Supporting Haiti through Little Sisters and Fonkoze
Keeping in touch with the Little Sisters of St. Therese of the Child Jesus (PSST) in Riviere Froid, Haiti is an ongoing concern of the Haiti Committee. In the Spring of 2014 Srs. Helene Therese Stanislaus OSP and Eileen Coleman IHM spent a week visiting the Little Sisters at their Motherhouse and in several mission locations including Hinche and Papaye. Please see photos on Helping the Project page. Some members of the PSST leadership will visit the OSPIHM Governing Board in Scranton in 2016.
The PSST Congregation has made much progress since the earthquake. Buildings on the motherhouse grounds are being repaired and there is a new grade school/high school complex with 23 classrooms. Donors include groups from Canada and Germany. The Sisters have also received 100,000 acres of land from the government to develop for agriculture and education.
Sr. Chantele is the new Responsable General of the PSST Congregation, elected at their 9th general chapter in 2013. One of her concerns is financial viability. Generalate repair is completed, the novitiate will be done next. Any donations will be used to pay down the debt.
Fonkoze, a micro-finance bank, has worked with the extremely poor for over 17 years in Haiti. It has 46 branches and employs 975 people. Ninety five percent of its senior staff are Haitians. Recently working with partners, Fonkoze has initiated an insurance program to reduce the financial impact of weather-related disasters. Immaculata IHMs have sponsored 11 families in the bank's Chemin Lavi Mayo program. Several of our members have visited Fonkoze projects. "Experiencing how the people, especially the women, have been trained to claim their moral, financial responsibility for their own lives is clearly a sign of hope for their future," says Dorothy Diederichs IHM.
Haiti in the News
For current news about Haiti visit the internet contacts below of organizations with whom we network.
Both the Miami Herald and the New York Times are sources for current events in Haiti.
Helping the Haiti Outreach Project
Rich in Mercy Institute focuses on specific projects to meet basic needs in Haiti. In rural Lambardelle, a new well has restored access to life-giving water for the 500 students enrolled in the school, the health clinic and for nearly 1000 families. The RIM "Education for Change" program provides opportunities for 100 students in the Solino area of Port au Prince and helps to support nutrition and early education for over 80 pre-school children. In Fondwa, the Little Sisters of St. Antoine have opened a vocational school for women that gives 20 students practical, basic business skills. The sisters also operate a health care clinic, nutrition program and school for 600 children. RIM also supports a bi-monthly distribution of rice, beans and cooking oil to 300 senior and handicapped adults in a program managed by the Little Sisters of St. Therese in the isolated village of Barraderes. All of the RIM projects provide hope and encouragement for those who struggle to live with dignity in the midst of extreme material poverty.
Marycare works with rural communities in Northeast Haiti which is isolated from the south by history and geography. Among its many projects Celebrate Young Women is aimed at keeping girls in school after 6th grade (the year at which most Haitians complete their education.) The first cohort of students will graduate high school this year. Monroe IHMs provided a ministry grant to sponsor eight students for the 2016-2017 school year.
Hands Together is a nonprofit organization serving the poor in Haiti especially in the slums of Cite Soleil and Gonaives and in 
the countryside. Founded by Fr. Tom Hagan OSFS, the organization employs hundreds of Haitians through its outreach programs including schools, clinics, and nutrition sites. The murder of two staff members in Cite Soleil forced the curtailment of some programs. Fr. Tom quotes St. Francis de Sales "You just know that the same loving God who took care of you yesterday will take care of your today and will take care of you tomorrow."
St. Frances DeSales Hospital lost 100 patients, 10 staff members, and 70% of their building in the earthquake.
Global Health Ministry is channeling donations towards rebuilding and sending volunteers to staff clinics.
The OSPIHM Haiti Outreach Committee has a fund for donations to Haiti. Those wishing to contribute may make checks payable to IHM Sisters and mail to:
Haiti Outreach
c/o Sr. Camille Brouillard, IHM
610 West Elm Avenue
Monroe, Michigan 48162
Donations may also be made online to Catholic Relief Services or Fonkoze.
Thank you in advance for a generous response to this request.
