June report on Haiti

The Haiti Ministry met Thursday June 16th. We made several organizational decisions. A leadership council was set up consisting of Bob Lorsbach, Debra Bartelli and Chuck Kolesar. Lois Chamblin agreed to head up fundraising, and Karen Gephart will help coordinate work with the K-8 school. I'll work with communications. Chuck Kolesar brought us up to date on his visit to Haiti. Here are excerpts from his report.
On May 21 thru the 31st I had the opportunity to travel extensively in our sister parish of Notre Dame d'Altagrace. I met with thre representatives from each village and heard their concerns and aspirations. The needs of the parish at large are enormous. The overall condition of the community is deteriorating. Poeple are suffering from widespread disease, hunger and critical potable water shortages. Educational opportunities are lmited to the frail chapel elementary schools and healthcare is almost nonexistent. In a season normally associated with plenty (harvest of the mangos), I spoke with many hungry children whose villages had no access to thre fruit du to the cutting of the mango trees during the dry season for fuel. Clean water is so scarce the the vast majority of the community drinks directly from streams and rivers polluted with typhoid, dysentery and girardia. young and old alike are dying unnecessary and premature deaths.
Despite these cruel realities, the spirit of the people remains strong. Their faith and hope provide real sustencace that many of us in our faith community may never know. Christ lives and breathes in the mountains. Our task, I believe, is to support our brothers' and sister's faith and hope, ad to resist the pwerful temptation to separate them from our consciousness. The suffering ones are real and alive and are praying for us at this moment.
The Haiti Ministry is committed to working toward clean water for Layaye and the chapels. To find ways to bring fundemental healthcare to the suffering. To work towards bringing food to the hungry. And to help Father Ilric in his vision of building a self sufficient community through education. It's a huge job, but we will do all we can. We ask everyone who hears this message to help.