17 Aug 2021

Earthquake Update, Day 3

by | posted in: Earthquake, General News | 0

Message from Jim Shaw to our Haiti Supporters:

We are grieved to tell you that the Saturday August 14th earthquake in Haiti killed 20 children and adults during a baptism at the Les Anglais Catholic church when the steeple fell down on them. The town of Les Anglais is in mourning.  

Les Anglais Catholic church after its steeple collapsed and killed 20 people
Etienne Francois carrying an injured man

None of the buildings at the Baptist church and school fell or were seriously damaged. Some developed cracks but are still functional.  

Reciprocal Ministries International had no serious damage to any of their buildings in Les Cayes although many homes in the area around their headquarters were destroyed. They are working on a plan for assistance. More news to come later.

Etienne Francois is driving about the country helping people who are injured get to hospitals. He needs medical supplies, tarps, tents, food, water. There is a hurricane coming and the roads will be impossible.  People are fleeing toward the cities where they find hospitals full and no help available. If you want to help please click the Donate button to the right, or go to How to Help.

Please be in prayer for our friends in RMI, Passion for Haiti, and the people of Les Anglais.

Warm Regards,
Jim Shaw

14 Aug 2021

Earthquake August 14, 2021

by | posted in: Earthquake, General News | 0

Message from Jim Shaw:

Sadly, Haiti has experienced another major quake even larger than the 2010 earthquake. This one was centered much closer to Les Cayes, where RMI and Etienne’s Passion For Haiti organization are based.

Etienne’s facilities and RMI’s compound suffered little damage, but Les Cayes has suffered greatly. Not much news yet other than that.

Etienne messaged me that he is well and the Sister Church in Les Anglais is still standing. PTL for that.  However, the Les Anglais Catholic Church collapsed during services this morning and killed and injured many people. News still breaking there.  

I will let you know more as we get info.  

Pray for our Sister Church and Etienne and his staff and RMI and their staff.  

Also, we received a message from Rod and Debbie Wray that their compound near Les Cayes was heavily damaged and all buildings are destroyed or damaged and even the ground has opened fissures around the compound. Please pray for them.

Blessings and thanks for your prayers.
Jim

14 Jul 2021

Update on the Current Situation in Haiti – July 2021

by | posted in: General News | 0

The news here in the US is full of reporting about the assassination of the President of Haiti and the resulting turmoil in politics and on the streets of Port-au-Prince. The assassination itself has very little direct impact on the lives of those in the Sud (South) Department of Haiti, which includes Les Cayes and Les Anglais and everything in between. However, many people are leaving Port-au-Prince for the far provinces to escape potential violence. As happened after the 2010 earthquake, people already living in the Sud area may find themselves hosting or otherwise providing support to those coming from the capital city. There may also be additional difficulties in obtaining goods that they need and in transporting and selling crops and other products outside their local area. There are many unknowns. Hopefully the good of the country will prevail in decisions made by those in power.

Our friends in Les Anglais are very happy that the recent hurricane mostly missed them. Their biggest worry now is not the assassination but COVID, which is spreading fast in the country. We are starting to put together a mask drive so we can send 500 face masks to Les Anglais. More information will be provided here when we have a plan.

Etienne and his family are well. He and his team are moving forward with planting boatloads thousands of coffee and cocoa and shade trees in and around the Sud Department. He has five salaried agents and hundreds of college interns working for him this summer to help farm families produce more crops and livestock, earn more money, eat more nourishing food, and reforest the land. He gets up every day determined to make the world a better place.

15 Jun 2021

Photos from Key Programs

by | posted in: Agronomy, Goats, Trips, Water and Sanitation | 0

This slide show of short photo stories illustrates current activities in a few of our main initiatives: Goats, Coffee & Cocoa, Hurricane Matthew Recovery (new roofing in Colse village), and Clean Water. The Bonus “People” section includes a beautiful photo of three generations in Etienne’s family and pictures of team members and Haitian friends during the 2020 Haiti trip.

ProgramUpdates_5_21

Use the Back/Forward arrow buttons in the lower left corner of the viewer to step through the slides. Use your browser’s Refresh button to go back to Slide 1; it is usually a circular arrow in the address bar.

Unfortunately the slide viewer isn’t visible on the Home page. To see it, either tap on the “Photos from Key Programs” title above or use this link: “Photos from Key Programs”.

27 May 2021

Notes from Etienne’s Report at the Haiti Club Meeting – 5/24/2021

by | posted in: Agronomy, Business, Goats | 0

At our first-ever virtual meeting of the Haiti Club, Etienne called in through WhatsApp to update us on his activities and plans. It was wonderful to see and hear him. This post is a summary of the news he shared. (Tap here to read his Speaker’s Notes.)

Wells

With the money that Haiti Ap Grandi (thanks to our generous donors) sent for well repair, 8 wells have been fixed and the communities now have safe drinking water. The well near the beach village not only had a worn-out and broken head, but repeated floods washing past it carried tons of soil away, leaving the concrete pad and well inaccessible. Loads of rock and gravel were used to build up the area around this well and a larger concrete pad was built around and under the existing pad, so the well should be fine for a long time.

Lagoon Well Before
Lagoon Well After

Goats

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