The Power of an Encounter: Haiti’s Interim Prime Minister Addresses Webinar Hosted by FFTP
COCONUT CREEK, Fla. (Aug. 16, 2024) – Garry Conille, interim Prime Minister of Haiti, was among the speakers during The Power of an Encounter, a digital workshop hosted Tuesday by Food For The Poor (FFTP) in partnership with the Episcopal Parish Network (EPN) and the South Florida Haiti Project (SFHP).
Clergy and laity from across the United States and Canada tuned in to the webinar, which was intended to heighten awareness about the need for continued support of Haiti while raising funds to build 30 homes and a school in Bondeau, Haiti.
“As the United Nations-backed multinational security support program unfolds, we find ourselves at a critical juncture,” Conille said. “The restoration of security and governance is essential for Haiti to move forward, and it is through the support of organizations like Food For The Poor that we can lay the groundwork for the brighter future that Haiti deserves.”
In the three years since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, Haiti has been wracked with multiple crises, including a 7.2-magnitude earthquake and Tropical Storm Grace in August 2021, major civil unrest, soaring inflation, and a resurgence of cholera in the fall of 2022.
Gangs have conducted coordinated attacks since late February. A transitional government and an international peacekeeping mission to back up a beleaguered Haitian police force has improved conditions in some parts of Port-au-Prince, but gang members have refocused their attacks in areas outside the city.
Meanwhile, almost half the population of 11 million are in critical levels of food insecurity.
Even during the challenges that Haiti faces, FFTP has maintained a cadence of support to its 13 distribution centers and its network of 2,210 local churches and organizations in Haiti. The charity is poised to launch a major campaign of support once it is safe to do so.
“We take every opportunity to serve,” FFTP President/CEO Ed Raine said. “We trust in God that this is going to end in a way that allows us to get full traction and go back to a level of normalcy, where you can travel with us, and you can see the work that’s being done.”
In addition to Conille and Raine, speakers included Joe Swimmer, Executive Director of the EPN; the Rev. Andrew Sherman, Chairman of the SFHP Board; Teresa Grashof, Vice President of the SFHP Board; Beth Shires, Executive Director of the SFHP Board; the Right Rev. Ogé Beauvoir, former Executive Director of FFTP-Haiti and a member of the FFTP-Haiti Board; Ed Buckley, President and Founder of Water Life Hope; Father Jean Phanord, of Bondeau, Haiti; Bertrhude Albert, CEO and Co-Founder of P4H Global; and Delane Bailey-Herd, Director of Major and Principal Gifts at FFTP.
The webinar focused on the importance of partners collaborating to empower change in Haiti. Speakers emphasized the need for long-term development and education to break the cycle of poverty through partnerships and collaboration to achieve sustainable solutions and ensure that education is accessible to all.
“When it comes to sustainability, it’s about also listening to the community,” Fr. Sherman said. “The model of us coming in and giving the community, in a kind of patronizing way what they need, is gone. It’s now a true listening, and what we do in partnership so the lives of the people of Haiti are sustained and prosper.”
Webinar viewers learned about the need for housing and education in Haiti, with an emphasis on two projects in Bondeau, a community of about 5,000 residents in the Nippes department of Haiti, near Miragoane. Residents are still struggling to recover from the impact of Hurricane Matthew in 2016 and the 2021 earthquake.
FFTP is partnering with SFHP to build 30 new homes for families in Bondeau, giving residents who now live in subpar homes damaged by Hurricane Matthew safe and secure housing. Funds also are being raised to build a community school in Bondeau that will benefit 403 students and 40 teachers. It will consist of three buildings with three classrooms each and a two-classroom building, an administrative building, a retaining wall, and a 13,000-gallon reservoir, including a distribution line to restrooms, a solar-powered water pump, and a solar panel system.
For interim Prime Minister Conille, the webinar and the campaign to support Bondeau showcased the importance of working together to ensure that Haiti and its people are not forgotten.
“The Power of an Encounter is more than just an event – it is a call to action,” he said. “It is a reminder that we are not alone in this struggle, that there are many who are ready to stand with us, to pool their prayers resources, and efforts to support Haiti during its greatest hour of need.”
To donate to the projects in Bondeau, visit foodforthepoor.donorsupport.co/page/powerofencounter.
The Episcopal Parish Network (EPN) is a national, collaborative movement of clergy and lay leaders of the Episcopal Church gifted with diverse parish resources. EPN members come together for conversation, connection, and collaboration. EPN is committed to being a central resource for local ministry in parishes and cathedrals across the Episcopal Church. With over 250 member churches, EPN convenes clergy and lay leaders to imagine the coming church. Through its annual conference, digital workshops, lay and clergy cohorts, and other programs EPN’s members come together to ensure strong and vibrant local ministry. EPN walks alongside our members in an effort to ensure its unique Episcopal witness endures for generations.
The relationship with Bondeau began in 2003 through St. Gregory Episcopal Church in Boca Raton, Fla. South Florida Haiti Project (SFHP) was officially founded in 2009 with a commitment to serve the people of Bondeau with education. Over time, SFHP transitioned from only providing direct service for the community to engaging in and celebrating a full partnership with the people of Bondeau and expanding to include safe water, food, health care, and sustainability.
Food For The Poor, one of the largest international relief and development organizations in the nation, does much more than feed millions of hungry children and families living in poverty primarily in 15 countries of Latin America and the Caribbean. This interdenominational Christian ministry provides emergency relief assistance, water, medicine, educational materials, homes, support for vulnerable children, care for the aged, skills training and micro-enterprise development assistance. For more information, please visit foodforthepoor.org.
Ernestine Williams
Communications
305-321-7342
[email protected]
