OLMC Haiti Mission

November 2011 Mission Team #18 !!!

2011-12-08T20:08:00.001-05:00

Its hard to believe that OLMC just sent our 18th mission team to our sister parish in Petit Riviere de Nippes. Team 18 was led by experienced Haiti travelers Bruce Carlstedt and Ken Bassler. The other missionaries were Father Adam Mauman, Michelle Curran, Jacqueline Graham, Emily Laskowski, Mary Zagzebski, and Peggy Surbey.

The most important part of every trip to our sister parish, is to continue to build a sense of community with the people in and around the town, and in particular the people of St. Antoine de Padua Church and its staff. This team had a lot of "community building" activities and was busy from start to finish. Some of their activities included:

-administered topical flouride tooth decay prevention to 120 school children
-deworming and scabies/lice treatment for 700-800 school children
-made rosaries with 150 adults and children from the parish
-visited the south coast of Haiti at Les Cayes, where Father Adam concelebrated a Haitian Funeral Mass
-visited 16 homes in Ti Riviere and administered a Gift of Water questionnaire assessing the residents use of the Gift of Water
-visited the Visitation Hospital and spent time with Dr. Rony Jean-Francois about the needs for medical missions to the hospital, and their plans for the addition of surgical services.
-visited the Sisters of Charity St. Therese of Avalon orphanage where they held, fed, walked, changed gowns of numerous infants and small children
-assessed the structural facilities at three outlying chapels, via a tortuous beautiful drive through the mountains and hills south of Ti Riviere. OLMC has committed to help rebuild these chapels. One of the small community chapels would be named Our Lady of Mount Carmel.
-visited the Sisters home in Ti Riviere
-attended daily Mass and especially enjoyed the Sunday Mass with all the children filling the choir loft
-visited the classrooms in Immaculate Conception School where the children sang for them (see slide show)
-shopped for the Haiti Committee's arts and crafts sale at the artisan's coop in Port au Prince
-had a nightly meeting where they reflected on the daily readings and other bible passages and shared their "rose, thorn and bud" for the day.

The trip was a huge success and I've already heard rumors that they're making plans to go again as a team! If you'd like to explore going on a mission trip to Haiti yourself, 2012 is going to offer at least 3 different mission trip possibilities. Check this blog and the bulletin for details. As all of Team 18 will tell you, it is a life-changing experience!

1000 Additional Water Purifiers distributed in Ti Riviere

2011-04-18T11:00:00.000-04:00

Distribution of Gift of Water purifiers in Petite Riviere de Nippe on Jan. 7th, 2011
Because of your financial support of the Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church Haiti Ministry, 1000 additional purifiers were purchased for the community of Ti Riviere, and recently distributed to the community. These units were assembled in Westfield, IN with volunteers; many from OLMC, and shipped to Haiti. Now, they are in the hands of those who are desperately trying to avoid Cholera and other waterborne diseases which have taken the lives of thousands in Haiti.

OLMC sends supplies to Ti Riviere

2010-05-05T20:37:00.000-04:00

Every year since our Haiti mission began, we have collected supplies to send down to Ti Riviere on one of the Sea Containers, arranged by the Parish Twinning Program, out of Nashville, Tennessee. This year there were 16 boxes of books that Connie and Chuck Grimm had collected; donated printed t-shirts & handle tote bags, soccer uniforms,shoes and balls. Over 1,000 toothbrushes had to be counted and unpackaged along with sorting a great deal of school supplies and backpacks. At the end we had 61 boxes of supplies that we U-hauled to Nashville, to be combined with supplies coming from all over the country...destined for all parts of Haiti. Normally the program gathers enough for 2 or 3 Sea Containers. This year the warehouse was loaded with enough stuff to fill 7 containtainers. Thanks to all the dedicated OLMC volunteers who gathered, delivered, sorted, counted, boxed, taped, labeled, and loaded and delivered our 61 boxes to Nashville! Lori Gallagher was in charge of organizing the entire effort and was assisted by Gayle Fedele, Laura Moehling , Dianne Barnett, Rob O'Dell ,Connie and Chuck Grimm, and Tom McHaffie. Thanks to everyone for helping to make this happen. As you can see from the pictures, there is an impressive amount of help heading out of that warehouse, including our 61 boxes headed for Ti Riviere!

Thanks to Pat and Mary Rehovsky (pictured above) for pulling the whole thing together in Nashville.

Water Purifiers Constructed!

2010-04-21T13:27:00.001-04:00

Gift of Water, Inc - Purifiers Constructed!

For several years the OLMC Haitian committee has been supporting clean water purifiers for individual use in Haitian households. About 50 Haitian communities were using Gift of Water purifier in their communities. As of December 2008, the Gift of Water purification system that OLMC (and numerous other organizations) used in Haiti seemed destined to go out of business.

Through God’s grace; a wonderful parishioner at OLMC by the name of Pete Murphy has chosen to continue the efforts. As a result, he has created a non-profit organization here in Indiana, which will make and distribute water purifiers in Haiti.
As of April 30th, almost 1,200 household water purifiers have been assembled at our facility in Westfield. Tasks that were accomplished included: Using a drill press to drill holes in buckets, drilling holes in PVC, light hammering, using pliers, recharging carbon filters.
For more information or to help with this project in the future, contact: Bruce Elkins, 317-506-9533 or belkins@indyzoo.com.

OLMC to Rebuild Ti Riviere Quake Damaged Chapels

2010-04-12T14:13:00.000-04:00

OLMC is in the process of obtaining estimates to rebuild two and possibly three of the small chapels damaged in the recent earthquake, in our sister parish of Ti Riviere. Although the main church, school, hospital, and guest house were not damaged in the quake, these chapels are located away from the main town, higher up in the mountains, and because of their poor condition to start with, sustained in some cases the "finishing blow" with the earthquake. Most if not all of the system of small chapels serve multiple purposes as Church/School/Meeting place, etc. The teachers at these chapel schools are also supported by OLMC.

This is the location for a the new chapel (and the makeshift temporary quarters) to replace the damaged chapel at "Silegue"

Damaged chapel at "Cholette"...which has now become an outdoor Church.

This is the damaged chapel at "Bezin". You can see why the people are afraid to go inside.

Ti Riviere and the Quake

2010-01-26T13:33:00.000-05:00

Amid the chaos in Haiti, there is good and bad news from our twin parish in Ti Riviere. The following is from an email from Father Rebecca received about a week ago: In the town of Ti Riviere 7 houses were completely flattened. In the overall parish, there was one death, and two of the "mountain" chapels and one mountain school destroyed ( the Cholette and Sillegue areas for those of you that have been there). In the mountain areas there are over 800 home damaged and about 50 that were destroyed.

The good news is that the main Church and Rectory, and the new hospital are all o.k. The school and staff house built by the good people at OLMC are fine as well! Praise God!

Our Haitian builder/engineer/friend Abdou Fall visited Ti Riviere last week and sent the following pictures of some of these buildings. The people had noticed some cracks in plaster and some of the block-work, and were apparently sleeping outdoors for fear of the buildings falling. Abdou has assured us that the cracks are normal settling and probably not as a result of the earthquake, and in any case are not structural, or cause for concern. We are thankful to have formed a successful partnership with Abdou, and for passing the earthquake test with these buildings!

The first picture is of the completed Staff House for the Visitation Hospital (pre-quake photo), and then the other pictures were taken last week after the quake, of the Hospital, Staff House, School, and Church/Rectory:

Staff House taking shape!

2009-10-03T08:55:00.000-04:00

Our Lady of Mt Carmel's latest building project in Haiti is the above pictured Staff House for the Visitation Hospital. The projects consists of finishing approximately 2/3 of the main floor and adding 4 bedrooms upstairs. In speaking with Haitian Builder Abdou Fall this week, it appears that the project is going to come in on budget, and be complete in November 2009. These pictures were taken at the end of August, so as of this writing, the 2nd level walls have been finished in the stucco treatment, like the first floor shown above.

The new kitchen.

In the project we completed 2 1/2 new baths on the main level, and upstairs each of the 4 bedrooms will have it's own bath.

Completing the iron security screens for the first floor.

New Cistern being installed.

View of the Visitation Hospital Clinic, from the 2nd floor.

Haiti Medicine Packing - volunteers are needed!

2009-10-03T08:35:00.000-04:00

Thank you for your generous donations of the over-the-counter medicines for the Haiti Medical Mission trip. It is now time to package them for the team to take. If you can count to 20 you can help.... all counting sessions will be in the Holy Family Room in the lower level. Monday October 19th 9 - 11am, Tuesday October 20th 9 - 11am and 7 - 9 pm. Wed. October 21th 9 - 11am. If needed, we will meet on Wed. Oct. 21st from 7 - 9 PM as well, but please contact Laura Moehling before coming to that one to verify that we will be meeting. ljmoehling@aol.com or 848-1593. Many hands make light the work.. come even for just an hour!

OLMC to Complete Staff Housing Project for Visitation Hospital

2009-04-07T17:55:00.000-04:00

In our 5+ years now being involved with the mission to Haiti in the village of Petite Riviere de Nippes, one of the projects the Haiti Committee has been following has been the building of a new Hospital, the "Visitation Hospital", (VH)which has been a project of the Parish Twinning Program, which is the organization that originally paired us with our sister parish, St. Antoine de Padua. You can find out more about the hospital at : http://www.visitationhospital.org/.

Among many projects that are under consideration, the Haiti Committee recently moved to support the Visitation Hospital in a fairly significant way, by offering to oversee and finance the completion of the Staff Housing for the hospital. The need first became obvious, as our very own missionary Karen Jung began working with the Hospital (which is currently a clinic) as the Hospital Administrator, but has been residing in one of the clinic rooms for over a year now, as there was no room in the Staff House.

As many times happens in Haiti...the money runs out...and buildings are left partially finished. The VH clinic and the staff house were to be completed in phase one, but when they ran out of money...the Staff house was left only about 25% finished. There are currently 4 completed bedrooms, but the dining room is an "open concept" design consisting of a concrete floor, tin roof, and rough block walls.

OLMC is working directly with the same contractor we utilized on the school project, Abdou Fall, to design and build the remaining 2 bedrooms, dining room, and family room that were originally anticipated for the Staff House, and in addition, at least 4 additional bedrooms on the 2nd floor, to provide space for not only the daily staff, but also visiting Doctors, and medical missions to the Hospital.

As of this posting, the construction team has already begun work in Ti Riviere on finishing the first floor! As usual, none of this could be done without the AMAZING generosity of the parishioners of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Check out the "before" pictures below and the new plan (still under development), and then stay tuned to the blog for updated photos!

The view of the current incomplete Staff House (finished on the right...unfinished on the left!)

When the money runs out...you just stop where you are and leave that rebar sticking out for future building plans!

Here's the makeshift dining room where Karen and the current staff eat.

And here's the current plan for the completion of the entire first floor and 4 bedrooms and an open porch on the 2nd floor.

2009 Youth Trip Set for June 16 - 23rd

2009-03-30T15:37:00.000-04:00

The 2009 Haiti Youth Mission Trip has been set for June 16-23rd. Check out these photos, and the slide show (at the right), and you'll see what a great experience the last trip had.

The last group had a soccer game, painted some classrooms, gave flouride treatments, and made the long trek up a mountain to visit the famous "Wilkens", who many know came to Carmel several years back.

Although there will be plenty to keep everyone busy, one of the main activities is always just making friends with, connecting with, and just generally hanging out with the people of Petite Riviere de Nippes.

One of the projects on the last trip was to paint some recently constructed classrooms at one of the local schools.

Here's our twin parish pastor, Father Rebecca, with some of the youth from OLMC and Ti Riviere.

Elaine Grimm hanging out with some friends at the big soccer game. (We lost).

Betsy Reckelhoff and some more smiling faces!

This year's trip will also be led by Rex Rund. Rex spent 3 years living in Haiti while in the Peace Corps, and is fluent in the local language of Creole. The group will be working hand in hand with the youth of Ti Riviere in various work projects, and to be sure, they will be ministering to their Haitian brothers and Sisters. But they'll also come home having learned much...and received SO much. For more information, contact Cathy Penno 843-0667 cathy@penno.com.

OLMC 4th Grade PRE Kids Raise Funds for Haiti

2009-03-26T17:36:00.000-04:00

This article was submitted by Laura Moehling:

"I went to Gary Solomon's 4th grade PRE class yesterday. They received $15 from the social justice committee at their retreat to be used for seed money for a social justice project of their choice. The students purchased Papa Johns pizza coupons and sold them door to door and to family.

As you see from the photo, they presented me with an oversized check (that they also created) made out to the Haiti Committee in the amount of $250. It is to be used for the school lunch program in Haiti.

We had a wonderful discussion about sharing what you have with others who do not have as much. They asked me many questions about Haiti and the children there. We read Matthew 25 and talked about what God is calling all of us to do... It was a morning I will not soon forget. I so wish that everyone could have hearts as pure and loving as those 4th graders.

They informed me that they are not finished selling and they hope to present me with another $250 check before the end of the year to be used for water purification units."

The Building of a New School in Ti Riviere

2009-03-13T17:24:00.000-04:00

BEFORE: picture shows the remnants of another building, long since blown down by a hurricane.

AFTER:

In about 9 months time, our contractor in Haiti, Abdou Fall, had completed this beautiful 3 story school.

Real Help for Haiti- How OLMC is Helping

2009-02-05T12:32:00.000-05:00

Thanks to the generosity of so many parishioners at Our Lady of Mount Carmel, and their support of our Haiti Mission, the OLMC Haiti Mission committee has recently been investing in several different mission operations in Haiti, in addition to our ongoing committments to our sister parish in Petite Riviere de Nippes. One of those operations is "Real Hope for Haiti" http://www.realhopeforhaiti.com/.

Following is a little about RHFH's specific mission, and then a letter explaining specifically where the funds we sent will be spent:

"Real Hope for Haiti is a faith based organization that is intentional in its efforts to improve the quality of life for the citizens of rural Haiti, specifically in the village of Cazale and the surrounding communities while communicating the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The primary means by which RHFH seeks to accomplish this goal is through providing quality health care and education through Centre Sante de la Grace du Bon Samaritan (Good Samaritan's Health Center) and accompanying Rescue Center. In addition, RHFH contributes to the strengthening of the community’s infrastructure through various community development initiatives and repairing and expanding the potable water system there. RHFH also acts as a conduit, collecting much needed clothing and food, and distributing these basic life needs to the needy members of the community. Lastly, RHFH seeks to support local churches and indigenous pastors in the spiritual formation of individuals in the community through various evangelistic efforts. "

Jan 28, 2009

Our Lady of Mt Carmel Haiti Committee,

We want to thank you for your gift of $5000 to Real Hope for Haiti and those we work with here in Cazale, Haiti. We greatly appreciate your donation and most importantly your prayers. We are planning to use these funds along with the $5000 gift from your parishioner that agreed to match your committee's donation, to meet some needs that we otherwise would not be able to meet with our current funding. I would like to provide you with a small break down of what we are planning to do with these funds.

Rescue Center $2000
The Rescue Center is a facility that currently houses 65 to 70 children. These children are severly malnourished, burn patients, or have an illness that needs in-patient treatment. We also care for babies from newborns to 15 months. Most of these children have lost their mothers in childbirth.

Use of funds: walkers and seats for the babies, ceiling fans, new wash basins, new laundry baskets, painting, extra cases of meat, powdered milk

Medical Clinic $2000
The medical clinic that is run by RHFH does over 1000 consults per week with a staff of 14 Haitians. The clinic sees patients ranging from newborns to the elderly. We are opened 24/7 for any emergencies that might happen. There have been over 87,000 served since we opened in March of 1998.

Use for funds: financial assistance for surgical patients going to a CURE team (http://www.helpcurenow.org/) (burn contractures, club feet, deformities, bone issues), medicine for the poor

Community Development Group $2000
The community development group is a grassroots organization that works in the Cazale and the surrounding village of Cazale. Some of the projects of this group have been reforestation, irrigation, sewing class, road repair, helping the local schools with supplies, flood relief, hygiene and latrine projects.

Use for funds: to build four two seater latrines and food for volunteer workers

General mission $3000
Besides the rescue center and the clinic the mission has several other special projects. One of these includes repairing and maintaining a public water line.

Use of funds: buying supplies for the public water line that affects over 10,000 people

Radio station $1000
The local radio station was set up by the local Catholic Church here in Cazale. It runs 8 to 10 hours per day. They play music and have programs from the church each day.

Use of funds: new updated equipment

We again thank you for your donation to Real Hope for Haiti and the community of Cazale. Please feel free to email me at licia@realhopeforhait.org with any questions. You can also check out my blog http://www.haitirescuecenter.wordpress.com/ God bless you.

Warmly,

Elicia Betor
Lori Moise
Davis Zachary