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Haiti Mission, Inc. 2010- 2011 Annual Report
A Message from the Director
Dear Friends of the Poor,
It has been another busy year for HMI. More wells have been drilled. We have another catchment system almost completed and Bec’s bakery is now functioning at full capacity to feed the school children and supply bread and pastries for the community.
None of this would have been possible without your sacrificial love and generosity. Faie and I along with the Board of Directors of HMI would like to thank you for all you have done to help us continue to help those in need in Haiti. Behind every number is a child, a family and a community that has hope because of your support.
In the epistle of James, we read, “Be doers of the word and not hearers only, deluding yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his own face in a mirror. He sees himself, then goes off and promptly forgets what he looked like. But the one who peers into the perfect law 12 of freedom and perseveres, and is not a hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, such a one shall be blessed in what he does” (James 1:22-25)
Haiti Mission has often been the only hope many of these families have had – the only family and friends bringing fresh water and care. We continue to be committed to bringing water to within 500 feet of every child and family in this region of Haiti as evidenced by the completion of our 22ndwell. Our passionate response to the sound of a hungry and thirty child is that we are here; we will continue to work untiringly until you have the basic needs you deserve.
Our mission has done so much, but we can only see clearly how much more needs to be done. As we bring our eleventh year to a close, I am more confident than ever that God’s grace and blessings will continue to flow through us into the lives of more people who have been oftentimes forgotten by the world. With your help we will answer the call of the poor and the needy. With Christ at our side and the power of God in our hearts, we will persist in this labor of love. We will continue to be doers of the work and not just hearers.
Peace and God’s choicest blessings be on you and your families,
Deacon Lloyd Duplantis
Feeding the Children, Developing the Economy, Sheltering the Needy
Bec’s Bakery is now in full swing delivering a meal everyday to each of the children in the three schools which we support. We began with one hot meal per month. Although it sounds almost ridiculous to say that was a feeding program, we came to realize that once a month was better than none at all. We are confident that this initiative will grow and blossom. Bec’s bakery has greatly reduced the cost of feeding each child. This bakery also supplies jobs and economic development to the community, further stimulating the growth of the area which means help for the families.
Bec’s Bakery (see website for more details) is proving to be a tremendous addition to the already improving economy of the area.
We have built ten houses in the area. Mr. Mathurin, the Lamy family, Mrs. Emile Charles, Whitlene, Mrs. Matialdo, and Mrs. Merizier, Mrs. Enes, the Beauchamps, the Lucs and the Villiaumes all now have beautiful and substantial homes and no longer have to live in mud and squalor. The three room houses with porches now afford safe shelter for them and for friends and family during storms. Haiti Mission is committed to building this type of house rather than settling for lesser forms of construction in order that these buildings will be able to withstand earthquakes and Caribbean storms for many years to come.
Animal Husbandry – Hope for the future
Early on we came to realize that the families were unable to develop and prosper because of a lack of animals. Pigs, goats, donkeys and cows were financially all out of the reach of any of the households in the area. Haiti Mission began buying pigs for those individuals who seemed capable of raising them in the harsh Haitian circumstances. This worked well but at approximately $100 USD, we were challenged to find enough funding and pigs to make a substantial impact. Although our pig breeding facility worked well, a new virus attacked the pigs throughout the region and most of our breeding herd died. Fortunately we had distributed many of the piglets and most of them survived outside of the herd environment. We are working through a few more options so that we can continue to furnish pigs to those who are capable of raising them. Our 150 acre family farm outside of Miragoane is working through growing pains but shows much promise. We are looking forward to this endeavor being a catalyst for more jobs, more animals and a training facility for agriculture and animal husbandry.
The buildings for our poultry project have been completed and construction of a home for a caretaker in anticipation of the arrival of chickens and other animals. We are looking forward to the day in the near future when we will have an increase in egg production locally to reduce the need for such a quantity and costs of imports from the Dominican Republic.
Healthcare Initiatives
From the very beginning of our mission efforts in Haiti, we have tried to follow some basic W.H.O guidelines which recommend making parasite eradication medication and vitamins available to all the populace in developing nations. Again this past year we have promoted and implemented Albendazole and multivitamin distribution several times a year. Haiti Mission pays a nurse to look over the health needs of the school children and the families of the several villages where we work. She has continued to coordinate the distribution process. Haiti Mission has been responsible for distributing at least ten thousand (10,000) Albendazole and multivitamin tablets. The impact on the children and adults has been remarkable. It has allowed them to thrive and develop by the removal of parasites from their system and has also increased the general wellbeing enhanced by multivitamin supplementation.
With the advent of the latest health challenge in Haiti – cholera – the most important health care issue of potable water and sanitation becomes even more in the forefront. Our new drill truck has been busy this past year drilling our goal of eight wells in one year9. We are thankful to Almighty God to have allowed us the vision and foresight to do everything necessary to bring this new rig to Haiti. The process had begun long before the earthquake and the cholera outbreak. Little did we know how vital another water well drill would be. We are going to systematically continue drilling wells in one community after the other in order to provide water that can protect people from disease and pestilence. Thanks all who have continued to support and encourage this very difficult but vital work.
Education
From the humble beginning of one school with about 200 children, the St. Bridget Haiti Mission School System now encompasses three locations. A basic education is now being afforded 750 children in buildings constructed by Haiti Mission in partnership with friends and foundations. Twenty-two teachers are being paid monthly. Auxiliary aides and periodic cooks are also receiving stipends which will help their children and families. Because of this basic elementary education, secondary and some vocational training which is now being made available through your generosity, these children and adults have hope and promise of a much brighter tomorrow. As part of our overall education program, we are continuing our shoe share project that allows each student to receive a pair of shoes annually. Without shoes, the village children will not attend school or church services. To personalize this activity, the teachers have the children outline their footprint on a sheet of paper and then they write the name, age, sex and class inside the print. Once we receive these they are distributed to various churches, schools, and individuals who will then enclose $15 in an envelope along with the colored footprints.
Because of the 2010 earthquake and the difficulty of getting customs clearance for shoes at the airport, we worked out an arrangement with shoe stores in Jeremie to accept shoe vouchers that could in turn be cashed by the merchants at a local bank. All the school children receive a voucher that they can take to the store and pick out their own shoe. Our overall assessment of this new twist to our shoe-share project has been very favorable. In addition to stimulating the local economy, this process gave many of the children the first opportunity to buy their own shoes at a shoe store. We are very pleased with the results of this method and are optimistic that this concept will allow us to help more families as well as local merchants.
Water Development
Bringing water to within 500 feet of every person in the region is still a major and primary focus of Haiti Mission, Inc. No development in any area is possible without sufficient, clean water. Our unique and highly effective Cable Tool drilling program has now completed twenty-two wells. This rig is run exclusively by a Haitian team trained and supervised by American drillers. This combination has resulted in efficiently drilling wells in this rocky Haitian environment down to 500 feet, bringing life-giving water to remote areas which could before only dream of having water.
