HEALTH CARE

The hospital and clinics continue to provide remarkable preventative and curative health care as evidenced by its remarkable results compared to national averages.

Infant Mortality (0 to 5 years): Pignon 16/1000; Haiti 118 / 1000.
Infanto-Juvenile Mortality (0-1 year): Pignon 11/1000; Haiti 80/1000.
Maternal Mortality: Pignon 81/100.000; Haiti 523/100.000.
Immunization of Children: Pignon 92 %; Haiti 34%.

Surgical, dental, work, and education teams from Virginia, Iowa, Texas, and Wisconsin are scheduled to go to Pignon before the end of the year to provide direct medical care and to prepare for a better future for those served. Great plans are in the works for the improvement and expansion of the Hopital Bienfaisance facility under the leadership of Dr. Paul Severson of Project Haiti and Dr. Knox Singleton of the Community Coalition for Haiti. In addition to the new possibilities for larger cooperation in the medical community through the use of satellite technology, we continue to see new partners continue to emerge such as the team led by James Massie from San Antonio, Texas. Check out the Medical Mission Exchange,www.mmex.org to see what other medical missions may be operating in Haiti and could potentially cooperate.

While the supply of volunteers and expansion funding are progressing, the immediate needs of fuel for electricity, food for those in and out of the hospital, and even for staff salaries, continues to be woefully inadequate. This ongoing problem has worsened greatly from the effects of Hurricane Jeanne. Please join us in praying for provisions to heal the sick as God has called us to do.

"He said that he was calling me to the mission fields of Haiti, to lay hands on the sick and that they would recover."-From a vision of a new volunteer



EDUCATION

Since 1998 we have 6 new primary schools built for grades K-6 in outer
Villages. There are two schools in the Fontaine area. They are Philadelphia and 3Bear Christian, named after three members of the Bear family from California who were responsible for building the school. Rocky Mountain Christian is located in Maliarette; Meredith Christian in Terre Blanche; Morningside Christian in Guimby; and Sonshine Christian in Savanette.
This year there is a feeding program at Meredith Christian to determine if it is financially possible to feed students one meal a day at school to improve their health. If the cost can be reasonable, it is hoped that food companies, organizations, churches, and individuals will be willing to fund the students meals for this much needed nutritional program. The plan is to include all of the six new rural schools.

Enrollment to Date (Still in progress)
# of Sponsors: 425 from 25 states and Canada and England
# of students presently enrolled: 649
Four students have graduated and passed the Philo Exam in 2004 and are now qualified by the Haitian Department of Education to enter university. Our goal is to enroll four nurses and two administrative students in HASP to prepare for future needs in the hospital.

Peti

By Joanne Shafer, U.S. Coordinator for the Haitian Education and Literacy Program

Early one morning I awakened in my dorm room above the clinic and began to prepare for another day of interviewing the Haitian children for scholarships to go to school. As I dressed I could hear the children from the huts next door playing beneath my window. Then I heard a blood curdling scream and following that, many blows with screaming. I ran to the small window and below was a thin angry man beating a ragged little girl. Her dress was dangling from her dirty, thin, little body. As quickly as I could get my Haitian assistant down the stairs, I had him bring the little girl to be admitted to the scholarship program.
Someone who could no longer care for her after both parents had died had brought "Peti" to Pignon from Port-au-Prince. Unfortunately this is the plight of many children in Haiti. Life expectancy is somewhere between 47-52 years; with many deaths resulting from sickness, infection, childbirth and malnutrition. Peti had been left with a relative in the village and the entire family was struggling just to find food. So her arrival had caused trouble for the family, and she had received the brunt of the resulting frustration. However the moment my assistant brought them the news that Peti was wanted in the scholarship program, everything changed. She became an asset, a child with a future, one that could be employed. And the tuition would also provide a little money for food.

What we now receive is a neat little girl in a presentable, clean dress. And from the day she was enrolled to this, she has been blessed with a family and an education.

Peti wants to work within the medical profession. She continues to work hard and has the ability to go on to secondary schooling which could lead to the university in Port-au-Prince.

"Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me: and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me." Mark 9:37


AGRICULTURE

CMP has several goals to improve the agriculture of the region. These include the teaching and provision of drip irrigation technology, the distribution of material and training of peasants to plant 100,000 trees by July 31, 2005, and the obtaining of two more goats at $1000 each to complete 100 breeding projects.
The Mango Project is headed by Dr. Jim Birong of Carollton, Ohio. The project was approved by Rotary International this summer and includes:
1. Building a dryer to dry sliced mangoes for sale in Haiti and in the United States.
2. Refurbishing the nursery to ready it to grow seedling mango trees.
3. Setting up a Cooperative of Farmers who are interested in selling their mango fruit to dry and also growing more " MADAME FRANCIS " mangoes, that will hopefully be eventually marketed fresh.
After the construction of the dryer and the building to prepare and package the fruit, then grant funds to proceed with the implementation of the project will be solicited. Carrollton Haitian Team Funds are being used for this first phase.
The Carrollton Team will be going to Haiti in January to work with and train the people in the four leadership positions: a co-op manager, tree nursery manager, a business manager, and a mango drying manager. We need to pray for the Mango Project and all of the agricultural initiatives in process in the coming months.



A WORD OF THANKS

It will take an eternity to thank all of the many people who have contributed in selfless ways to the Christian Mission of Pignon. We want to say a special word of thanks here to Pat Metzelaars who served as the Stateside Coordinator for CMP for many years. Pat retired recently from this position, which she performed so efficiently, and often with no pay for her long hours. Pat and Jim have contributed so much of their time and resources that have affected the lives of so many. Pat, we thank you for a job well done and wish you the best in all you do.

NEEDED

1. Funds for medicine, supplies, and to pay hospital staff.
2. Prayers for the safety and effectiveness for the many volunteer teams traveling to Pignon in the coming months.
3. Funding for reforestation and drip irrigation supplies, training, and equipment.
4. Prayers for the spiritual, physical, and economic healing of the people touched by the Christian Mission of Pignon.

For more information see our website at www.Pignon.org or contact us at 615 646-5773 or CMPHaiti@aol.com. Donations are tax deductible and greatly appreciated.