Haiti

Haiti is in free fall. Violent gang activity has created such a humanitarian crisis that on October 7, Haitian authorities requested security assistance to confront the gangs. The U.S. State Department said on Tuesday, October 11, that the status quo “cannot persist.”

Our friends in Haiti have shared the following:

“The situation is more and more alarming. There are many corpses a day in the streets. Life becomes much more expensive. To find something to eat is not easy.”

~Sister Evelyne, Cecelia Duffy School in Marfranc, Haiti. She has been stranded in Port au Prince for a couple of weeks now due to roadblocks and violence.

“This morning [October 3] there were 15 recorded cases of cholera in Cite Soleil. Two children from St. Martin died with Cholera, one from St. Michel.”

~ Sr. Paesie

“It is bad down here. There is a high lack of resources. Very poor phone service. $20 per gallon of gas in the streets. No one feels safe anywhere. Gangs

are shooting all day and stealing people’s stuff in the invaded neighborhoods.”

~ Joseph Brizola Jeudy, Reiser Relief’s in-country manager

“Jeremie’s power station has been down for lack of fuel since January 2021. The hospital has a generator but no fuel. The national fuel storage facility in Port-au-Prince has been taken over by gangs. No trucks move in or out of Jeremie. There is a solar system in the operating room so that C-sections can be performed, but they can no longer sterilize the instruments. The hospital has not been able to pay employees for the last 6 months.

Produce is wasting for lack of transport to market. Market women have had their baskets of fruit stolen on the way to market, so they hesitate to leave their villages. Schools are not open and grocery stores are pretty much empty.

The 450 inmates in the Jeremie prison are in bad shape. Food from the government has not arrived and many are skin and bones. I just heard that a number were allowed to go home, and some died shortly after leaving.

It is horrific and no end in sight.

~ Bette Gebien, an American in Jeremie that runs the guesthouse St. Mary’s Parishioners have stayed at when visiting Marfranc.

St. Mary of the Lake Haiti Committee asks for your help in two ways:

Pray for God’s intercession and a peaceful resolution.

Write to your elected officials demanding intervention. View the sample letter HERE that you can personalize and copy/paste into letters and emails.

God bless, The St. Mary’s Haiti Committee

History

Since the fall of 2014, the parishioners of St. Mary of the Lake have partnered with Reiser Relief to offer relief and hope to the people of Haiti. That relief and hope has come in the form of monetary assistance and prayerful support, but most powerfully in personal presence. Between 2014 and 2019, many parishioners have joined me in traveling to Haiti, meeting the people, fostering relationships, listening to their struggles, celebrating their joys, and responding to their needs. We have supported several partners but have focused most of our resources on the village of Marfranc, located in western Haiti. Our initial work repairing the dorm for the elderly and building the new Cecelia Duffy school was destroyed months later by Hurricane Matthew. Reiser Relief rebuilt the elderly dorm and St. Mary of the Lake rebuilt the school. That school building is open and completely filled with the littlest learners.

The relationship with our friends in Haiti has been mutual. In our visits, they have offered us generous hospitality and a joy that is hard to describe. The parish has been blessed and I have been blessed by opening ourselves to the people of Haiti. I pray that you will continue to support the people of Haiti with your prayers and dollars, and, if it be God’s will, your physical presence. -Fr. Talbot

We are called to serve

Whoever oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God. Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and He will reward them for what they have done. The generous will themselves be blessed, for they share their food with the poor. (Proverbs 22:9)
A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed. (Proverbs 11:25)
..blessed is the one who is kind to the needy. (Proverbs 14:21)
The poor save us because they enable us to encounter the face of Jesus Christ. (Pope Francis)

MISSION

We embrace the Catholic church’s commitment to serve as Christ’s missionary disciples through acts of mercy, compassion and generosity to the underprivileged in Haiti.
We respect and embrace the dignity of the Haitian people and culture by listening and responding to their needs and by fostering relationships with people and organizations that focus on supporting Haitian opportunity, self-sufficiency and sustainability.

OUR VALUES

Education
Eldercare
Care of the vulnerable
Support of Catholic priests and nuns

Why Haiti

Economic Reasons:

Haiti is the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere and one of the poorest countries in the developing world.

80% of the rural Haitian population lives in poverty
25% of all Haitians live in extreme poverty earning less than $1.25 per day
Financial support brings results

Practical reasons:

Haiti is accessible

Four hour flight from MN

Through Reiser Relief, St. Mary’s has relationships with dependable and affordable services

Housing, transportation, translators

Through Reiser Relief, St. Mary’s has connections with well-vetted organizations

Learn More about Reiser Relief and Our Relationships:

What is Reiser Relief?

Founded by Father Bernard Reiser
- 1949 – ordained and assigned to St. Mary’s
- 1969 – became founding pastor of Epiphany in Coon Rapids
- 1996 – travelled to Haiti and felt called to help; formed Reiser Relief
Mission
- To partner with impactful organizations to empower and engage the people of Haiti in Christ’s name
Values
- Education
- Care of the elderly and those with disabilities
- Job creation
- Agriculture

What is Reiser Relief’s role in St. Mary’s mission?

Reiser Relief provides experience, insight, and guidance to St. Mary’s
- Coordinates and leads St. Mary’s trips to Port au Prince and Marfranc, Haiti
- Provides ongoing insight into Haitian organizations
- Brokers our relationships with Haitian organizations and serves as a conduit on the ground
- Provides avenues for partnered financial support to Haitian organizations

View Marfranc Relationships

Cecelia Duffy Memorial School
- School
- Led by Sister Evelyne – Little Sisters of Therese of the Infant Jesus
- 158 students, grades Pre-K – Kindergarten
Elder Care facility
- Home for abandoned elderly
- Led by Sister Evelyn – Little Sisters of Therese of the Infant Jesus
- 38 residents – 21 men and 17 women
- Approximately 70 additional local elderly served meals daily
Missionaries of Charity
- Care of sick and dying babies
- Elder care

View Additional Relationships

Village of Jesus – Leogane, Haiti
- Home for abandoned elderly women, school, farm
- Sister Alta (Sisters of the Companions of Jesus)
Village of the Sacred Heart – Port au Prince
- Home for abandoned elderly women
- Sister Alta (Sisters of the Companions of Jesus)
Missionaries of the Poor
- Home for disabled youth and adults
- Brother Johnson
Missionaries of Charity
- Care of sick and dying babies
- Elder care
Kkottongnae
- Food and care for the abandoned (disabled, mentally ill, elderly)
- Sister Matthias Choi

St. Mary’s Reaches Out

Mary’s Haiti mission can be traced to Father Talbot’s first trip to Haiti in 2014. Since then, in conjunction with Reiser Relief, teams from St. Mary’s have traveled to Haiti in 2016, 2017, and 2018

Marfranc Projects:

Cecelia Duffy Memorial School built and then rebuilt after hurricane damage in 2016, latrines and handwashing station built in 2019
Eldercare bathrooms built, dorm facility rebuilt after hurricane damage in 2016
Missionaries of Charity – handmade cloth diapers and material for clothing donated

Additional Projects:

Missionaries of charity – donations of handmade cloth diapers
Financial support to Missionaries of the Poor, Kkottongnae, and eldercare facilities
Prayer shawls, rosaries, vestment, and alms distributed as requested