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e-News: June, 2009
Strawberries, whipped cream & Haitian crafts. Proceeds go to the Haiti Project.
Last fall's 4 successive hurricanes slowed us down but we're a patient lot! Your Parish Rooster Coordinator has been collecting orders at your parish. Coffee will ship in June to your parish. If your parish is not currently collecting orders, you may order coffee online: www.haitiproject.org Coffee clubbers will receive April and June shipments together. Thank you for your patience; the wait won’t be as long next time: we’ve ordered 10,000 lbs of this delicious but rare coffee. Like before, the $9 a bag goes a long way in helping Haitians: $3 of each bag goes to the Dioceses’ Haiti Project and $2 of each bag supports Haitian coffee farmers, coops and related projects. Listening Trip : May 2009 Treasurer
Christophe Nicaise
and Coordinator
Jan Byrd returned
from a short
but intense trip
to Jeannette
to assess the
project and plan
for the future.
Students were
preparing for
exams under the
direction of
administrator
Rudolphe Eloi.
Patients were
being seen at
the clinic and
nurse Felisime
Glose and support
staff were conducting
public health
work in the surrounding
community. Several
cisterns have
been repaired
and were storing
water. The first
floor of the
trade school
has been completed.
Community leaders
from the five
surrounding zones
or neighborhoods
met with us and
the Archdeacon
of South Haiti,
Rev. Kesner Gracia
to express views
about current
needs and pledged
to work with
the people in
their area to
support St. Marc’s.
Pray for discernment
as plans for
the program and
budget for 2009-2010
are prepared. Paul Farmer's Organization: Save the date: Wednesday, March 3, 2010, for a Fundraiser / Speaker from Paul Farmer's organization, Partners in Health, 7:30 pm. More details later. |
When a rag tag group of people interested in helping Haiti gathered in the back yard of Fr. Dayle Casey’s house in 1985, we decided to call ourselves “The Haiti Project” as we had no clear vision as to where we would be serving. As God would have it, Fr. Casey made contact with the Rev. Octave Lafontant, a veteran priest of the Diocese of Haiti, who invited us to visit a small mission that he was assisting. St. Marc’s was only one mission that “Pere Octave” served. Over time, we learned that he would have as many as eleven missions at one time, some accessible only by donkey or on foot. In January, 1986, Fr. Lafontant introduced us to the village of Jeannette and miracles began to happen. We were convinced of his integrity and sent him money to pay teachers’ salaries. Although semi-retired and living in Port-au-Prince, he had a very modest house in Jeannette. As many as twelve Americans would cram into his two bedrooms or sleep in tents there. Soon, buildings began to appear around the church. Cisterns were dug, a dormitory for the teachers was built, a clinic was built. Every year more classes and children were added to the school. People were transformed, physically, mentally, spiritually. One can count the buildings Octave built but not the number of people who came to Christ through his works. Octave was a rare person who could bridge cultural gaps between people, treating us all as members the family of God. The “Haiti Project,” one of many partnerships that he developed, never became the “Jeannette Project” because we understood that Haitians and Americans were more than a single small village. God’s world had no boundaries. Octave was a good listener as well as a good preacher. When we Americans would propose a project, his simple, yet loaded question, was “Why not? With God, anything’s possible!” He described Haiti in positive terms, in terms of wealth, not poverty, in terms of love, not the violence and political instability that plagued our years in partnership. His motivation was the Gospel, the Church was his tool, his vision was empowerment. He had the uncanny ability of seeing the good and the gifts of each individual. Octave’s words were the mustard seeds of the Gospel, yielding a harvest of ministries throughout the world. Lisette, his gentle wife, died in December 21, 2008. Octave, 85 years old, joined her in heaven, on April 14, 2009. He is survived by his son, Jack, granddaughter Elizabeth, brother, Fritz, and thousands of other “children” whom he nurtured. Thank you, God,for blessing us all with their lives of service to you. In gratitude, the Haiti Project’s endowment fund will now be known as the Octave Lafontant Endowment Fund.
Vote
for this Video
& The Haiti Project's fearless leader, Jan Byrd, has entered a contest to win $1000 for Baby Blankets for Haiti. Your vote is necessary for Jan to win the contest. Sorry - the contest is over. June, 2009 |
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The
Haiti Project
is an Outreach
Ministry of the
Episcopal Diocese
of Milwaukee
and Eau Claire.
Our E-news is
delivered 6 times
a year.
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here. Diocese
of Milwaukee
- Haiti Project Diocese
of Eau Claire
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