7-11-09: The Water Project and Missionary House pages are updated with pictures and information.
6-4-09: Water is flowing to the Saint Rose of Lima school! Leo Mulcahy and Steve Metzler leave with their two year long goal finally accomplished.
5-12-09: The second roof of the Mission House is poured! The Radford group comes down to visit with Karen Melendez and Barry Welch and eight other people. An important meeting is held with both sides of the HaitiCSR committee (US and Haiti counterparts). Thie meeting helps both sides understand the histories and streamlines our goals.
1st week of April 2009: John Gallini and family come down to visit. They bring with them loads of soccer equipment (jerseys, cleats, balls) and help prepare the new community soccer field. His grandkids enjoy playing soccer with the Haitian kids. He also brings down seeds and equipment for the community garden project.
3-7-09: Ten students from Virginia Tech and nineteen from Penn State spend a week in Jacsonville. We quickly put them to work moving blocks and clearing a site for the water project cistern.
2-21-09: Alison Smith and Doctor Bob come with medical students from Tulane University and hold clinics, assessing the health of the community and distributing medication. Clinics are held in the mission house and we saw over 200 patients in the immediate area. They also held a clinic in Savannette. They are the first guests of the mission house.
2-6-09: Check out the updated Missionary House, Water Project, Home Building, and Penny Bridge pages under Projects. Also, the Matabonite Report for December 2008 was added to Blog Entries.
12-18-08: Bishop DiLorenzo gave his seal of approval for us to become a 501c3 non-profit organization!
Report from David Burr, 12-11-07
While in Pignon last week with the group from St. Mary’s, Blacksburg, I visited Gabriel Thélus at Matabonite or Jacsonville. (A clarification: Matabonite is a chapel within the parish of Pignon, and Jacsonville is a district or neighborhood within the chapel of Matabonite. So you’re linked to a chapel within a parish, and we at St. Mary are twinned with the parish.) At any rate, Gabriel asked me to write a report on his work and send it to you. Here it is.
Gabriel is doing remarkable things.. The classrooms at the school are largely built and the auditorium, which has been coming along slowly since I first saw it in 2003, will soon be done. When I was there they were about to put in the stage floor. He hopes to have it done by January 23. In addition, he continues work on another building which will be a combination administration building, clinic, and library.
All of this adds up to a school that runs from preschool to sixth grade, with a present total of 268 students. The parents pay 10% of the total tuition, which is $100. He tries to get the other $90 from the states. If the parents cannot pay the $10, they provide 40 hours of work to the school building roads, painting, etc.
Gabriel is currently putting a great deal of effort into a vocational training program. He paid for a carpenter/furniture maker to train in Cape Haitien for two years, and that man is now employed by Gabriel to train three apprentices. He also has a welding shop, and in the future he hopes to add sewing, embroidery, electricity, masonry and agriculture. (The goat project currently underway could be regarded as a first stage in the agriculture program.)
In the future he wants students in the 4th, 5th and 6th grades to come to the vocational arts training center every week to familiarize them with the various trades. Then in the 7th, 8th, and 9th years they’ll specialize in a trade.
Gabriel is also building houses for those who work for him. He plans to build ten, and he’s already on number five. He’s trying to build them for $5000 each using materials from the immediate area. I’ll send a picture of one when my film is developed.
For the woodworking shop, Gabriel needs the following tools:
Grinder
Drill
Clamps
We’re talking about substantial-sized tools here. E.g. big clamps, a heavy grinder, a substantial drill and router. They already have small power tools like a small circular sander, drill and router. I would write Gabriel and ask for clarification. They need a great deal.
In addition, although Gabriel didn’t specifically request this, it was clear that at his house Gabriel needs a 12-volt submersible pump that will raise water 23 feet from his cistern up to his roof.
David Burr