Haiti Outreach Hands and Hearts Project

Cultural, Financial and Educational collaboration with Little Sisters of the Incarnation A Ministry of Empowerment

The Little Sisters of the Incarnation carry out a ministry of empowerment within the Catholic Church of Haiti. How do they do this in the poorest country of the Western Hemisphere? Although the Little Sisters are engaged in traditional ministries of religious catechesis, often their most important mission is modeling for others self-sufficiency and self-respect. The help that the Little Sisters provide to their people is not simply a charitable distribution of goods.

A good example is the Little Sister's recent endeavor to establish a host-making ministry for dioceses within Haiti. The community wishes not only to sustain themselves financially, but they want the people they serve to know that they too can become self-sufficient, to not rely on the "hand-outs" of others. They encourage the people to use the gifts they receive in such a way that they, too, will someday be able to achieve the self-respect one experiences from meeting the needs of self and others.

This is not an easy task in a country where you cannot take a "quick trip" to the local hardware to buy a screw, or cannot depend on electricity being available to run your sewing machine, or to operate a host-maker. It may take months for a technician to check out a broken piece of equipment and then a year to get the part. By that time most of us would be so discouraged that we would give up. Not so for the Little Sisters. Their message to the people of Haiti is one of endurance, patience and courage to continue in spite of the overwhelming difficulties.

Birthing Center
One of the current shared concerns of the Little Sisters and the Carmelite Community of the Word is the high mortality rate among mothers giving birth in the rural areas of Haiti’s Central Plateau. The Little Sisters have been involved for some time with a prenatal clinic, but at this time there is no clean facility for mothers to utilize to bring their children into the world. Most births are unattended and take place on the dirt floor of their huts or outdoors. Needless to say, this environment is conducive to infection and many other complications.

The desire of the sisters is to establish a maternity home in an unused building on their grounds. This will provide mothers a clean and safe place to deliver. Although it will not be “high tech” in comparison to modern standards, it will be a step in the right direction.

For the last several months, The Carmelite Community of the Word has been busy collecting equipment and materials for the project. This has come from a variety of sources including donated funds to purchase a generator and electrical equipment. A sea container has been shipped and will hopefully clear customs and be on it’s way to Pandiassou, Haiti. Our next visit to Haiti will include assisting the Little Sisters in setting up the actual maternity home.