wfn.org | Haitian politics hinder development aid, church leaders say

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>]

April 10, 2002   News media contact: Linda Bloom7(212) 870-38037New York
10-32-71B{152}

NOTE: For additional coverage of church activity in Haiti, see UMNS story
#153.

By United Methodist News Service

The political situation in Haiti has led to a suspension of some development
grants for programs assisting the poor, according to representatives of the
Methodist Church in the Caribbean nation.

Noting the impossibility of moving from a dictatorship to democracy without
problems along the way, Inette Durandis, director of development for the
Methodist Church in Haiti, believes the international community has
overreacted to the country's election issues. The dispute between President
Jean-Bertrand Aristide's ruling party and the opposition over results of May
2000 parliamentary elections had held up foreign aid, according to Haitian
news reports.

The Rev. Rafael Dessieu, president of the Methodist Church in Haiti, pointed
out that a country's people must first have economic and social stability
and decent living conditions before choosing democracy. "Poverty cannot help
build democracy," he declared during a late March visit to the United
Methodist Board of Global Ministries' offices in New York.

Although numbering less than 20,000, Haitian Methodists run community
development programs that serve more than 200,000 people.

Their support for agricultural production and animal husbandry provides
animals, seed, fertilizers, tools and technical advice to farming
organizations and individuals to help increase production, Durandis said.

Community banks allow 40 to 60 women to pool their financial resources and
strengthen their small businesses. Launched in 1993 with two banks and 111
women, the micro-credit loan program now involves 416 banks and more than
12,000 women.

Women and men who participate in both the micro-credit and animal husbandry
programs are among those who benefit from the church's community education
program, which emphasizes literacy. By teaching participants to read, write
and learn simple math equations, the church helps improve the management of
their small businesses.

Through its community health program, the Methodist Church of Haiti is the
only organization that has developed eye care and tuberculosis projects,
according to Durandis. Preventive care focuses on issues such as community
sanitation and education about AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases.

But funding for AIDS education and other church programs is threatened
because of the international community's position regarding Haiti, she
explained. For example, the European Community decided not to provide the
church with an expected development grant for 2002-2006 projects. "That put
us in a very, very difficult situation," she said.

General church funding is even more precarious in a country with 75 to 80
percent unemployment, according to Dessieu. Although it has more than 300
lay preachers to assist with its programs and 150 congregations, the
denomination can financially support only 10 ordained pastors.

The church is trying to diversify its sources of income to meet expenses,
but that's an annual struggle. "It's truly that we are living by faith," he
said.

The church's health care work in Haiti is supported by the Advance, a
voluntary giving program of the United Methodist Church. To contribute,
checks should be made payable to "Advance GCFA" and specified for Haiti
Health Care and Medical Mission, Advance No. 418656-5. Checks can be dropped
in church collection plates or mailed directly to Advance GCFA, P.O. Box
9068, GPO, New York, NY 10087-9068. To make a gift by credit card, call
(888) 252-6174.

Information about other Advance projects in Haiti is available online at
http://gbgm-umc.org/advance, the Board of Global Ministries' Web site.

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United Methodist News Service
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