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Friday, May 25, 2018
THANK YOU...from Institution Univers to YOU!
Tuesday, May 22, 2018
Jennie's Journey
JENNIE’S JOURNEY
FROM HAITI TO THE USA FOR WATER QUALITY MANAGEMENT
FROM HAITI TO THE USA FOR WATER QUALITY MANAGEMENT
During Sunday School they always talked about helping others who are in need. The cholera epidemic,
which killed a lot of people from water contamination, affected my choice of studying water quality
management. I knew that it would help others. My school in Haiti, Institution Univers, put me in a
program to come to the USA for a college education. Many people in America helped me have a scholarship for my associates degree in Water Quality Management from Red Rocks Community College
(RRCC) in Lakewood, Colorado. After I finish my studies, my plan is to go back to Haiti and work with
Institution Univers for as many years as I am in the US. Then, I hope to create my own business
around water quality management and start helping people. I hope that I will change their lives by
providing them clean and safe water to drink.
Why I’m in
the USA
GETTING INVOLVED
I HAVE A 3.5 GPA & AM ...
I HAVE A 3.5 GPA & AM ...
-
President of Red
Rocks Global Mentors
Club
-
Vice President of the
International Club
-
Secretary of the Red
Rocks Global Mentors
I completed my second year in the United States! I finished
one year of English as a Second Language and now my first
year of the Water Quality Management associate program. The college now offers a bachelor degree in this program and I hope to extend my stay to complete the bachelor’s degree. During the school year I worked in the cafeteria to earn my spending money. In Haiti this summer I will
teach a class on water at IU.
On my Spring break I went to my home in Ouanaminthe, Haiti with the Christ in the Caribbean mission team. I translated for the team and taught the Haitians that received the 600 water filters how to use them. These water filters will save 700 people from dying from water contamination over 10 years.
On my Spring break I went to my home in Ouanaminthe, Haiti with the Christ in the Caribbean mission team. I translated for the team and taught the Haitians that received the 600 water filters how to use them. These water filters will save 700 people from dying from water contamination over 10 years.
In January 2018 one of my sponsors, Venice Presbyterian
Church in Florida, invited me to visit their church and
share how their scholarship money is helping me on my
journey. My hosts took me to see my first alligator!
Sharing My
Story
I was also invited to
speak for a Rotary
Club and a fundraiser for my scholarship in Colorado.
Experiencing
America
Thank you to everyone who has given me
scholarship money, helped with my clothes ,
prayed for me and made my trips possible to
see the beautiful United States! God bless
you!
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If you would like to donate to Jennie's education, please send a check with a note attached to the check indicating that the donation is for "GAEL JENNIE FLEURANT - College Scholarship at RRCC".
**Please do not write her name on the check, otherwise it will void the tax deductibility for you.**
Check is to be payable to COCINA, then send the check to:
COCINA, P.O. Box 12695, Columbus, OH 43212.
Let's get Jennie a bachelor's degree, so she can return to Ouanaminthe to begin helping her community!
Thank you and Love,
Marylee
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If you would like to donate to Jennie's education, please send a check with a note attached to the check indicating that the donation is for "GAEL JENNIE FLEURANT - College Scholarship at RRCC".
**Please do not write her name on the check, otherwise it will void the tax deductibility for you.**
Check is to be payable to COCINA, then send the check to:
COCINA, P.O. Box 12695, Columbus, OH 43212.
Let's get Jennie a bachelor's degree, so she can return to Ouanaminthe to begin helping her community!
Thank you and Love,
Marylee
Friday, May 18, 2018
God's opportunities for Institution Univers...
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Saturday, May 12, 2018
Haiti FUNraiser May 20 - to support my mission in Haiti - come one, come all...and bring your friends and family!
MAY 20, 2018
Painting with a Twist - Strongsville
…Is offering a two hour painting event for you to come support and donate to my ministry for Haiti, by purchasing a seat to participate in a fun, relaxing, and creative experience.
50% of the proceeds from this event are donated directly to helping me raise funds for ministering at Institution Univers in Haiti.
Two session times to participate in a fundraiser
3-5pm OR 6-8pm
We'll be painting "Island Village", $45.00 per person.
SPACE IS LIMITED Therefore, sign up today at:
HOW TO SIGN UP FOR THE EVENT!
PLEASE CLICK on this Link, scroll to MAY 20, Choose which time you'd like to attend, click on the time slot of 3 - 5pm OR 6 - 8pm, then use the PASSCODE: Haiti, to sign up. You will be able to reserve for yourself and others on the page. Bring friends!
I look forward to seeing you on May 20! By chance if you cannot attend (you will be missed!), yet you want to donate, here is the link to donate:
Online by Credit Card: www.chswilloughby.com
Click on the "GIVE" button in the UPPER left corner, at the top of the Home Page. The resulting Donation page Click on "Outreach & Donations", Then in the "Select" Toggle Box Click "CHS Missions", then in the Toggle Box below CHS Missions, Click "Haiti". You are able to make a one-time gift or recurring gift through the website.
OR By Mail:
Make the check payable to "Community of the Holy Spirit Church", or "CHS Church" (either way to write it is fine!). On the memo line write: "Haiti Missions ML" and send the check to Community of the Holy Spirit Church, OR CHS Church
36600 Stevens Blvd
Willoughby, OH 44060
1.440.946.8636 - Vicki Fisher, Administration
I look forward to seeing you May 20! Thank you so much, and Love,
All for Him,
Marylee
If you have any questions, please contact me or:
Daniela Christopher
Owner
330-815-0035
Strongsville, Oh 44136
Studio308@PaintingwithaTwist.c
In our ongoing commitment to give back to our local communities, Painting with a Twist ® (PWAT) proudly sponsors a fundraising event known as Painting with a Purpose (PWAP). Proceeds from Painting with a Purpose events are donated to a local non-profit organization. Painting with a Twist has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to local non-profit organizations such as Vera Bradley Foundation for Breast Cancer, Paws and Prayers, Alzheimer’s Association, Autism Society of Greater Akron, and Akron Children’s Hospital. We are committed to giving back to the local community, one painting at a time.
COCINA Update...
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Wednesday, April 25, 2018
If you live in or near Portland, MAINE...
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Tuesday, April 24, 2018
'Haiti en wout de changmans' — Haiti is on the way of change
Environmental vulnerabilities are linked to every other problem in Haiti
On coastal areas near the capital of Port-au-Prince and in other cities in Haiti, trash is strewn on the streets and on canals. (GSR photo/Chris Herlinger)
Cap-Haïtien, Haiti — It is never difficult to spot Haiti's environmental vulnerabilities — they are linked to every other problem in the country.
On coastal areas both near the capital of Port-au-Prince and in other cities like Cap-Haïtien, on Haiti's northern tip, trash is strewn on the streets and on canals, sometimes building up so thickly that causeways of refuse are used to cross over a waterway.
Last September, not far from a trash-littered river that snakes through a coastal area of Cap-Haïtien called Nan Bannann, I spoke to local residents there about environmental threats that encompass not only the worries about polluted waters, but also of coastal flooding from hurricanes.
Gray clouds emanating from Hurricane Maria looked threatening, and residents like Farah Jasmin said there is little they can do when floods threaten except evacuate elsewhere and wait it out.
"From September through December, people are worried," Jasmin said of the most critical months of Haiti's yearly hurricane season. "We're the most vulnerable because we live by the sea."
Luckily, Maria just brushed northern Haiti. But residents say local authorities have not paid sufficient attention to the area's problems, like the rubbish-filled coastal areas. They would like to see the area cleaned up, but it's a task they can't do by themselves. Nor do they feel they can move elsewhere permanently. "We don't have the money," Jasmin said. "We suffer."
Such sentiments don't surprise Michel Edouard Alcimé, deputy director for Jesuit Refugee Service in Ouanaminthe, a city located on the border of Haiti and the Dominican Republic, and about 40 miles west of Cap-Haïtien.
Alcimé's primary job is focused on the flow of migrants along the border, but it is impossible not to see how major social problems in Haiti are all related to each other and, in the end, tied to poverty, he said. "Everything is linked to the economy."
"Look at the problem of the environment," he told me in an interview. One of the most common symbols of Haiti's environment woes is deforestation, something seen everywhere, from the mountains near Cap-Haïtien down through to other mountainous areas near the southern coastal city of Jacmel.
On either stretch, you will see the effects of deforestation — trees cut to their roots because people use the wood for charcoal as an inexpensive way to cook.
Boyer Jean Odlin (GSR photo/Chris Herlinger)
Alcimé recalled seeing a family he knows cut down a fine, healthy, fruit-giving mango tree on their property. The family told Alcimé, "We know that every year this tree gives us mangos. But we had to do it for the charcoal."
The need for charcoal stems from a need for cheap fuel and energy. But the result of trees being cut down en masse and exposing hillsides makes already impoverished areas more vulnerable to mudslides during heavy rains and to winds caused by storms.
A more robust government could do more to enact environmentally friendly legislation and regulations, Alcimé said. But that would be a massive undertaking in a country where there is essentially "no control" when it comes to the environment, he said.
"It's not just 'conscientization' " — becoming aware of and acting on social problems, he said. It's also about applying rules. And, of course, "to improve the situation of the people everywhere."
That is not easy. Before visiting Cap-Haitian, I visited the city of Les Cayes, along Haiti's southern coast. The city and the surrounding area were badly affected by Hurricane Matthew in 2016.
Farah Jasmin (GSR photo/Chris Herlinger)
While the city's cleanup and rebuilding had patched up visible scars, many challenges still remain and problems are all interrelated, as I found out in talking to Boyer Jean Odlin, 28, a young professional who once worked an administrative job in Les Cayes. Out of work since Matthew hit Les Cayes, he said food was scarce after the hurricane and remains so for many people still struggling with the hurricane's aftereffects.
"We are Haitians. Sometimes we go without food for two days or more," he said. People get by, he said, from loans from friends and family and by doing day-labor jobs, which is Odlin's means of support right now, he told me.
Odlin believes governmental bodies did not carry their weight in emergency and subsequent reconstruction efforts. His residence was flooded during the hurricane and he lost everything — computer, food, clothing — and noted there is no government assistance for survivors like him.
Nor does he see any long-term effort to address issues like environmental vulnerabilities.
If there were more commitment on the environment from a stronger government, he said, life might be better for Haitians like him. There has to be a way to build better houses, make coastal areas less vulnerable to natural disasters and take more of a role in creating jobs. "The government is responsible in a way," he said.
It may be, but the government is neglecting basic infrastructure, as I found out at the end of my assignment.
Chris Bessey, the Haiti country representative for Catholic Relief Services, said that since the "Haitian people face many challenges, from natural disasters to the daily struggles of making ends meet … environmental issues such as deforestation, soil degradation and shifting climate patterns only exacerbate these challenges."
Cap-Haïtien is at Haiti's northern tip. (GSR photo/Chris Herlinger)
"We are Haitians. Sometimes we go without food for two days or more."
-- Boyer Jean Odlin
"We are all seeing how natural disasters are increasing in intensity as well as the devastating effects on people in their paths, " Bessey told NCR. "Communities in Haiti, especially farmers, are trying their best to adjust accordingly, but more is needed."
Leaving Cap-Haïtien for Port-au-Prince — normally a six-hour trip on road — I and colleagues and a driver from Catholic Relief Services discovered a set of challenges: A truck accident blocked the most accessible road back to the capital, and other motorists told us it could take a full day to respond to the accident and remove the truck from the mountainous roadway. So, we had to turn around, retrace our steps back to Cap-Haïtien and then take another route.
Along the way, we had to cross numerous rivers with no bridges. But then we got stalled for nearly two hours near Ennery, in the western department, or province, of Artibonite, awaiting a damaged truck blocking passage across one river to be overturned and then moved.
Michel Edouard Alcimé (GSR photo/Chris Herlinger)
Up to that point, we had avoided rain. But just as we left the area, we ran into about 20 minutes of severe downpours that might have been related to the effects of Hurricane Maria. In all, it took us 12 hours to return to Port-au-Prince.
All of this pointed to Haiti's vulnerabilities — many grounded in Haiti's uneasy relationship to the environment.
Is there hope? One person who believes so is Sr. Bernadette D'Souza, an Indian member of the Society of the Daughters of the Heart of Mary I met in Haiti two years ago. She is concerned about environmental issues partly because of her previous mission work in Rwanda, a country committed to a clean environment.
As a relative newcomer to Haiti, D'Souza acknowledged in an email that among the first things an outsider to Haiti will notice are "empty plastic bottles thrown anywhere and as a result drains clogged and water stagnates in certain places especially when it rains."
But efforts of various kinds are being made, she said, including efforts to recycle waste and reduce the use of plastic bottles. One manufacturer is now making stoves that use fuel from sugarcane waste rather than charcoal.
Sr. Bernadette D'Souza (GSR photo/Chris Herlinger)
A group of Franciscans, D'Souza said, has initiated a project "to construct a plant that manufactures bricks, sheets for roofing, vases for plants from plastic and paper waste." That project still faces hurdles, she said, including finding land to construct a plant "that is not harmful to the population."
"There is still a long way to go in Haiti but I feel small steps are being taken," D'Souza said. "Education has a big role to play in the process of systemic change. I have seen in certain places billboards that say in [Haitian Creole] 'Haiti en wout de changmans' — Haiti is on the way of change. So we can hope for the best and wait for the day to see this country totally transformed."
"In the meantime," D'Souza said, "I will try to be the change that I want to see in Haiti."
[Chris Herlinger is international correspondent for Global Sisters Report. Translation assistance was provided in Ouanaminthe by Harry Voltaire and in Les Cayes by Ulrick Louijeune.]
https://www.ncronline.org/news/environment/environmental-vulnerabilities-are-linked-every-other-problem-haiti
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