Haiti Websites of Interest

Here is a short list of a few of the websites that I have found helpful and interesting regarding Haiti on the Internet:

The Haitian Consulate in Chicago- www.haitianconsulate.org/

Parish Twinning Program of the Americas- www.parishprogram.org/

Bob Corbett Haiti Reference Site (Webster University)- www.webster.edu/~corbetre/haiti/haiti.html

Haitian Proverbs translated to English- www.haitianproverbs.com/

CASEDHAI Community

Typical street in the CASEDHAI Community

CASEDHAI photos (Pastor Amable)

This is Pastor Amable Constintine, founder of CASEDHAI. The photo is from 2001

CASEDHAI Photos continued

This is Dooglas and Chester Amable

This is Lovely and Jean Baptiste Amable

CASEDHAI photos

This is a photograph of Malourne with the children (John Baptiste, Lovely, Chester, and Dooglas) Malourne's husband, Amable Constatine was the founder of CASEDHAI

CASEDHAI

One of the programs of Rays of Hope for Haiti is CASEDHAI (pronounced: CAAS-duh) which is an acronym of the "Committee to Support the Unprovided Children of Haiti" It is located in a very poor slum area known as Cite Pele, which is an impoverished ghetto area of Port au Prince. In these areas there are many shanty homes built with old pieces of scrap metal, cardboard, or whatever people can find to make a shelter.
Unfortunately the area is located at the base of the Capital City, Port au Prince. So when it rains, the flood waters rush into the community and stagnate, mixing with sewage, waste, and the garbage from the streets. People in these communities have nowhere else to go, so they live in the flooded debris until the water subsides.
Life in these communities is very hard. There is no electricity, no clean water, no hope for jobs, no way of growing food, no education, and no medical care. The people are intensely poor, and they have continued to be that way for generations.
CASEDHAI is a grassroots Haitian program established in 1999 by Pastor Amable Constantine. He was a good friend of mine who worked at the airport in Port au Prince. He lived in the community where CASEDHAI ministers. Constantine died at the age of 32 from TB. He left behind his wife, Malourne and four children Jean Baptiste, Lovely, Chester, and Dooglas.
Constantine's early death is common for people who live in these slums. It can be very disheartening to see such poverty and know that although we, as visitors, can walk out of the area, over 30,000 people will remain there, and many will die soon.
Whenever we visit Haiti it is my hope that we can meet with some of the children of CASEDHAI. Our program is not monumental. Fund prevent us from helping no more than 50 families per month. But of those 50 families there are countless children who are able to have food because of our partnership with CASEDHAI. Each month we send the committee $800 to purchase food for 50 families. Unfortunately the cost of food has skyrocketed and what the committee could purchase a year ago was much more than what they can buy now. In fact, rice is so expensive they no longer purchase rice for the children, but some pasta.
On this upcoming outreach to Haiti, I am not sure we will be able to visit or meet with the Children of CASEDHAI because of our time constraints. However, please keep them in your prayers.
I will post some photos of CASEDHAI so that you can see the children and the community.
Blessings
Doug

Grace before the Meal

This is the traditional Grace or Prayer sung before a meal in Haiti:
(Creole is written just as it is spoken which makes it easier to learn the pronunciations)

Manje sa-a ou voye ban nou a papa
Manje ki bay lavi.

This food you sent to us our Father
It is the food of life

Photos of Port de Paix

I am not sure if you can see it or not, but if you look to the left of the church bell tower you will see some colorful "rags" on a rooftop. A young man lived up on this roof, and that is his only protection from the elements. I would wake in the morning from "my bed" at the rectory and see this young man up early for morning prayers. It is very humbling.
The poverty in Port de Paix is intense, just like all over Haiti. Yet the people are rich in their spirit.
Doug

Photos of Port de Paix

"I know God still cares about us, because He brought you here" This was the comment of one of the Parish Council members at Father Rams parish. Those words just went right through me knowing that God used us to bring hope and encouragement to the people of Port de Paix. What a wonderful blessing.
Here you can see the parish council as we completed an evening meeting.

Photos of Port de Paix

This is Father Rams, pastor of St. Louis de Montfort Parish in Port de Paix. He is surrounded with the children. I understand from conversations with others that his church (and rectory) was flooded considerably after the last hurricane. Someone told me up to six feet of water, but I have not spoken to Father Rams to confirm this.

One interesting fact about Father Rams, which I never knew until we visited in April 2008, is that he enjoys watching professional wrestling with the children of his community. Before his television and satellite broke, he was able to pick up wrestling via the satellite connection. It was amazing, all the children knew the wrestlers names and loved to mimic some of their actions.

Doug

A Solar Bakery for La Gonave

One of the hopes for Rays of Hope for Haiti is to establish a bakery in Father Roosevelt's community. Currently there is nowhere for the residents to purchase or make bread. Many have never had bread before.
Using the conventional method known in Haiti, which would be wood burning stoves is really not an option because La Gonave, like most of Haiti is almost 98% deforested. However we have done some research into solar ovens and they seem like the most practical, cost effective, and efficient options.
I have included a link to the website for Solar Ovens International so that you can research for yourself. When we visit Father Roosevelt this is one of the topics for consideration. From my personal experience I see the pros of the solar oven to be the following:
1. Higher yield of bread. (50 loaves per hour as opposed to 35 per day with a conventional wood oven)
2. Environmentally friendly- no destruction of the few trees remaining
3. Development of a micro-enterprise that will provide work and some income for those involved
4. Bread for the children in school and for the patients in the clinic.

Drawbacks
1. Initial cost is over $10,000 for the system, plus the shipping of the oven to Haiti/ La Gonave
2. Educating Haitians about how to use the oven and the benefits of the solar oven over wood burning stoves
Developing a business model that is effective and realistic for an impoverished community like Pointe a Raquettes.

Thanks much
Doug

Here is the link to the website: http://www.sunoven.com/usa.asp

Photos of La Gonave

This is the view as you arrive by boat to the community of Pointe a Raquettes

Photos of La Gonave

This is Father Leriche Roosevelt, Pastor of St. Louis, King of France Parish Community on the island of La Gonave.

Photos of La Gonave

In the past this is the boat that Father Roosevelt had to use to cross from his community in Pointe a Raquettes, La Gonave to the mainland at the port of Mirogoane. Don't worry though, this in not the boat we will take to La Gonave!

Photos of La Gonave

This is the community at one of the chapel locations in Terre Seche. Currently they have a well but it is not working. The Rotary of Richmond, VA is working to repair the well and funding has been provided to build a pump and cistern at the location

God bless you!

Dear Friends,
I thought that it would be nice to have a site on the web where we can interact and share our thoughts, prayers, questions, and even photos as we plan to go to Haiti on November 1-8, 2008. This will also be a great opportunity for us to follow up upon our return.
Please feel free to share your your comments or whatever you may like.
Check in frequently as content will be added.
With love in Christ
Doug Porritt