Cross International

DEFEAT THE DARKNESS
Provide the Elderly and Destitute Food, Shelter, and the Light of Christ

Description:
Distribute monthly food staples to the impoverished elderly struggling to survive; and provide cement homes, along with land to farm for food and income, to destitute families living in rudimentary shacks.

Ministry Partner:
Kobonal Haiti Mission, affiliated with The Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity.

Location:
Kobonal Haiti Mission lies in the village of Kobonal — once considered ‘the darkest corner of the Diocese of Hinche;’ but the mission’s outreach extends throughout the diocese, which encompasses the central region of Haiti.

Cost:
The Emergency Survival Program will give food to 317 elderly villagers at a cost of $120,120. The Kobonal Housing & Farming Program will build 13 homes at a cost of $79,200. Total commitment to Kobonal Haiti Mission: $199,320.

Summary:

• When Father Glenn Meaux and his missionary team arrived in Kobonal in 1989, families were starving; children were dying from dirty water; there were no farms and no jobs. The family unit had been reduced to grandmothers raising grandchildren, and unwed teens having children by different fathers. Voodoo and black magic were commonly practiced.
• Today, thanks to Kobonal Haiti Mission, living conditions for the people of Kobonal are much improved. The mission provides good schools and clean water. Teen pregnancy is down; Voodoo has disappeared; and the village enjoys a vibrant Catholic community.
• The mission gives monthly food staples to the most vulnerable elderly in the diocese, through the Emergency Survival Program. The Kobonal Housing and Farming Program builds homes on a half-acre of farmland where destitute families can live in dignity and grow food for both consumption and income. These programs are in jeopardy of being slashed or eliminated all together.
• The mission lost its largest benefactor last year, and most of its funding sources greatly diminished shortly thereafter due to the global economic crisis. The mission now faces a catastrophic budget deficit. They need Cross Catholic to step in and keep these critical programs running. Otherwise, impoverished people will go without food or shelter.
• The village of Kobonal may have undergone a wonderful conversion, but the mission reaches out to the greater diocese — home to 518,000 people, of whom only 63 percent are Catholic. Keeping these two important programs running will allow the mission to continue to shine the light of Christ and defeat the darkness that still permeates much of the Diocese of Hinche.

 Learn More & Donate:   

View Proposal	Contact Cross
Click Here to View	Michele Sagarino 954-657-9000 x140 msagarino@crossinternational.org

Donate Online	By Phone	By Mail
Click Here to Donate Online	954-657-9000 x140 or 800-391-8545 nnnnnnnnnnnnnn	Cross International Catholic Outreach 370 W. Camino Gardens Blvd. Boca Raton, Florida 33432 Printable Form