Author: Kathy Engholm

Progress Against Cholera

We were excited to receive photos from Etienne showing more of the work and supplies funded by donations to Haiti Ap Grandi. The Les Anglais Health Center is across the street from the MEBSH church and school with which many of us are familiar through the Hope for Kidz scholarship program. The clinic was unable to respond effectively to the cholera outbreak initially because they didn’t have supplies for treatment or sanitation. Worse, they had no clean water because their well was broken. With funds supplied by supporters of Haiti Ap Grandi, Etienne purchased and delivered supplies for the city clinic and the school. He also arranged on our behalf for the repair of the Health Center’s well, along with numerous other wells in the…

Incredible News!

Message from Etienne Francois to Jim Shaw on 2/09/23: “Good evening my friend how are you? We are back in Les Cayes after two days in a mission to repair 7 wells. Now the community of the Les Anglais area are getting clean water! People are expressing their love and gratitude to you all and also I delivered I-V’s, medicines, hand sanitizers, bleach, HCl, oral rehydration solution packets, and spray bottles. Both to the clinic of Les Anglais and also to the school.” From Jim: “I am so excited to hear that our friends in Les Anglais now have some tools to keep people from dying and to help them keep from getting the deadly disease.Thank you to all those who have given our foundation…

Striking Back at Cholera

Cholera has struck the Les Anglais area, sickening and killing many people. The Haiti Ap Grandi board of directors met with Etienne on Sunday, Feb 5 via Zoom to discuss the cholera outbreak in and around Les Anglais and the specific ways we can help those suffering from cholera and reduce further transmission of this deadly and very contagious disease. It is treatable and preventable, but only if clean water, medical treatments, and supplies for cleaning and sanitation are available. Conditions are ripe for a cholera epidemic:– Many wells were broken during the 2021 earthquake and the landslides caused by the hurricane that followed soon after. We have for years funded the digging and maintenance of many of these wells, but have so far been…

New Year, New Projects

Our first Board meeting of 2023 was devoted to reviewing and funding the new projects Etienne proposed for this year. Water: Colse is a mountain village without a nearby water source. Residents have to walk down the mountain for water, then carry it back up. Etienne will buy water storage tanks and transport them to the village. $7000 Goats: Etienne plans to start a goat program in Coquione, a village above Charbonnier. He needs money to buy the goats, transport them, and run the training program for the recipients. $7000 Seeds: Etienne proposed buying seed for farmers in Les Anglais. We are requesting that he also buy additional seeds to restart the community garden on church grounds. $3000 Agronomy Agent: Etienne recently hired a new…

Schools and Hot Lunch Start This Week

News from our partners at Reciprocal Ministries International: Haitian schools are to open on November 7! Pray that peace reigns and this is allowed to happen.Police have taken back the fuel depots from the gangs. RMI staff will begin to surreptitiously distribute the Hot Lunch Program food to the schools in small unmarked trucks this week. Pray for the safety of the staff and vehicles.

June Updates

Though the Haitian people face many social and economic issues, they all remember the day their country won its independence from the colonial slave system: November 18th, 1803. May 18th was Haitian Flag Day. It’s usually a joyful day of celebration with school parades honoring Haiti’s rich history of freedom. Earlier that same year, on May 18th, Jean-Jacques Dessalines took down the French flag, ripped out the white band and had Catherine Flon sew the blue and red stripes together, creating the blue and red Haitian flag. Ever since that day, the Haitian people have celebrated May 18th as Flag Day. This year it has been difficult to celebrate. Gang violence and deep insecurity are inescapable realities. In the southern peninsula where Les Anglais and…