Haiti Ministry

St. Edward Church, in response to the gospel call of Jesus Christ, has dedicated and focused our efforts in the island country of Haiti. We are committed to a twinning relationship between St. Edward Parish in Richmond and Holy Family Parish in Cerca Carvajal, Haiti. The relationship is viewed as a growing and dynamic experience between brothers and sisters in Christ. Recognizing the deep spiritual wealth of the Haitian people, it is the desire of this committee to enhance the spiritual journey of the members of both parishes.

Haiti Committee Update, February 2021

Wondering what’s happening in Haiti and Holy Family Parish?

Unfortunately, Haiti continues to experience political unrest in addition to the COVID-19 virus. Despite these challenges and with your continued support, exciting things are happening in the Holy Family Parish, School and Clinic.  The school was able to open for the 2020-2021 school year with the addition of a new handwashing station, all the 9th graders passed their government exams and the 1st through 3rd grades have been fortunate to be awarded a reading program through the Kellogg Foundation.  The clinic expansion has been impacted by the pandemic. Plans continue to be developed and we look forward to the build-out to begin later this year.  The clinic staff, Dr’s Simon and Tony, and the midwife Ojunette continue to care for the people of Cerca Carvajal.  Ojunette continues her vital care for the women of Cerca both pre- and post-partum as well as delivering babies. In 2020 she delivered 61 babies!  Dr. Simon wants you to know your generous donations allow at least 80% of the population to have at minimum one primary care visit. And Dr. Tony, in addition to his busy dental practice at Holy Family Clinic, was elected by The International College of Dentistry to a term of 5 years as Vice Regent of Region 43, Hispaniola region, which includes Dominican Republic and Haiti.   

And lastly, the Haiti Committee is looking into possibly starting a sustainability project consisting of a tree farm through the Raising Haiti organization.  We need your continued support and donations to keep these exciting projects going. If you would like more information or would like to join our committee, please join us on the 3rd Thursday of the month at 6:30. Currently the meetings are through Zoom. Send an email with your name and contact information to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Church for Cerca Carvajal

Photos of the dedication and tour of the church

Sponsorship Opportunities

St. Edward Sponsorship program began in 2004, as a means of providing funds to our brothers and sisters in Cerca Carvajal, Haiti. We offer five different sponsorship opportunities detailed below. Each serves to connect our parishioners with our twin parish. Regular updates are provided in the bulletin and in mailings to sponsors. 

Sponsorship funds are pooled and used to help meet the individual and group needs of all children at Holy Family School, including children awaiting sponsorship. These funds are used to pay teachers' salaries and to help provide a nutritious lunch, possibly the only meal some children will have. We cannot yet provide books for all of the children, but with more sponsors, we hope we can in the future.

Just complete the Haiti Sponsorship Pledge Form and return it in the collection basket, or by mailing it to the Human Concerns Office of the Parish Center.  The easiest way to fulfill your sponsorship is through our online giving WeShare at the following link:  https://sec.weshareonline.org/?siteId=efcc5b073cbf5d1706525e9339ffa935a57a3ac5e95ce846

Education

Donations to the Education Fund provide for the School Operating Budget. Teacher salaries are paid out of this fund. These funds are also used to pay tuition for one student at Normal School (teacher training school).

Medical

Donations to the Medical Fund support the medical clinic in Cerca Carvajal which is now staffed by a doctor three days per week. Check out photos of the clinic, the laboratory, the waiting room and the pharmacy.

Midwifery

Your generous support will provide direct funding for prenatal care, birthing, and postnatal care.

People Without Possibilities

Donations to People Without Possibilities are provided monthly for people who come to Fr. Kesner’s door with urgent needs, similar to the people that come to the doors of St. Edward. For example, people come to his door for food when they haven’t eaten in several days, people return from work in the Dominican Republic without the possibility of eating on their way home and need food.

Sustainable Development

Matching funds were received from the diocesan Battaglia Fund to start a project which provides rabbits, a hutch and training in animal husbandry to villagers. This will provide a food source and hopefully an income stream for families. Please check out pictures of the rabbits. Fr. KK reports that they are taking good care of the rabbits and that the rabbits are having babies. He also reports that many other families including some Protestant ones are asking for rabbits! All of this is possible through your generous gifts and a matching grant from the Battaglia Fund.

Where Most Needed

Funds donated “Where Most Needed” are allocated to the current priorities as determined by the Haiti Committee. We have recently provided funds for the newly hired agriculture teacher to buy tools, seeds and other supplies. These funds have also been used to sustain the satellite internet connection in Cerca Carvajal.

What are Blue Envelopes?

Blue Envelopes donations represent a substantial fraction of the overall financial support for our Haiti mission. Fund received from the blue envelopes support Holy Family Parish Operations. For example, these funds pay for church supplies, for formation for lay leaders and food for them during training, for fuel and maintenance for Fr. Kesner’s jeep as well as fuel for the generator which is used to power the microphones and instruments for mass to give just a few examples..

parishcal

weshare

facebook ico

Twitter