Happy Holidays!

No matter what you celebrate this is the year to be grateful for what we have, especially our health. We are thankful and grateful for you and your loyal support!

2020 Mission to Haiti

We hope to travel to Haiti in March 2021, depending on the distribution of the vaccine. 

In the event we are unable to travel, our workers are prepared to deliver backpacks and take information for the students. Keep us in your prayers!

One Shipment in 2020!

We re-evaluated our shipping timeframe and decided to ship only once in 2020. 82 bins left the church in September and every-thing arrived in tack and safely. Total cost for shipping was $100.00 x 82 = $8,200.00. 

Generator

Two automotive batteries were purchased in April. We replace 2 each year for the generator = $200.00 each or $400.00 for 2020. 

Ceiling at Bureau Leclerc

We were so grateful for donations to repair the roof. We also raised enough to paint the ceiling inside to remove the water stains! God bless parishioners of St. Bernard!  

Sponsor Children in our 6 Schools!

As noted with your tuition paperwork, some children were no longer attending schools sponsored by our Sisters. We strive to be sure that sponsors know their donation is going to the child’s education. If the child is not in one of our schools, we cannot guarantee they are in school. We have children who still need sponsors on our website. 

We assisted 296 Students in 2020!

University Students! University study in Haiti is difficult. The atmosphere of the country and the pandemic have caused our students to lose a semester of school. We are happy to say they are taking their exams and planning to continue in Jan & Feb of 2021. We have two students graduating in 2021! Mafalda Cherestal in Cosmetology and Arseline Petit Frere in Hotel Mgt. We are very proud of all of our students! 

FATV Segment 12/16/20

Did you see our Haitian Outreach segment on FATV? Go to YouTube: FATV, Discussing Fitchburg Now, Sam Squalia, Dec 16th 7pm; Or go to the website www.FATV . Diego Dorlean was with us via Zoom in Haiti. He was able to show us around the campus of University of Port au Prince. He discussed some of the hardships students endure when trying to get a higher education. Check it out!

Fund Raising for 2021!

What will 2021 bring? Who knows! We are still here working for the children of Haiti and appreciate your continued support.  Watch for further information as the year goes on. 

New Program in 2021!

We are starting “Larry’s Food Fund”.  Donations can be made to this fund which will be given to students who do not receive “rice money”. We also hope to start a “Breakfast Program” at one of our schools. It is important that our students eat at least once a day!  

50th Anniversary

Our sisters will have a mass of celebration in January 2021 for their 50th Anniversary as an order. Say a prayer for them and the continued work that they do with the children of Haiti. It all works!

Thank you!

We wish you a very peaceful and blessed Holiday Season, and good health and joy in the coming year!

A mass in thanksgiving for sponsors and donors was held in September 2020 at St. Bernard’s Parish at St. Camillus church. 

Friend me on Facebook: Pauline Berthelette Aliskevicz 

We’re thrilled to be featured in the Sentinel & Enterprise newspaper, here’s an excerpt:

As parents of school-age children will face much uncertainty and questions this school year, there are children across the globe who face that every day.

If you ask volunteers of Haitian Outreach, they will say it’s their mission to help these children get a good education and provide the tools for their success: backpacks, school supplies and new shoes.

Haitian Outreach is a child sponsorship program started in 1998 when Norman and Lorrie Charpentier, of Leominster, visited Haiti for the first time.

“Norman and Lorrie found that the children had no means of attending school, as 90% of schools in Haiti are not free,” said Pauline Aliskevicz, of Fitchburg, director of Haitian Outreach. “They returned home to Leominster and began reaching out to the community to sponsor 60 students, which has now grown to 300, and includes 16 university students.”

Keep reading on the Sentinel & Enterprise site

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Sister Immacula Cornelius, aka (Sister Erma), who is the Mother Superior of the sisters, is pictured with Pauline Aliskevicz, of Fitchburg, director of Haitian Outreach, in Port-au-Prince.

 As Haitian Outreach winds down from its summer donation season, we wish to thank ALL of our volunteers and donors who made our lives easier by giving of their time and talent. We’d like to introduce you to some special people who came and helped us during the summer.

Our shipment of 82 bins will be picked up the first week of September and begin its long ocean voyage to Port au Prince! Please pray for a safe and successful trip for our backpacks and goods.

We cannot list everyone, and would like to “ Sincerely Thank” all our generous supporters, donors, and volunteers for a great summer season. We could not do this without your support!

Left- back: Sandy, Dot, Christina, Paula, Sarah. Front row: Muriel, Rose Mary, Jeannette & Judy. Judy, Dot & Sarah put shoes and flip flops with socks in bags and label them for our 300 students. - Paula & Rose Mary are amazing packers , along with Christina they manage to stuff the bins to the brim! Sarah has learned all tasks this summer, she is a new volunteer and traveler to Haiti!

Thank you to the associates of the BVM Leominster! 

Betty has been a long time volunteer. She is sorting jewelry and placing it in individual bags.

Associates: Carol, Rose & Patti prepare shampoo, and facecloths for backpacks.

Claire, Anna and Holly sort clothing. A full time job for all Haitian Outreach volunteers.

Paula & Christina meticulously fill each backpack with school supplies, etc. and add as much love as they can stuff in for each student.

Angie, meticulously packs for her sponsor child. She almost met her in Haiti last year, but the violence prevented our travel.

Pauline holds 2 soccer balls, donated by Martha (a sponsor) for her sponsor student and some other lucky child, when we visit!

A Very Special “Thank you” to Fr. Dolan for allowing us the use of the St. Bernard’s parish hall again this year; and St. Bernard @ St. Camillus Parishioners who donate school supplies, clothing, stuffed animals etc with love and caring.

Pauline & Nancy hold donations. Nancy and her family are avid supporters of Haitian Outreach. They donate flip flops, school supplies, and much more.

Her son Erik donated new backpacks. Todd is our web administrator. We are so fortunate to have such devoted donors every year.

Rose & Muriel are sisters.
Muriel has a very important task.
She assists Pauline & John with the financials.

Gloria is playing a joke on Rose Mary. They filled the bins for the Sisters. 10 different schools!

They will be so excited!

Cassie and her friends are new to Haitian Outreach and donated an amazing amount of clothing. What enthusiasm! (Cassie’s garage)

We had many brand-new shoes and clothing to pack from our volunteers. Thank you to all our clothing and shoe donors for 2020!

Thank you to Advanced Cable Ties for providing these hand-cuff ties for greater security of our backpacks on their journey to our Bureau Leclerc in Haiti.

Rich was a great help to Paula & Christina labeling and strapping bins.

Roger assists Haitian Outreach in many ways: Flattens cardboard, puts items together for backpacks and even did some carpentry work this year! Rose & Roger are a team that can’t be beat!

Thank you to Sterilite who supplies us with these 45-gallon bins, which we fill to the brim!

February was a busy month of fund raising. Not only did we visit St. Bernard’s High School, the very next day we visited St. Bernard’s Elementary to Mrs. Gallagher’s 3rd Grade. 

The halls were quiet as Ms. Wright, the principal, walked us to the classroom where the 3rd grade moved their classroom. It was quiet as we walked in to find each student seated with their hands folded. In front of each student were not “one” but “two” backpacks for Haiti! The room erupted with joy and surprise!

Deacon John and I spoke with the children about our work in Haiti. Many children in Haiti travel either by foot or ride a Tap Tap. (A Tap Tap is a truck with a big cap on the back where people can squeeze in and ride to their destination.) It is a small fee to ride. Sometimes there are people hanging onto the back to get a ride to their destination.

Deacon John tells the children that it is called a Tap Tap because when people want to get off, they TAP! TAP! loudly on the truck and the driver stops. Another reason why they are called a Tap Tap is because years ago the engine made a tap tap noise as the vehicle traveled up the mountains in Haiti. 

Mrs. Gallagher’s class this year surpassed their previous years collections with a total of 32 backpacks stuffed with school supplies, etc. They also collected monetary donations this year as well as rice. It is our great pleasure to work with Mrs. Gallagher and her 3rd Grade class at St. Bernard’s Elementary, Fitchburg, MA. We enjoy talking about our trips and telling stories about our adventures. The children always have many questions for us about the lives of the children in Haiti.   God Bless You All--Way to Go Third Graders! 

PS: The children also write letters and notes to the students in the 3rd grade at Lilavois school in Haiti, which we deliver when we visit in March!

Mrs. Gallagher’s 2019-2020 3rd Grade Class!

A Mountain of backpacks in our living room!

Thank you to all who support Haitian Outreach and help us to be able to go out and do the work we love. 

Welcome Fish Farm Students & Sponsors!

Mrs. Margaret Penicaud, “Little Children of Mary” Fish Farm ministry has decided to step-down after more than 20 years of supporting children in Lilavois school in Haiti. Haitian Outreach has taken-in the 48 students and their sponsors as part of our Child Sponsorship program.  We welcome you and send Mrs. Penicaud best wishes in whatever path God leads her to next! God bless you and thank you for all your hard work. 

Haitian Outreach Mission Trip-2020

A small group visited Haiti from March 10-18, 2020 and saw 329 students out of 359. God and your prayers ensured that we left the country two days before they closed the airport. Many thanks.

The country was calm, students were in school and the weather was sunny and warm!  Students received their backpack and “rice money”, as appropriate. If your sponsor student did not come to see us, “rice money” is placed in our fund for the purchase of our school supplies for the coming year. Students were happy and well, but food remains scare in the country. There are 80 cases of corona virus in Haiti. 

Change in Backpack & Tuition

Due to the changing economy we lost 2 department stores where we purchase our new shoes for our student backpacks. Both K-Mart and Payless have closed. The cost for new shoes is always increasing, especially for young men. We will therefore put gently used shoes in the backpacks. We are collecting gently used shoes, and flip flops and will add them to the student’s backpack, as appropriate. Shoes are an important commodity in Haiti, but it is no longer cost-effective to purchase new shoes.

As a result, the backpack donation has been decreased to $50.00 for a full backpack and the $10.00 has been moved into the tuition money. The annual donation total remains at $200.00/per student, plus “rice money”, which is optional.

Opening at St. Bernard @ St. Camillus Church Hall, 333 Mechanic St., Fitchburg, MA - June 2020

Depending on the corona virus-social distancing, we plan to open to the public staring June 6th, Saturday afternoons from 12:30-3:00pm through August 29th. We are always looking for volunteers to help sort and prepare items for backpacks. Drive to the back of the church on the Elm St. side and enter downstairs under the overhang. We look forward to seeing you. Plenty of parking in the church lots. 

Leaking Roof at Bureau Leclerc in Haiti

During the month of February, Haitian Outreach received several donations. One couple generously donated the $2,000.00 to complete the repairs on the roof of Bureau Leclerc. (Storage building in Haiti). The roof has been repaired, and our bins and backpacks will be safe again in Haiti. God Bless you for your generosity to Haitian Outreach to help us keep the storage building in tip top shape!

Other donations will be used to purchase 2-car-size batteries for Bureau Leclerc’s electric system and a motor for the sister’s jeep. We will also have in interior ceiling repainted to remove water stains.

Sponsor Children ONLY in our 6 Schools!

You may find a note attached to your sponsor paperwork stating that your sponsor child is no longer attending one of our schools. If your child is not in a school that the Sisters of the Mary Queen Immaculate manage, you will be asked to consider sponsorship of another child that does go to our schools. Once the child leaves our school, like here when a child moves, we cannot guarantee that the money is being used for tuition. The Mission of Haitian Outreach is child sponsorship. We appreciate that many of you have had the same student for many years and hope that we can come to a mutual agreement. If you have any concerns or questions, please contact Pauline at 978 -807-4397 or e-mail.

Update on Our University Students! 

Communication with our University students is essential and saw all but one in Haiti. We presently have 15 confirmed attending a university. The expectation for university students to receive tuition money is that they must be in communication and send a picture of grades and classes to prove the student attends a university in Haiti. We have 1 graduating in November 2020!

Of Note: All our students have missed a lot of school this year-due to violence in the country in the fall and the corona virus in the spring- we are not sure how this will be resolved in Haiti. We will keep you updated as information is received. 

50th Anniversary Celebration!

Our sisters, The Daughters of Mary Queen Immaculate will be celebrating their 50th Anniversary as an order in Haiti in January 2021! Presently there are 42 sisters throughout the country of Haiti. There are 4- Novices and 4-Postulance in training. The sisters manage 10-schools and 1-orphanage. Please pray for them and their continued success as a community.

Technical School

The sisters have realized a dream and have opened a Technical school on the St. Marie grounds. The students are obliged to take and pass all courses offered: Sewing, Macramé, Cooking, Cleaning, Needle Point, etc. We visited the school and students were hard at work. One of our university students, Angelica, had a grade of 93 posted! Congratulations Angelica! Students are learning life skills so vital to every-day survival. 

Stories/Notices from our website

We send out stories and notices approx. once a month via e-mail. We are a small organization and never release any information about our donors or sponsors. Be sure to check your SPAM folder to see if you have received something from us recently. 

Sponsorship

We came home with several new children for sponsorship. We are always in need of sponsors to help children attend school and get an education. If you know of anyone interested, please call Pauline (978) 807-4397 or e-mail at haitian.outreach_pma@yahoo.com.  Pray for us as we enter our 22nd year of service to Haiti!

We are looking for blackboards

Our sisters in the southern part of the country are asking for chalk for their blackboards. We are also collecting, shoes and sandals, non-perishable food and chalk for blackboards for 2020! If you have any to donate, please bring to the church hall or call Pauline to schedule a pickup.  Haitian Outreach is a 501(c)(3)  Non-profit tax-deductible organization

We hope and pray that all our team, volunteers, donors and sponsors along with their family members remain healthy and safe in this time of viral crisis.

A group of 7 women traveled to Haiti from March 10- March18th. Jet Blue decided to cancel all flights on Monday, March 16th so we had to scramble to get flights out on Wed. We ended up 3 on Spirit and 4 on American. Everyone arrived home safely.  Haiti shut their airport that Friday as there was a case of corona in the capital. We thank you for your prayers. God kept us safe with the assistance of our Haitian workers, the sisters, and the Port au Prince police.

We were able to see 329 of 349 students. The country was calm and many people where out and about. The weather was sunny and high 80’s low 90’s, with a beautiful breeze. The students were in school and it was wonderful to see the sisters and children. There are only a few cases of corona in Haiti. We pray every day that it stays that way because people do not have any resources to fight this in Haiti.

We are presently working on tuition paperwork and hope to have it in the US mail by May 15th. It takes some time to assemble pictures, letters and tuition paperwork, so please bear with us.  Check out our newsletter as we have a couple of changes happening this year.

We plan to open June 6th through August 29th at St. Bernard @ St. Camillus church hall, same as last year on Saturday afternoons from noon-3pm.  We have been collecting shoes and food items all winter and have had a wonderful response.

St. Bernard @ St. Camillus, 333 Mechanic St, Fitchburg, MA 01420 (Drive around to the Elm St. side of the building. Enter below the overhang for the church. Plenty of parking. 

We look forward to seeing our volunteers and will have plenty to do, so come on down and join us!

Please be safe and stay healthy.

God Bless,
Deacon John & Pauline Aliskevicz – directors 

Haitian Outreach Month is Coming!

We will have collection bins at the entrances of St. Bernard church in Fitchburg for school supplies, backpacks, shoes, as well as, nonperishable food. We could never accomplish our goals without the generosity of our parishioners & sponsors.     Thank you!

We will also have collection boxes at I.C. Credit branches, Daily Bagel in Leominster and Dr. J. Nagarkar’s office in Leominster during the month of February. 

2019 Mission to Haiti!

Sadly, due to the violence in the country we were unable to travel in March 2019. A small group of 5 went for a few days in Sept. to complete our work before the next shipment arrived. Thanks to a connection with Keenan & Peggy, parishioners. Keenan’s brother Shattner got us in and out with no incidents.

We do hope to travel in March 2020. We monitor the state of the country closely. 

In 2019 children received their backpacks delivered by our workers to the principles in Haiti; some pictures are on our website for your viewing.  If you do not see the backpack you sent for your child, one that we made by us was delivered and after our trip in September the sponsor-made backpacks were delivered, when safe to travel. 

TWO Shipments for 2019

The first shipment of 50 bins left Fitchburg August 16, 2019 and arrived safely 8 weeks later. It was a hair-raising trip to get the bins to the Bureau Leclerc, but our loyal workers along with blessings from God, made it safely. The second shipment left on 10/09/19 of 24 bins. It has not arrived yet in port. Total cost of shipping for 2019 was $5,760.00 

Electric Upgrade

We were able to see the generator in operation in September. Being able to charge our phones and have lights and refrigeration is so important when we visit. Two industrial batteries were purchased to replace two batteries in the Bureau Leclerc, used for lighting, and fans. 

Leaky Roof at Bureau Leclerc

We were told about a leak in our Bureau Leclerc roof, which will cost $2,000.00 to repair. Rain is running into the middle of the ceiling. Donations will go toward this repair. This building is very important for our work as it houses our bins until we get there. AND we distribute backpacks there at St. Marie.  

Sponsor Children ONLY in our 6 Schools!

An Executive decision was made to only sponsor children in our 6 schools.  If your child is not attending one our schools, for a variety of reason, you will be notified after March. We hope you will continue to support this important program to educate as many children as possible in schools that our Sisters manage. We always have children who need a sponsor, contact Pauline 978-407-4397.

We assisted 296 students in 2019!

Update on Our University Students!

Our pilot program to assist students with a university degree has proved be very challenging. We are in contact with university students via messaging. Grades were received. Grant funding and some sponsorship makes this happen! We are continuing to work with the current college students, and anticipate a couple will graduate in 2020!

New Affiliations

Deacon John and Pauline continue to meet with organizations in the local community who are excited to work with us to fund raise and collect school supplies that benefit our mission. 

We established a wonderful new relationship with The Associates of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Leominster. 7 large boxes of shoes were collected, and we got 5 new sponsors! The group came to volunteer during the summer at St. Bernard’s hall and it was an instant blending of both groups. We look forward to seeing them again in the summer of 2020! 

Dear Haitian Outreach Supporters:

We are sad to tell you that on Saturday, July 27th there was a fire disaster below the St. Marie convent in Port au Prince. A propane gas tank exploded and destroyed 18 structures. I use the word “home” loosely as these are nothing like we think of as a home. They were bare minimum with no running water.  The people that live there lost everything…….and they didn’t have much to begin with according to our American standards.  They only have the clothing on their backs left. Today someone passed away from the burn injuries they sustained. Fortunately, the firefighters were able to hose the wall between the fire and St. Marie and save the convent buildings!

Our Sisters, Daughters of the Queen Mary Immaculate are housing families. They have no food or clothing, except what they are wearing. They do not know if the structures will be rebuilt as this is community property. Haitian Outreach has 5 students along with their mothers and families living in that area. Thankfully they are all alive!

Haitian Outreach has sent a monetary donation to Sister Marie Fernange, Mother Superior of the order to assist with food, water and clothing. The need is great. If you would like to help, please send a donation to Haitian Outreach, PO Box 16, Fitchburg, MA 01420 and in the memo please note “Fire Victims”.  Donations will be sent directly to Sr. Fernange by John and Pauline Aliskevicz to help these people rebuild their lives. Such a tragedy is so heartbreaking.

If you have any questions, please e-mail Pauline at haitianoutreach_pma@yahoo.com

Please keep the families and children in your prayers. God bless and keep you all safe.

Sincerely, Pauline & John Aliskevicz & Haitian Outreach Team

A few pictures we received are below.

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Please join us for a pancake breakfast to support Haitian Outreach. Enjoy pancakes, bacon, juice, and coffee and help support our cause.

When

Sunday, June 23rd 
9am-12 noon

Where

St. Bernard @ St. Camillus Parish Hall

Donation

$5.00 per person, children under age 5 FREE! No family pays more than $20.00. All proceeds benefit Haitian Outreach

RSVP

Deacon John or Pauline - text (978) 807-434

Breakfast compliments of The Highlands

May 9th, Eat in or Take Out, Lunch or Dinner at UNO's, Leominster, MA.

You must bring one coupon per person in order for Haitian Outreach to receive 20% of your bill! 

Coupons will be available at the entrances to St. Bernard church, Fitchburg OR download and print the coupons.

Come One Come All!

This past January, it was Haitian Outreach month at St.  Bernard parish at St. Camillus church in Fitchburg.   Somehow, even though the weather is totally different from Haiti weather, all are connected in spirit and energy.

  We asked parishioners to bring in donations for the sponsored children of Haiti to be put into backpacks.  With your continued help, together we are helping children get their education and eventually become working-class citizens!

Our parishioners are awesome!  They donated children’s clothing and shoes, school supplies, tooth brushes and toothpaste, as well as soap, face clothes and much more.  We take these necessities for granted.  But to the Haitian people, they are luxuries.   Unfortunately, this year more than ever.  Inflation rate is increasing at 16% per year  and they simply cannot afford any of these basic, but critically necessary items.  With your help, Haitian Outreach creates a backpack for each child in our program. 

We are educating and building backpacks for over 300 children this year!   We travel every year to see our children and give each individual child their backpack.  Yes, we see every single one of those 300+ children.  We also gratefully accept monetary donations.  Haitian Outreach is an all-volunteer organization as most of you know.  Monetary donations are used to offset the expenses for our backpack supplies, which we pack for each child. 

We are grateful and thankful for the continued and generous support that we receive via donations and prayers for safety and success.  We work locally and think globally!

If you would like to sponsor a child to attend school in Haiti, please contact us.

Claude Saturne’, one of the many Haitian Outreach success stories, with Deacon John and Pauline Aliskevicz

Donations from St. Bernard Parish at St. Camillus Church (January 2019)

Unfortunately, we’ve had had to postpone our trip March 5th as Haiti is having a lot of problems in the country with has made it unsafe for us to travel there as planned.

The US State Department recently issued a Level 4 warning to not travel to Haiti dues to crime and civil unrest. We understand water trucks cannot get through because roads are blocked. Stores are closing and food is scarce; also prices of food have risen very high, so they can't buy food even if they could get it.

We hear from our folks and everyone is afraid but well. Surviving as best they can. Please pray for the children, their families and the sisters and teachers who work in our school. One student told me she had not been to go to university in two weeks. It is too dangerous for them to go. 

We are all very sad that we cannot see the children and do our work to help these families. It is such a wonderful thing that we all do to help these people. We make a difference in their lives! We will try to re-schedule our trip when the situation in Haiti improves.

January means it's time to get ready to visit our sponsor students in HAITI soon.

If you have not already done so, and would like to send "Rice Money" to your child's family in Haiti, please make checks payable to "Haitian Outreach" and send them to Haitian Outreach, P.O. Box 16, Fitchburg, MA 01420

(Rice Money is optional)

All Rice Money must reach Pauline no later than February 14th to ensure it is ready to hand to the student in March when we visit. 

E-mail if you have a questions, please contact us.

January is Haitian Outreach Month at St. Bernard.

STB’s National Honors Society is partnering with Deacon John Aliskevicz and his wife Pauline of St. Bernard’s Parish to collect school supplies and new as well as gently used backpacks to bring to the young students of Haiti.

Please bring your donations to St. Bernard’s High School by February 1st. 

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We cannot begin to list the volunteers, donors and supporters who give us the means to continue this beautiful ministry. Seeing the faces of the children is heartwarming and we wish you could all be with us to see your sponsor child in person. We truly are making a difference in their lives and the schools we serve.

Wishing you Peace and Joy in the New Year!

Our first shipment left in August – 126 bins and our second shipment left in October-62 bins. The first shipment arrived safely.  Recently received word that our second shipment has arrived and is safely waiting for our arrival to distribute to the children. 

Deacon John and Pauline continue to meet with organizations in the local area who are excited to work with us to fund raise and collect school supplies that we can send to our schools. St. Bernard High School will be soliciting and collecting school supplies in January. 3rd Grade at the Elementary school already collaborate with us.  If you have any tips, please contact us.

As of November 30th we moved our stock out of the property on Water St., Fitchburg. We are still looking for a viable new location with heat and running water. We have our supplies stored in different places for the winter. We continue to search any resource to find a kind person to allow us to do our work for the children in Haiti.

If you know of anyone who has approx. 2,000 sq. ft. that we can use to prepare our backpacks, please contact us. We are willing to pay utilities and rent can be taken as a tax deduction. We are a tax deductible non-profit organization. 

We started September 2018 with sponsorship for 19 college students. Haitian Outreach will support 5 students going to university in Haiti with Grant Funding and 14 sponsors agreed to help their students attend higher education! We will see these students in March and deliver their backpacks. This is amazing! Who would have thought– attending a University was a possibility!

We are always in need of new sponsors for the children. Sponsorship changes from year to year and we always have some children in need of a permanent sponsor.  If you know anyone who is interested in changing the life of a child in Haiti, please contact Pauline.