End of Year 2024 Newsletter

HACA'S Food Service Program: We are elated to share the great news of our food distribution to over 500 Families in Haiti on December 21, 2024. It was a long time in planning, and it wasn’t clear whether it could happen in view of the challenges we had to face such as the shortage of food and insecurity not only for our volunteers but also for our needy families. It took a lot of patience both on our part and the part of our old suppliers, working hand in hand, to find the necessary foods in the amounts we were looking for.

Everyone was very excited about the project. Our two coordinators worked diligently with our thirty-two volunteers over two days to assure the success of the event.  The distribution was done over two days to avoid large crowds for security reasons.  As usual, it went very smoothly.  Three hundred of the poorest families were chosen through twelve churches and over two hundred and fifty through their community leaders. We always have families who heard the news and just walk in.  They receive whatever is available.  However, in spite of our efforts, there are a lot of families who arrive after the event and whom we couldn’t serve. We wish we could do more than just one or two distributions per year. Addressing food scarcity is one of HACA’s most pressing concerns. That was our first action in Haiti in 2009.  Since then, the problem has gotten worse. We urge those who believe in this cause to support our efforts as Haiti continues to battle with political turmoil and gang violence. For this distribution, we had to make do with $13,000 since prices have gone up considerably.  We will upload pictures and videos on our website to give you a sense of what happened.  We are starting to prepare now for our next food distribution.

The Nurses for Hope Program

Our nursing students finished their two months internship in October and November in Hôpital de la Paix just before the last gang outburst in the area.  Ferna on the left, just started her 4^th and final year of nursing studies this January 2025, and Ketty started her third year.  Unfortunately, no one knows when the year will end since it all depends on the turbulences in the country. This year, class started three months late in January 2025 instead of October 2024.  We get very excited when these young ladies share with us the skills they are acquiring, for instance, giving intravenous medicine through ivys, helping patients with catheters, observing patients after surgery, etc.  

The young ladies must get to class by 7 a.m. and return home after 4 p.m.  It never stops to amaze us how motivated they are to brave the streets of Port-au-Prince day after day in the midst of shots and people running. 

The Nurses for Hope program attracts a lot of attention on the part of girls who are done with their education and are looking to get into a promising profession. The cost of $2,000 per year hasn’t change.  Our hope is to offer this valuable and important skill to more girls.

HACA’s School Sponsorship Program 

Most of HACA school students are at the Ecole Methodiste de Duplan, one of the most successful schools in the area.  We are pleased that our students are getting the best education possible in spite of the situation in Haiti.  This is thanks to the vision and expertise of the Rev. Edzaire Paul, who has been the school’s General Director for over a decade, with the assistance of Mrs. Marie Yolene Altema, the principal of the primary school.  The curriculum goes above the requirements of the Department of Education to include courses in computer science, musique, arts and crafts and sports.  Being in an area that is more of less secure, this school attracts a large number of students fleeing the insecurity and has grown within the past 4 years, from 400 to 900 students.  However, most parents being unemployed because of the situation in the country, are unable to pay for the education of their children. Out of the long list of students waiting for help, we have admitted three, two of them beneficiaries of donations from members of Saint Mark’s Church in Teaneck.  

The cost of giving a child a life-saving education is only $550 per year.  This is certainly the best way to build the future of Haiti.  As always, we thank our donors who make that program possible.