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Dear Friends:
I am pleased to present to you the latest news of our mission in Pignon. I also want to convey the gratitude of the people you continuously support for helping us work to bring life-changing services to the poor and destitute in Haiti.
Nearly six months ago I was invited to visit the Board of the Christian Mission of Pignon. Members told me of the commitment of the supporters and partners, the passion of dedicated volunteers, the enthusiasm of a talented staff, and the faith filled motivation of loyal donors and supporters. They explained how the state-of-the art Hospital Bienfaisance, CMP/CBP and partners were serving the needs of a most deserving community in North Plateau Central. They rejoiced in teaching the thousands of people whom YOU have helped bring to the Lord. They bolster a multi-faceted approach to development that systematically addressed healthcare, education, socio-economic development, and agri-business to revitalize a region that counts nearly 160,000 people. I became the Executive Director for CMP; things are not only the way the Board described them… the realizations are simply outstanding!
On the recent Board meeting and a partner’s Summit on Haiti there was a commitment to celebrate accomplishment. It is happening this year because of our partners’ willingness to assess and re-define plans for 2006, to complete projects that have started, and to rekindle Christian Mission of Pignon’s vision: make Hospital Bienfaisance a beacon of Hope, an example of excellence in Haiti and the Caribbean.
It is the appropriate time to report what you have helped accomplish and where CMP’s mission at HBP is heading. This call to mind the bible’s teaching that no work for the Lord is ever finished: the “present” - from the Lord is eternally HIS, what we do with it is our present to HIM. Friends, we know not how many of these “lesser ones” the Almighty will place in our paths as a challenge. For the feeble of heart, discouragement is fast to come. The believer asks the Lord for a better understanding of how to serve His kingdom: “ ask the Lord of the Harvest to send out workers into His harvest field” Luke 10:2.
I start with the Hospital Bienfaisance, as it is the most vital piece of our efforts and the backbone of most projects in the region. Major new improvements are being finalized for this year. A new radiology unit is now standing; it will serve to house provide much needed diagnostic support without which most treatments are extremely limited. A new conference center and distance learning center are being completed this March: the dream of interconnecting the hospital’s room and reaching outside resources are now realized. Courses start this month! Here is the vision I heard expressed: to make HBP the best hospital in the Caribbean. Soon the technology in place will be used to support additional resources like CT Scan, and mammography. A most ambitious accomplishment it will be when the lab can offer telepathology: technicians and doctors will be able to display tissue samples over any distance and discuss particular diagnosis. This mission has been blessed with great ideas that it has realized over a quarter century. The Good Lord blessed us to also have YOU to thank for these achievements.
We have many times compared the results in Pignon to Haiti’s national statistics. HBP’s infant and juvenile mortality of 16 out 1,000 is closer to what you would find in a developed country. When out of 100,000 women, 523 died in childbirth in all of Haiti, only 81 were lost in Pignon. Immunization is at 88%, close behind the United States.
Many of you know also that we have no trouble attracting patients, students, and volunteers from both in Haiti and overseas. What has remained a challenge is to offer the convincing incentives that will help keep trained professionals in Pignon. We are also truly blessed to have many teams coming to the mission every year. Volunteers accomplish the many successes we experience throughout the community. In doing this, they not only give back to their professions or to a community, but restate the commitment of Christian life and the promise to be a light for the world; and best yet, the personal accomplishments of offering a worthwhile service fuels each volunteer with the physical and spiritual satisfaction of job well-done, a sense of a gratifying life.
For example, teaching the Word in remote villages accessible only by foot; putting a fresh coat of paint in a convalescent clinic; repairing a sagging door; tiling a floor in a doctor’s quarter; crossing a ragging torrent on foot to locate the site for the next community school; helping an elderly recognize the need to seek medical attention for a two-year debilitating injury; hugging a recently-orphaned child. Somebody, stop me!...
So many children wear a clean uniform, have a place to learn with a qualified teacher, and receive a hot meal with a smile and a hug. It is all thanks to you, our valued volunteers missionaries, brothers and sisters in Christ.
There are many changes that have taken place and more to come. These advances will mean more patients coming from farther than before looking for our services. The changes also call for more trained professionals to care for the sick, more building to operate and maintain, more salaries to pay employees, and more funds to buy medications for children. Add to that the increased cost of energy: Diesel and gas in Haiti are selling at a premium; the country does not provide public utilities. The hospital must depend on its own generator to produce electricity. Transportation costs have also increased while roads are becoming less and less practicable: repairs are constant.
For all these reasons, dear Friends, we need your help. We need your help to continue ministering to the population of destitute children, to whom your help means so much: We ask you to help us provide a warm meal for the hospitalized patients, an antibiotic for a baby, a haven for AIDS stricken children, hope for the future. We need your help to maintain incentives that will ensure we can retain our trained professionals. We need your help to show the Haitian people how the Lord operates in their lives. We need your help indeed to show the world we do not just pay lip service to the word compassion, we live it daily through the works we do for children that would otherwise die from preventable diseases. We are blessed for your contribution to this mission.
For all you do, we thank you in HIS name!
Charmant Theodore, CMP Executive Director
Christian Mission of Pignon, Inc. CMP is a 501 (c) 3 organization under IRS code
Donations are tax-deductible.
Please send your donations TODAY to :
CMP
4402 Howell Place
Nashville TN. 37205-3419
Phone: 813 -960-7523
813-843-3878