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The Haiti Project at Riviere Mancelle has been an on-going ministry since 1999 when Denise Snyder and a group of young adults were in a Mission Studies Class in Smithville, TN. The ministry was accepted by the JLG (Joint Leadership Group) during the spring of 2004 and has been awarded two grants, one for $11,000 and one for $15,000 toward the establishment of a School Lunch Program to feed the students and staff and to investigate alternative methods of cooking to eliminate the use of charcoal fire which is both a danger to the peoples health and the environment.

We shipped 5 containers to Haiti thus far. The last container had the usual shoeboxes filled with pens, pencils, crayons, sunglasses, paper, hair clasps, batteries, small transistor radios etc for the children that are sponsored for school, as well as medications, the 1^st solar oven, a couple generators, tools, clothes, etc.

A planned trip for September to meet the container had to be postponed on the advise from our Haitian friends due to the political unrest. In late December Denise and Bob Snyder again facilitated a mission trip to Haiti along with Rob Benshoof, Mike Carpenter, and Hayley Snyder. The objective was to install the first solar oven and train the School Guardian, Gene Louis, and school cook, Madam Gene Louis, at Garcin. Set up wiring for the electrical system in the Dispensary which now needs a power source. Annual maintenance and upgrades to the Solar Electric system and generators.

During our trip in December/January we realized a means of getting the food and supplies for the School Lunch Program up the mountain was needed. A very primitive road has been created and a request was made to the JLG and the Joint Collaborative Ministry Committee (CMC) to divert the monies awarded for the 2^nd solar oven to partially be used for an all terrain vehicle and trailer to aide the program. This will enable them to get supplies up the mountain and to move the supplies to the different schools where the ovens will be located.

Since its inception we have installed the first oven and purchased the pots and pans required for cooking and baking. Before we purchase additional ovens we want to insure the whole process has been accepted and enculturated. The first oven is being used on a regular basis and the only difficulty they have is on an overcast day. They are cooking and feeding 180 children a day with the solar oven for the school year (181 days). $9,000 was spent on food last year to feed 1500 people (children, school staff and a small number of malnourished persons sent from the Dispensary). $6K of the $9K was raised through the Lenten Parish Program in 6 Tennessee Salvatorian Parishes. This equates to .30 a day to feed a person. The Sisters tell us that school attendance is greatly improved and the children are not getting sick as often, they are more attentive during classes and their grades are improving.

During the past year another of the schools (Garcin) was upgraded from a grass hut to a more substantial concrete building. Our efforts in fund-raising continue to sponsor children in schools and a new Dispensary is being built. The old Dispensary was completely remodeled with the design and plans created during the 2004 visit. The new Dispensary is almost twice the size as the old one was. There is now an examination table, two beds where patients can stay overnight if required, and a sink with running water. A pharmacy, which is well stocked through donations from “The Haiti Project” and other fundraising projects, has been established. A classroom has been furnished with benches and is used for the school as well as for community group meetings (e.g., nutrition classes, agricultural group, COMPA).

Fr. Jaddot has been invited to visit the parishes that support this project, but has been unable to come to the US as of yet due to the political unrest.

We again plan to use the Lenten Season to raise money for the food supplies and will invite the twelve Salvatorian Parishes within the Southern Region. We are thinking of putting a Lenten program together to offer to other parishes during this next year. In 2005 during the Lenten Program 6 Salvatorian Parishes participated and in 2006 Huntsville’s Parishes will again participate: