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Windows on Our Worlds E-News
JULY - August 2004: Volume 1, Number 2
WINDOWS ON OUR WORLDS is a free e-newsletter from Partners in Progress (PIP), a 501(c)3 non-profit corporation registered in Pennsylvania. Donations are tax deductible.
Copyright © 2004 Partners in Progress (PIP). All rights reserved.
CONTENTS
Heavy rains cause flooding, crop damage
Already battered by political turmoil and escalating prices (Gasoline is selling for US $3.50 a gallon and the price of rice has doubled since last year.), Haiti has been hit by devastating floods due to heavy rains washing down deforested mountain slopes. The village of Fond Verette, in the South East near the Dominican border, was completely destroyed and more than 1600 casualties were reported. US marine helicopters airlifted relief supplies to the area and the interim Government of Haiti announced plans to try to relocate Fond Verette to another place.
Fr. Joseph Philippe, APF coordinator and PIP board member, reports that in Fondwa much of the harvest of corn, beans, and plantains has been lost and some of the peasants have lost cattle as well.
The Fondwa road suffered damage in the recent rains and parts of the road are becoming increasingly difficult to traverse. Funds are needed to make the necessary repairs and to complete the drainage ditches that will ease future flooding problems. The ongoing APF reforestation projects are also intended to reduce the damages sustained by rainfall.
The Jacmel road, one of the best roads in Haiti, also showed signs of flood damage. One small portion has collapsed and mudslides were evident in several places. The road to Okay (Les Cayes) shows similar damage due to flooding and mudslides.
Top graduate to intern with PIP
Nick Wilson, a May 2004 graduate and recipient of the St. Vincent College (Latrobe, PA) President’s award, will intern with Partners in Progress this summer. He is a co-founder of Planet Ayiti a student organization at St. Vincent College that focuses on Haiti. Nick has been to Haiti four times and spent a week working in Fondwa with St. Vincent College students in 2002. He attended the University of Fondwa International meeting at the beginning of June and traveled with PIP executive director, Rich Gosser, to Jacmel and Les Cayes after the meetings.
Wilson, who graduated with majors in both mathematics and economics, will attend Carnegie Mellon University in the Fall as a graduate student in public policy. He plans a career in public policy and international development and intends to spend several years living in the “third world” before returning to graduate school to pursue a PhD degree.
During his internship with PIP, Wilson will develop a press kit and take on tasks related to media outreach and website development. He’ll also do some educational outreach with church youth groups in SW Pennsylvania. Read more about Nick’s experiences in Haiti in the DISPATCHES column of the PIP website (www.piphaiti.org).
UNIF International Board meets in Fondwa
The semi-annual meeting of the International Board of Directors for the University of Fondwa 2004 was held in Fondwa, June 4-6. Renate Schneider, provisional Rector of UNIF, gave an overview of UNIF that covered the original vision, the inauguration in January through the political crisis that erupted in Haiti at the end of February, and from February 26 through the present.
Anne Rossignol and Laurent Delugin, long-term Fondwa volunteers from France made presentations on the work they are doing with students. Anne is teaching veterinary sciences and Laurent is teaching information science. Both Ann and Laurent are helping students prepare curriculum vitae and “case statements” with which to approach organizations who are potential student sponsors.
Representatives from the University of Guantanamo attending the meeting presented various strategies for producing income for the university through services the university can offer such as translation services and professional seminars. They also stressed that in order to achieve its mission the university must become well-integrated into the community and develop a detailed understanding of the needs of the local communities from which the students come.
The University of Fondwa has the mission “to train a new generation of citizens who will participate in the sustainable and integrated development of their country and to develop in them a sense of citizenship, whereby graduates will value the needs of the community at least as much as their own individual interests or higher.” More information about UNIF is available on the PIP website ( www.PIPHaiti.org ). The UNIF website has been offline for some necessary updating, but will be back online soon at www.UNIF2004.org.
UNIF completing first year and opening enrollment for another class next year
The 19 students attending the University of Fondwa will complete their first year of studies in July 2004. The students met the international board of UNIF at the June meetings in Fondwa. The board members were most impressed with the commitment and dedication of the young men and women they met and their determination to make the most of the unique opportunity that UNIF affords them to become agents of positive change in rural Haiti.
The first enrollees of UNIF come from 9 different communities: Cavaillon, Pignon, Hinche, Jacmel, Grand Goâve, Port au Prince, Borgne, Mirebalais, and Fondwa. There are 12 students in agronomy, 7 in management, and 1 in veterinary medicine. Each of them is completing a two week field experience in a rural community during the middle two weeks of June and will return to report on their field work and take final exams before a four week vacation in July and August.
The University of Fondwa, under the leadership of provisional rector, Renate Schneider, is currently enrolling students for next year and plans to enroll at least 20 students with full financial sponsorship. Up to 30 new students could be accommodated if support is available for them.
Work progresses on the construction of a student dormitory next to the Visitors’ Center in Fondwa. Two cisterns, each capable of storing 4000 gallons, have been constructed in the foundation to hold rain water and spring water. Haiti has become the most water poor country in the world and meeting the needs for water in Fondwa has become an important priority.
Work also progresses on the UNIF laboratory building being constructed on the campus of the St. Antoine School. The building is under roof and awaits finishing and furnishing in order to be ready for use in September.
Montclair State University donates equipment to UNIF
PIP and the UNIF international board want to say “mesi anpil” (“thank you VERY much”) to Dr. Mark Kasner, Chairman of the Chemistry and Biochemistry Department of Montclair State University in New Jersey, to Kevin Olsen, who has coordinated the effort and to Dennis Stachura and Tom Riley, who provided the manpower to pack 6 pallets of laboratory equipment for the science laboratories of the University of Fondwa 2004.
Thanks also to Ron Rohall, friend of PIP, for driving a truck to New Jersey to pick up the equipment and to Rosemary Edwards, PIP board member, for giving up her garage to store it until PIP can arrange to ship it to Haiti.
Donations are needed to defray the cost of shipping this laboratory equipment to Fondwa in time for the Fall semester. If you wish to help, you can make a donation online ( www.piphaiti.org ) or send a check to: Partners in Progress, 329 N. Fairfield Street, Ligonier, PA with “UNIF Lab” in the memo line.
Fatima House Orphanage construction progresses
A visit to Fatima House in June showed considerable progress on the second phase of construction for the orphanage. The new building, attached to the dormitory completed in the first phase of construction, is under roof. Jamalyn and David Williamson, US volunteers in Fondwa, will undertake painting the new building with some of the older children in residence there. The new construction will allow each child to have his or her own bed and will also provide space for a dining room and small chapel. PIP provides some modest funding for Fatima House, but most of the operating costs and construction costs have been provided by Family Health Ministries a partner organization that, together with PIP, provides support for the St. Antoine School and the APF medical clinic in Fondwa.
Makaya water project update
While in Haiti earlier in June, PIP excutive director, Rich Gosser, met with Mr. Frito Mark, an officer of the Rotary Club in Jacmel to discuss APF’s Makaya project that will capture water from three sources near Tomb Gato, the market town for Fondwa and site of the University of Fondwa 2004. Frito Mark expressed strong support for the project and gave his assurance that the Rotary Club in Jacmel would act as an in-country sponsor for the project.
PIP is seeking support for the project from Rotary Clubs in Albany, NY and Latrobe, PA. In-country sponsorship allows clubs in the US to apply for matching funds at the district and national levels. PIP’s goal is to raise US $40,000 to complete this project in 2005. This major water project will provide potable water for more than 400 people.
Since Haiti is now the most water poor country in the world, APF is giving even greater priority to its water projects. One natural spring was captured in 2003 and two additional sources will be captured in 2004 giving clean water to 3 additional groups of APF members. (APF is organized into groups of 15-20 members.)
Additional information about the Makaya Water Project is available in the Featured Projects Column of the PIP website (www.PIPHaiti.org).
Rich in Mercy (RIM) aids St. Louis de Montfort Parish
During his recent visit to Haiti, PIP executive director, Rich Gosser, delivered a Rich in Mercy grant for more than US $1100 to Sr. Eileen Davey, for her “head start” education and nutrition program for pre-schoolers at the St. Louis de Montfort parish in Port au Prince. This program, initiated by Fr. Nicolas Gerard, provides educational enrichment and a nutritious meal each day to more than 60 preschoolers. When the number of available chairs threatened to limit the program to 50 students, some of the toddlers began bringing their own chairs! Hunger and malnutrition is a growing problem in Haiti where the cost of some staples such as rice has doubled in just the last year.
Money for the “head start” program came from the Calvary United Methodist Church of Ligonier, PA through the “Skip a Lunch, Save a Child” project created by Marlene Shaw, of Republic PA after visiting Haiti on a Rich in Mercy “reverse mission pilgrimage” in 2001. More than 60 members of Rev. Bill Pieringer’s congregation contributed to the project during Lent 2004.
Rich Gosser, his wife Daneen, and other members of the group traveling with them also visited the parish’s Centre Charles de Foucauld, a professional school made possible by a Rich in Mercy Grant. Classes began last Fall and young men are learning carpentry, electricity and plumbing skills. Rich in Mercy is seeking funding to expand the school next year.
Rich in Mercy is the faith-based division of Partners in Progress that promotes global solidarity at the people to people and community to community levels. More information about Rich in Mercy, reverse mission pilgrimages, and the “Skip a Lunch, Save a Child” project is available at www.RIMHaiti.org or through the PIP website, www.PIPHaiti.org.
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ABOUT PARTNERS IN PROGRESS
Partners in Progress is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. Our mission is to promote and support a community-based model of sustainable rural development in Haiti through educational outreach and resource networking. Learn more about us at www.PIPHaiti.org
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CONTACT INFORMATION
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329 N. Fairfield Street
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