How About Some GOOD News!!
Let’s talk about the best $10,000 Holy Redeemer ever spent! Because LAST Lent’s Goat and Chick- en drive (in collaboration with the other Webster parishes, Annunciation and Mary, Queen of Peace) was so successful, we were able to use
$10,000 to fund a project for a group called Water With Blessings. (That title, as we shall see, is an understatement!) Water With Blessings offers Sawyer Point of Use Filters along with training to people who desperately need clean water. The water that our brothers and sister in Haiti have access to often causes any number of diseases including typhoid, dysentery, cholera as well as other parasites which can cause gastro-intestinal issues. (It is tough to work or raise a family when you are deathly ill.) WWB supplies the filters and the training, all HR had to do was fund the room and board for the trainers.
The trainers spent several weeks training – main- ly women – as to how to use the filters, backflush them and maintain them. 90 women were trained a day, almost 2500 over the course of the month of training. Each of those women share their filter with three other families and the average Haitian family is a family of six. So when the project is fully completed approximately 60,000 people will have access to clean water who did not have that to begin with. With less illness, there will be more productivity and less a strain on the already tenuous health care system of that country.
When you consider that if they are kept in good shape the filters could last up to ten years, you begin to see the profound effect that this simple gift will give. Truly it is water…with blessings.
Why did the chicken cross the road? To visit with the goats.
Because Webster Catholics were so generous last year, we were able to do another round of chickens and goats, and this one was even bigger than last year. As of January, 31 kids (2 sets of tri- plets) were birthed and now another 300 female goats, 18 Boer males and almost 1000 chickens will make their way into the area to provide food security for the people living in proximity to St.
Jean. The Haiti committee has committed to helping with veterinary supplies and drugs as well as help the vets get around and help keep the animals safe and sound.
Build up my church
Both the church at St. Jean and the rectory were damaged after the last earthquake hit the area. We are happy to announce that the Haiti commit- tee was able to help with funding the repairs on both buildings and that the work is continuing even as I write this. Hopefully by mid summer we should have pictures of the completed work.
I missed out. How can I help?
Glad you asked that! There are two projects we have to raise additional funds for our twin parish. First, as in the past, we are having a Sponsor-a- Student program for the grade school down in Haiti. Our goal is to fund 170 student at $100 apiece. This gives these children an opportunity at an education which is the foundation for social justice and equity in that area.
Furthermore, there is a new fundraiser this year. Our own Jim Baum (the president of the Haiti committee) is making a pilgrimage on the Camino de Santiago, the Way of St. James in Spain. If you have ever seen the movie THE WAY, it fol- lows a father making a pilgrimage after the death of his son. (Good flick, check it out.) Jim is walking the way, all 240 miles or so of it. And if you would like, you could sponsor him per mile.
The suggested offering is $.50 per mile or $120. I am using this forum to declare that I will be the first to sponsor Jim at a dollar a mile. He is hop- ing to set up website so we can follow along and donations may be given. The pilgrimage begins on May 14, 2022.
So as you can see, there are many good things happening with our twin parish and here at HR!
Father Kevin