Makaya Water Project Advances Rapidly

In March a new APF tree nursery was constructed to provide seedlings exclusively for the Makaya Water Project that will capture water from four (including one newly discovered) fresh water sources in the Tomb Gato neighborhood of Fondwa. With the advent of the rainy season in April planting was begun and continues as seen in the bottom left photo of PIP Executive Director, Rich Gosser, planting an “acajou” seedling near the main source. The initial phase of the project also required an assessment of the flow rates of each of the sources so that the amount of water available could be accurately estimated. Also an agreement was reached with Mesye “David” to allow the construction of a new cistern on a section of his “terrain” (center) in exchange for access to water for his family’s needs. Work on the cistern will begin next month after Mesye “David” harvests the corn that is now growing where the cistern will be constructed! Other farmers in the area have also welcomed construction of the above ground pipeline (right) through which water will be pumped from the new cistern to a reservoir that will be situated at the APF commercial center in Tomb Gato. The reservoir will supply water for the University of Fondwa 2004, the APF bakery and restaurant, and up to 800 residents of the Tomb Gato neighborhood. Read more about the Makaya Water Project.

     

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Photo sales & Solidarity Concert Tour to Benefit the University of Fondwa 2004 (UNIF)

The making of Rebecca Sherman's photo essay about Fondwa (which can be viewed here) has been chronicled in her hometown paper, the Needham Times. To read the article online, just click here.

Prints of Rebecca's remarkable photos measure 9” x 12”, come in a unique frame made by a Haitian artisan, and can be purchased for $100 plus $15 shipping and handling. You can place your order by sending an email to or by visiting the photo essay website above. Proceeds from contributions will go to PIP’s UNIF scholarship fund and $100 of the contribution is tax-deductible!

Boukman Eksperyans, known for it’s “chanson angajman” (“music with a message”) and the first Haitian group to be nominated for a Grammy award, is supporting the University of Fondwa 2004 with a Summer 2006 solidarity concert tour. The tour will travel to at least 10 US cities and will also be used as a medium by which to promote, exhibit and sell the forth-coming documentary “A Road to Fondwa.” To learn more about the tour, visit the website: www.myspace.com/boukman.

Grand Re-Opening of the APF Bakery Receives Hearty Endorsement in Tomb Gato Market

After being forced to close for more than a year due to increased costs and management difficulties, the APF bakery was back in business in May! The bakery has been equipped with a new, brick oven that is fired with a small, fuel-efficient propane burner and gasoline generator. During the time that the bakery was closed a Leogane bakery began selling in the Tomb Gato market, but as soon as the APF bakery re-opened the competition began to lose business and eventually it ceased to compete with the APF bread that customers apparently prefer!

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Rich in Mercy (RIM) update

The Rich in Mercy "division" of Partners in Progress promotes a global "culture of solidarity" by linking individuals and faith-communities in the US with their counterparts in Haiti and by inspiring initiatives and providing opportunities to meet the needs of the most impoverished people of the Americas. Rich in Mercy participates in the annual "mission co-op appeal" of the Catholic Diocese of Greensburg, PA. More information is available at www.RIMHaiti.org .

The rectory project, aimed at providing a modest residence for a priest behind the St. Antoine Church, continues to progress. Partially finished, the new “Kay Pè” (priest house) has two small, but clean and comfortable rooms. The plumbing system is being put in place and, as funding becomes available, additional rooms will be added. Despite a very well-built and spacious Church, the parish of St. Antoine has never had a resident priest largely because the community has not been able to provide adequate housing. Slowly but steadily, with the help of PIP’s “Rich in Mercy” division, the Fondwa community is meeting this need and inching closer to realizing it’s dream of having a resident priest to minister to the spiritual needs of the Catholic community of Fondwa!

The Rich in Mercy Skip a Lunch, Save a Child program, begun by Marlene Shaw after she visited Haiti on a RIM sponsored “reverse mission pilgrimage”, provides support for an early education and nutrition program in the St. Louis de Montfort parish in Port au Prince where Fr. Nicolas Girard is the pastor. Sr. Eileen Davey, a Holy Union Sister from Fall River, MA is the director of this “head start” program which makes possible a daily nutritious meal and educational enrichment experiences for more than 70 preschoolers! Support for this program comes from Marlene’s friends and family members, parishioners of Holy Trinity parish in Ligonier, PA, and contributions from the Holy Trinity religious education students. PIP Executive Director Dr. Rich Gosser met with Sr. Eileen while accompanying a technical delegation to Haiti and presented her with a 2nd. quarter grant of $1000 as well as some medicines for the St. Louis parish clinic and an additional monetary grant in support of the parish clinic.

A roast beef dinner organized by Mrs. Rita Bingaman of Holy Trinity Parish in Ligonier, PA raised over $3000 for the St. Antoine School lunch program thanks to the support of more than 250 attendees from Holy Trinity, other churches in the Ligonier area, and other friends of Partners in Progress and Rich in Mercy! Thanks to this additional support and continued supp ort from Sacred Heart Church in Pittsburgh, PA, PIP has made a commitment to subsidize the lunch program with grants of at least $1000 a quarter during the coming school year. A silent auction held in conjunction with the dinner netted an additional amount in excess of $340 for the lunch program. Volunteers from Holy Trinity’s RCIA program organized by Mrs. Barbara Madl and Mrs. Carol Serafin staffed the kitchen and dining rooms. Our thanks to Msgr. William Charnoki, pastor of Holy Trinity, for his support of this fundraiser and to all who supported it in any way. PIP is especially grateful to all its loyal and generous volunteers and to all who contributed to the success of this very important project! Mesi anpil (thank you VERY much)! If you’d like to organize a fundraising event for any PIP sponsored project, contact Rich Gosser () with your ideas! The cost of providing lunch for the 600+ children at St. Antoine’s is about $2550 a month. PIP and other sponsors provide about $1300 a month. An additional $1250 a month is needed for the purchase of 20 bags of powdered milk that is sometimes, but not consistently, donated by Food for the Poor.

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PIP invites YOU to become a “dollar-a-day”, sustaining partner!

PIP’s donors are both very loyal and very generous! A simple “mesi anpil” (“thank you VERY much”) never seems adequate as a response to the continuing support PIP receives from its donors. Your support is essential if PIP is to have the resources needed to carry out its mission of promoting and supporting the Fondwa community-based model of integral sustainable development in rural Haiti. We know that the great majority of Haitians living in the rural provinces subsist on incomes of less than US $1 a day and PIP invites you to become a sustaining partner by contributing just a “dollar-a-day”. Just click here to make a tax-deductible, secure, online pledge of $30 or more a month! Sustaining partners will each receive a copy of the 20 minute DVD “Road to Fondwa” edited by Justin Brandon and produced by Fondwa long-term volunteer Brian McElroy. Don’t delay -- make YOUR gift today!