becotte, Claire Kirk.