Sponsors and Supporters,

St. Joe Haiti Outreach Newsletter Summer 2022

We are pleased to have this opportunity to update you on our mission and programs. We thank you for all your support of our students and our work with our needy brothers and sisters in Haiti. In this newsletter, we have a report on our recent trip to St. Jacques parish, give you a report on our Hearts and Hands for Haiti event, give you a status update on the computer lab / school improvement project, and provide information on other outreach activities.

Hearts and Hands for Haiti Report: Hearts & Hands for HAITI – a Dinner, Dance and Auction Event – was held in the St. Joe gymnasium on May 7. The event had a number of purposes: an opportunity to gather family, friends and parishioners after being cooped up far too long by the effects of covid; a chance to rekindle relationships with past travelers and supporters of our Haiti mission, as well as share our hearts and stories with new supporters; and finally, to raise funds to expand our high school and the addition of a computer lab complete with computers, furnishings and solar power.

The event was a huge success and a great time was had by all. Over 350 guests and volunteers were in attendance. Olivia DeWeese and Eric Reffett were our Emcees for the evening and Superior Entertainment provided music. A number of sponsors and very special guests were in attendance, including Fr. Dubois, our pastor at St. Jacques Parish in Haiti, and members of the Angermeier family who presented a very generous donation in remembrance of their parents, Bob and Edna.

A delicious dinner was served by St. Joe’s dinner committee lead by Imogene Baehl. A live auction followed the dinner following the dinner with many great items being auctioned along with acceptance of cash donations to purchase specific furnishings for the computer lab. We had over 100 silent auction items and baskets that were awarded to the highest bidders.

Simply put, it was an amazing display of love and support by our church family, our Haiti Outreach supporters and our community. The event, raised around $90 K and along with the generous $100K donation in by the Angermeir’s we have enough to completely fund the building project, which has already begun on our high school campus in Plaine du Nord.

TOGETHER, we can do amazing things and make a difference in the lives of children and families in Haiti!

We want to thank all those who attended and supported the event and to thank all the folks who worked so hard to make this event such a success.

Fr. Dubois Visit: Our pastor from St. Jacques parish was able to visit St. Joe for the first time the first week of May. He attended our Hearts & Hands for Haiti event, got to meet Fr. Gene and many of our committee, and was able to visit St. Joe School to meet with our students and check out our computer lab. We learned that father really loves broccoli and Chinese restaurants and that he will be a great partner in our work. We think he had a great visit to our parish and look forward to another longer visit in the future.

May Trip to Haiti:

Trip Information: Six individuals traveled via Spirit Airlines to Haiti on May 26 thru June 2. Participants were Allen Whitehouse and his daughter Mihret, Greg and Susie Head and their daughter Ronda Fuhs and their granddaughter Kayla Fuhs (both from Jasper IN).

Community: “The community of St. James in Plaine du Nord is one of a kind. In Mass, I could feel the presence of their faith in God coming from them and I was in awe. That they do not let their circumstances define who they are but look to God for everything. Father Dubois was also very welcoming and generous so I thank him very much for that. The young students and kids were also welcoming in the St. James community. I even learned new words in Creole from these kids! They always found a way to put a smile on my face. While interviewing and doing home visits of sponsored students houses and families I was shocked at how kind and hospitable the people were. They would welcome us into their house and we would also have a good conversation with them. I thank them so much for that because I learned so many new things. The community of St. James in Plaine du Nord is unique and I am grateful I was able to

experience it.” - Mihret Whitehouse

The children: “The children in Plaine Du Nord are the most loving, fun and trusting kids I have ever met. Most evenings we would spend our time sitting on the front porch playing with the kids. One day while sitting on the porch playing games with the kids one little boy walked up and sat right next to me, almost like we were best friends already. Within only a few hours this little boy, Jules, became so attached to me I couldn’t even go get a drink without him. Later we found out he was a student who needed a sponsor for the upcoming school year. A family friend of ours said they would like to sponsor a little boy and I knew instantly he was the one.

We asked Jules if he could take us to his house so we could talk to his family and he hopped

right into the truck. Telling Jule’s family that we have found him a sponsor was something I will never forget and it is crazy the lasting impact this little boy has on my life. The rest of the trip I would see Jules every day and he would make sure of it. One morning before school he even

snuck back into where we were staying and stood in the doorway waving to us. (Pictured

below) I cannot wait to go back and see Jules and all the other children.” -Kayla Fuhs

Student Interviews: Our group was able to conduct student interviews of all the sponsored students in the elementary school (Ecole St. Pierre). This is always an enjoyable portion of the trip as our participants get to set with an interpreter and personally meet with and speak with the students as we try to bring back information for their sponsors. Just like here, we find some are shy, some are outgoing, some are comfortable with the interviews, are seem eager to share and have big smiles and others seem a little uncertain of meeting with this strange American adult who they have to meet with. We know that the information we send back is limited but we hope it helps each sponsor stay in touch with their student as the progress through school. We often hear from the students that they want to get photos of their sponsor’s families and meet them someday.

Home Visits: We were able to make about ten home visits during our time in Plaine du Nord. Edwin, our local Haitian sponsorship coordinator always works hard on a short notice to try to find us sponsored students homes to visit. These visits are performed so we can bring more

information back to our sponsors about their student’s family and home conditions. We meet the student and their families at their home and try to take photos and interact with the family to learn about who lives in the home, what they do to care for their family, etc. For those who get to participate in these visits it is usually an awesome experience and we learn about various neighborhoods, culture, living conditions and most importantly are always amazed at the hospitality shared with us by our Haitian friends, we are welcomed into their homes, offered seats to sit and share with them and personally get to witness the joy of their family unit. Here in America if six strangers came to your door unannounced and who didn’t speak our language

we would probably lock the door and ask them to leave, in Haiti we are welcomed as friends into their homes with open arms and warm smiles. [Note: We are hoping to set up a google map that will show the locations of the sponsored students homes on a google map along with the location of the schools, church and parish compound. This will be provided to the sponsors when they get their home visit info. from the visiting team.]

Esther’s Home Dedication: On Sunday afternoon we got to participate in the dedication of a home that was built for Esther, a cook at the elementary school who lived in one of the most dilapidated homes in town. Friends from the US who had met her, pooled their funds to see that Esther and her family could get out of her deplorable living conditions and we hired a local mission group “Welcome Home Haiti” to construct her a new brick home on a small parcel of land not too far from the Church and school. Fr. Dubois blessed her home with Holy Water and prayed for Esther and her family. He recognized Esther for her hard work for the parish and faithfulness. He said God provided this home for her as he led individuals to reach out in a Christian spirit to help someone who was in need and prayer that the home be full of love and faith for Esther and her family. Greg got to speak on behalf of the supporters from St. Joe and it was amazing that his pre-prepared words seemed like they came from the same text. No doubt the Holy Spirit worked through the blessings that were shared. We pray for Esther and her family may enjoy this new home will be full of God’s love and that they create many fond memories in the years ahead.

Edwin: Edwin Daly has been the local Haiti student Sponsorship coordinator for us for many years. He suffers from Sickle Cell Anemia which is very painful and sometimes debilitating, so is in and out of the hospital regularly. Friends here in the US pray for him and provide monetary support when they learn of his health crisis to try to support their friend even when they

cannot be with him personally. Unfortunately, this spring Edwin was burned on his face, hands, arms, legs and feet when a propane tank leak ignited at his residence. He was treated at the hospital and then faced months of regular bandaging and treatment by a nurse to facilitate the healing of all his burn wounds. Our group was anxious to see how Edwin was healing and were excited to learn that he was healthy enough to serve as our primary interpreter during our visit, even though he still had bandages on his left arm and was still receiving burn care every other day from his local nurse. Thanks for all the prayers for Edwin and thanks be to God for his ongoing recovery.

High School Improvement / Computer Lab: We held a meeting with Fr. Dubois, the pastor at St. Jacques, and Ednel the engineer Father has selected to construct the school improvement project. We learned of Fathers commitment to the success of the project and desire to directly oversee the work. Father explained that he would utilize skilled contractors for the technical work but would solicit help from the parish for some of the common labor work. The engineer seemed to be knowledgeable and experienced. They both expressed their goal to start construction on the project as soon as school exams were complete and try to substantially complete the project during the summer break. We brought some startup funds so materials could be secured and not be delayed by the slower process of wiring funds to Cap Haitien.

Sewing Hope: One of the important items on our trip list, was to meet with Sendia the sewing coordinator and with Pascal the sewing school teacher to discuss progress, graduation, and new enrollments. We met with Pascal the teacher on several occasions to get familiar with him and to get an update on the program. Although we found that preparations for graduation was behind and that new enrollment progress was slow, we gained confidence that Pascal is passionate about his job and truly wants to educate students with good sewing skills. We met with Sendia our local sewing coordinator and learned that she had chosen to end her commitment as coordinator due to her busy schedule and new time commitment needed for her new printing and copy micro-finance business. She committed to fulfill her duties through the end of July and introduced us to a potential replacement coordinator who we interviewed for Monie. We also reviewed the sewing supplies in the ware house and learned that there were still several totes of sewing fabric and supplies available for use by the school and students.

New Hope Hospital Visit: We visited New Hope Hospital to meet with Dr. Makland and see the progress of his awesome facility. There is still ongoing construction, with the planned addition of a new medical lab and an optometry wing. Several new buildings have been added with the addition of private rooms for patients & families and lodging facilities for local Medical Staff and administrators. During our visit, we met a group of US optometrists who were performing eye exams and procedures and training Haitian optometrist who will staff the new optometry wing at the hospital.

Sunday Mass: As always participating at Sunday Mass is a blessing for all who get to travel to Haiti. We were blessed this time as they celebrated Mother’s day and had a special procession of mothers at the start of Mass. The choir, band and music were uplifting for us as they enthusiastically worship through song. Offertory time is always humbling as the congregation of elderly men and women mixed in with youth and other adults make their way to the front of church to give their contributions, not from their excess but from the needs, it reminds you of the story in the bible about the widow women who gave to the church her small contribution

from the little that she had. We got to celebrate the Eucharist side by side with our brothers and sisters as we share our common faith and church. Mihret was our spokesperson and she shared from her heart that she was blessed by the welcoming spirit and hospitality of the people, the smiles of the children, and the faith that we witnessed in them. She invited the children to come up after Mass to meet her, and was surprised at the end of Mass when a group of fifty or more youth came to the front of church to greet us.

Water Spigots & Food: We just wanted to offer a short positive note that the water spigots in the elementary school courtyard have been repaired and the students are again receiving clean water from the parish clean water system. (The last group visiting witnessed problems with the water for the school children). We also witnessed the kitchen in action as the cooks prepared food for the children. They cook rice and beans in large pots over charcoal and propane stoves. The students receive their food at their desks in the classrooms, one class at a time.

New visitor quarters: Our group was the first group to be able to stay in the new dormitory recently completed over the top of the new cooks/caretakers quarters. The facility was really nice with large rooms, ceiling fans, tiled floors, a new bathroom with shower, and glass windows with screens. Thanks to Jim Riordon and Cory Mills for their leadership in this undertaking. The cooks now have their own bathroom and a place to sleep that is not subject to the flooding as in the past. Father even added A/C to the two visitor dorm rooms to our surprise. This surprise provided a never experienced before place to cool down, but comes with a downfall as the A/C draws too much power for the solar system and shuts down the entire power system for the parish compound requiring use of generators. I am sure that Fr. and future groups will find the sweet spot in rationing the use the A/C’s during future visits.

This new facility will be a great improvement for the cooks and will improve future visiting groups accommodations.

Other Adventures: We were able to partake in several other adventures witnessing the cultures and surroundings of Haiti. We visited the brick factory of Welcome Home Haiti that made the bricks for Esther’s home, we traveled to Milo and visited the Citadel a 200 year old

fort built by the first king of Haiti and viewed the ruins of King Christoph’s castle, and we went to visit Fr. Dubois banana and plantain farms. We also visited the fish farm and school run by Dr. Leo where Dr. Leo gave us a tour of the fish farm and his clean water bag processing facility. Dr. Leo is an awesome man of faith working tirelessly to help the children and people of Haiti.

Computer Lab / School Improvement Project: We reported in the recent trip section of the newsletter that we met with the Engineer and Father to begin the planning and preparation for this project in late May. This project has been on our priority list for many years. We have beenworking on this project for a long period so I assume most of you know about this important project. But, just so everyone knows, we plan to reconstruct a portion of the existing high school (College St. Pierre) by removing the current leaking concrete roof and will then pour a new floor/roof and add several class rooms on a second level. The project will include adding a computer technology classroom and will include the installation of a solar system for power for the computers, lights and fans. We believe that this addition will enhance the knowledge and technical shills of all the high school students.

Demolition work started the second week of July and work is scheduled to progress through the summer school break. As we all know, nothing is easy in Haiti and the project is facing some material supply issues (similar to us as we are due to the pandemic) that have delayed the shipment of our first order of re-steel because of the fuel shortage and disruption of deliveries from Port au Prince by the gangs and unrest. We will hope and pray that conditions improve so the project can make reasonable progress this summer.

The total project cost is projected to be around $190K, including construction costs, solar system installation (solar panels, batteries, inverter, etc,) computers, furnishing, and accessories. We still have work to do in selecting and acquiring computers and in finalization and selection of our new solar system.

Student Sponsorship:

Our team is currently working on preparing for the upcoming student sponsorship renewals for the 2022-2023 school year. We are hoping to have statements sent out by the end of

August. They will be sent via e-mail first, and then we will follow up with regular mail for those that do not receive the e-mails.

Currently, we have 234 students that are being sponsored through our program between Kindergarten and University. At this time, we also have several new students that are available to be sponsored. If you, or someone you know, is interested in sponsoring a new student, please let Eric Reffett (ereffett@sbcglobal.net) know and he can coordinate with you.

Also, a team recently went to Haiti and was able to meet with the elementary school students. For those students they were able to meet with, we will be sending out Interview forms to provide the sponsor family with updated news and information about their students. We will also send out information soon for those families who had ‘home visits’ made during the last trip.

Sewing Hope: On Sunday, July 3, we celebrated our first Sewing Hope graduation with 7 students being honored. It was an amazing celebration as we reached this milestone with Sewing Hope, 3 years after restructuring the program and moving to a student sponsorship funding model for this Technical School. Despite various staffing challenges, covid and continued incidents of unrest in Haiti, we have made great progress in establishing a solid program with a talented tailor leading the classes.

There was a short summer session in July to introduce our incoming students to basic sewing techniques. After a month of rest during August, the new school year will begin in September with 12 new students and 10 continuing second year students. We plan to introduce a new program next summer that will allow students to work for pay during the summer months.

Technical schools in Haiti offer an opportunity to those who cannot move from high school into a university environment. They offer specific training so that graduates are able to use their newly acquired skills to provide a living for themselves and their families. We are so appreciative of our Sewing Hope sponsors and those who donate items and offer prayers for the program.

Micro Finance: We have been providing micro-finance loans to various individuals and groups over the last several years. We believe that helping people help themselves is an important part of our mission. To be eligible for a loan the individual is required to submit a business plan to us for review. Our first and largest loan was to provide funds to the Fann-Vonyan women’s group in Plaine du Nord for a chicken farm, over fifty percent of this loan has be repaid to date.

We have also provided funds for phone charging business, funds for another small chicken farm, funds for a retail beverage business, and a restaurant/bar business. We recently approved a loan for a copy/printing business and have a loan for a tap-tap (taxi type) business under review. The loans are interest free loans with an individualized pay back plan. Most of our loans are around $2000 USD in value. We have about $4,000 available for loans currently. If you have a desire to help in this area and want to provide us with some advance loan funds, please contact George Moll at 812-310-3044 or Greg Head at 812-455-3903.

Esther’s Home: This is the final report on Esther’s home. As noted in the trip report section, Esther’s home was dedicated on May 29’th and she is now living there with her son and grandchildren. As previously reported the project was funded by individuals who knew or heard about Esther and wanted to help her get out of her deplorable living conditions.

“Welcome Home Haiti (WHH)”, a local mission based company constructed the three bedroom home with a nice outside shower and toilet building this spring. We have only to pay the final payment WHH and then pray that Esther and her family can live a more acceptable life in this new home.

Dr. Leo’s Fish Farm: - Dr. Leo's fish farm has expanded with the addition of a new larger pond. There are now both red and black tilapia growing at the farm. Dr. Leo has been a great

steward of the money that was raised and has done everything he said he was going to. The big challenge now is being able to afford fish food and pay for fuel for the generator that powers the aeration system. Haiti just like the rest of the world is experiencing shortages and inflation. Combined with already being one of the poorest countries in the world presents very challenging times. We want to thank everyone for their support of the fish farm. For anyone that would like to continue supporting this inspiring man while he truly is Christ's hands feeding the children. Donations can still be sent to St. Joseph Parish with Fish Farm in the memo.

Cook’s Quarters / Visitors Quarters: As reported in the trip report, the new Cook’s quarter and visitors dorm has been completed. This project eliminate the regular flooding of the cooks and care takers quarters and will provide a new location for visiting teams and/or fathers visiting guest a place to stay that won’t disrupt Fathers rectory residence and office. The new building was constructed by Fritzmane Daniels, a sponsored student and graduate of Ecole and College St. Pierre. His sponsors also supported his Engineering education at the University of Notre Dame Plain du Nord campus located near Plaine du Nord, what a success story. The building is two stories with residences on the first floor for the cook, care takers, deacon, and storage and a bathroom. The second floor consists of two large dorm type rooms and a connecting bathroom. The building is well constructed but has a few minor punch list items that will be addressed on the next trip. As you can see from the attached photos it is a great improvement to the parish compound.