St. Mary to Bring Clean Water to Haiti

Greetings!

The following is an article written by Valerie Carlson of the St. Mary Haiti Ministry Committee.

Enjoy!
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ST. MARY PARISH TO BRING CLEAN WATER TO HAITI

MILFORD, CT – In retrospect, the timing of the St. Mary Parish Twinning Committee’s decision to bring clean water to its twin parish, Ste. Therese in Marbial, Haiti, could not have been much better, given the cholera outbreak that struck the country last month.

The emphasis in prevention of cholera, according to the World Health Organization, is in ensuring clean water as well as promoting good personal hygiene and food handling practices, including proper hand washing. Last month’s outbreak in Haiti began in the north and has not yet made it to Marbial in the south, so filtration and purification systems will be especially welcome when they arrive

The St. Mary Twinning Committee (which sent a medical mission to Marbial last March and is planning another in February 2011) has been discussing a clean water program for months. The group, however, began making significant progress in September toward bringing filters that will provide clean water to over 1,000 residents of Marbial, located near Jacmel to the southeast of the capital, Port-au-Prince.

“A very generous anonymous gift received during the summer from a parishioner of Holy Infant, Orange, CT, provided us with the seed money to begin the process in earnest,” said Michael S. Mercurio, Chair of the St. Mary Twinning Committee. Current plans provide for safe, simple water filtration to be available to Ste. Therese parishioners as soon as January 2011.

The Twinning Committee has been working with Gift of Water, a well-established, not-for-profit water purification program that has been working primarily in Haiti for over 15 years. The St. Mary Twinning Committee’s support will provide 150 water filtration systems. The program includes initial setup, establishment and training of a Ste. Therese Water Committee to manage the process locally; identification of a Community Water Technician, who will be responsible for day-to-day operations of the purification program; initial purifier distribution; and follow-up to ensure the program is running smoothly.

“It is nice to see that one of our original committee goals will finally be accomplished,” remarked former Twinning Committee Chair Andy Ancel.

“During the follow-up, which will occur several months after the initial setup, a representative of Gift of Water will meet with the Ste. Therese Parish Pastor, Water Committee and Community Water Technician to resolve problems, if any,” said Pete Murphy, a Board Member of Gift of Water. “Members of the group will also tour a sampling of homes to ensure proper usage of the systems and recommend corrective actions, if needed.” Twinning Committee members, who will be in Marbial in early February for the 2011 Medical Mission, also will inspect the filtration and purification systems to ensure they are working well and that households using them are applying safe water handling and good hygiene practices.

Maintaining and expanding the safe water project will require additional funds, which the Twinning Committee continues to collect. The current cost of a system that can provide a family or group of eight to ten individuals with safe water for a year is $40.

The St. Mary Twinning Ministry, which began in the spring of 2007, unites St. Mary with Ste.Therese Parish located in Marbial, Haiti. The program is a result of a call for Global Solidarity from the U.S. Catholic Bishops, encouraging parishes in this country to build bridges to others internationally and thus enrich the Catholic faith throughout the world. In response, Father James Cronin, Pastor of St. Mary Parish, encouraged the Parish Council to answer the call. St. Mary is a member of the “Parish Twinning Program of the Americas” (PTPA), which consists of over 340 “twins” between U.S. Parishes and parishes throughout Haiti, Central America, Cuba, Mexico, and Canada with the majority of “twins” located in Haiti.

Those who wish to support the St. Mary Twinning Committee’s efforts may write a check to St. Mary Parish with “Haiti” in the memo line and mail them to St. Mary, 70 Gulf Street, Milford, CT 06460-4811.
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Our thanks to Valerie Carlson for writing the article and bringing the story to you!

Also thanks to John Defeo and Joe Debs for their continued research over three years. They always kept "clean water" alive and on the agenda even in those times where "clean water" could not be high priority.

In addition thanks to the efforts of Committee Chair Mike Mercurio for putting all of the pieces to the "clean water" puzzle together for implementation.

The Blogmeister...
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Bye for now,
St Mary Haitian Ministry Committee