about us
Welcome to the Haiti Project in Rivier' Mancelle web site. We are a unique non-profit organization that has served in Haiti for 10 years, providing School Lunch Programs, Medical Services, Education, Humanitarian Services and Jobs to the Haitian people. We are an entirely volunteer organization and 100% of donations go to the Haitians via the projects they are designated to with no administrative cost taken out. We have no paid employees. Many volunteers pay all of their own expenses. Some donors contribute towards cost of travel and other miscellaneous expenses.
We believe that stewardship of the resources in trusted to us is vital to the success of this mission.
The Haiti Project at Riviere' Mancelle has been an on-going ministry since
1999 when Denise and Bob Snyder led a group of young adults in a mission studies class in Smithville, TN. The Haiti Project serves the 15,000 people of the remote parish of Riviere' Mancelle, in the northern part of Haiti.
Bob & Denise Snyder
Detailed Programs
School Tuition Program
For only $70 a year we are able to educate a single child, this includes books, tuition and two uniforms. Sponsors receive pictures and a program update in the summer when Fr. Jadotte makes his annual visit with us. We also collect general school supplies to ship on the container along with books in French for the school libraries. We are always looking for globes, maps, wall clocks, any teaching aids.
School Lunch Program
The people of Haiti do not eat a nutritious meal everyday. They have a piece of fruit or sugar cane to chew on. As a result, they are generally malnourished. This is very evident in the children; many children die before their 5th birthday from malnourished related illnesses. Many of the children are very thin with distended bellies. Others have ulcers on their legs from lack of protein. Consequentially they have little immune systems to fight off diseases.
For the last 5 years we have been able feed able to feed almost 1500 meals, 4 days a week for the entire school year.
The parents volunteer to cook and distribute the meals. The meals consist mainly of bean, rice, and red sauce. This makes a complete protein. Sometimes there is dried herring added. The cost of this program has averaged $20,000 a year.We purchase as much food locally as possible in order to support their local economy. We have witnessed a vast improvement in the health and well being of the children. We also have been addressing the preparation of the food. Traditional the food has been cooked over 3 stone fires. This is very inefficient as well as very unhealthy for the cooks due to inhaling the smoke. In the last few years we have received grants from the Salvatorian Order to purchase 3 large solar ovens. Each oven is capable of preparing 300 meals a day, with no fuel other than the sun. On our last trip we successfully built and installed a rocket stove. A rocket stove is a low tech stove that dramatically increases the efficiency of burning wood. We are currently working on a design that we can build here and ship.
Medical Missions
Many Haitian's have never seen a doctor and many basic medical conditions such as infections, burns, and malnutrition go untreated. Through our medical missions we send teams of doctors and nurses to treat the people from the entire region of Riviere' Mancelle. To date more than 1,183 patients have been seen.
At the dispensary at Riviere Mancelle and the dispensary at Château, we provide supplies from the shipping container and financial support. Malnourished Children and nursing mothers receive food through the school lunch program.
Humanitarian Containers
Every year we collect items for the different projects. We ship the latter part of February. Shipping is a collaborative effort with other churches in the middle Tennessee area. We all bring our item to a centrally located warehouse in Nashville. After all of the items are sorted and inventoried they are loaded on as many shipping containers as necessary. We divide up the cost it comes to $6.00 a cubic foot.
One part of the shipping container program is the Shoe Box Program. It has been very successful. Many children have participated and been recipients. In the Shoe box program, a shoe box is stuffed with useful items for a boy or girl. We ask for a $5 donation to be included to help with the shipping. This is a very personal way to be a gift to a child.
Item list: to follow
Basic Water, Power and Erosion Services
We have provided, installed and maintain solar panels and generators at the main church, rectory, chapels, and dispensary. This is very basic, consisting primarily of limited lighting.
We have been able to bring fresh spring water to the main areas of the mission. Prior to this, the drinking water was taken from the river. We are working with some other groups in the area to make purification available.
The hurricanes of 2008 caused serious erosion and loss of property in Rivier Mancelle. With the help of a grant from the Salvatorian order. Fr Jadotte was able to purchase 24 gabions and pay the local people to fill them with river rocks. They are a beginning to preventing the collapse of the main rectory. We are currently seeking donations of used chain link fence from fencing companies. Purchased gabion baskets cost us $125 US ea. They make a basket 4’x4’x16’. With donated chain link fence we can make baskets that are stronger, for the cost of shipping.
Agriculture
Training in composting, raised beds, and erosion control.
We are helping a local group to start a canning operation to preserve their abundant mango crop. Presently 65%-70% is lost due to the inability to market or preserve it.
Women's Groups
We have been working with empowering women’s groups to develop cottage industry products that we can bring to the United States to sell for them. We bring in clothing, table clothes, and other hand crafted items. We also work with local artist co-ops to sell their arts and crafts. We have also been working with the women to use the large solar ovens after the school lunches are prepared to bake bread for sale.
When we are there, we hold meeting to instruct in basic skills and to learn how to use the different items that we bring.