Extra Commitment Opportunities

There is a channel through which gifts can be designated for specific items that support the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)'s work around the world. These are called Extra Commitment Opportunities (ECOs). You can give directly to an ECO account online or by mailing your check designating the name and account number of the particular item you have chosen to:

PC(USA) Individual Remittance Processing
P.O. Box 643700
Pittsburgh, PA 15264-3700

Your gift will go directly into the ECO Account designated, and you will receive a letter indicating that your gift has been received and will be used for the purpose intended.

Below are some ECOs related to Haiti. For a complete listing visit Mission Funding's Web site and type Haiti into the search box.

Agriculture and Hunger

Haiti Northern District Agricultural School

This two-year agricultural training program at St. Barnabas School teaches soil management, irrigation, use of better seeds, use of appropriate fertilizers and animal husbandry to students near Cap Haitien at Terrier Rouge.

Peasant Movement Papaye/Agriculture

Gifts to this account assist an integrated agricultural development project including moringa tree planting, vegetable production and animal husbandry.

Development

Comprehensive Development Projects (CODEP)

CODEP provides services in health, education, agriculture, water management and reforestation in the District of Cormiers, Leogane. It meets the short-term needs of people and provides long-term planning for improvement.

Health

Darbonne Community Health Program             

Hôpital Sainte Croix

Hôpital Sainte Croix provides comprehensive health care for the poor in the rapidly growing area of Leogane. Services include 24-hour. emergency care, surgical and obstetrical care, outpatient service, and dental care. Gifts to this account provide funds for essential medicines and medical supplies and subsidized care for the many patients who cannot afford to pay.

Hôpital Sainte Croix—Nursing School MBF

Nurses are the primary caregivers in most hospitals. Well-trained nurses are in short supply in developing countries. Hospital Sainte Croix has established the only nursing school in Leogane, Haiti. Currently, over 65 students are enrolled in the four-year program. Funds are needed for scholarships, program support, books and other educational materials. Gifts to this Medical Benevolence Foundation account will also support the ongoing construction necessary to continue the expansion of the school. The nursing school will provide well-trained and highly qualified nurses whose impact will be felt all over Haiti.

Hôpital Sainte Croix, Operations MBF (Medical Benevolence Foundation)

Hôpital Sainte Croix is the only referral hospital serving 125,000 people in the Leogane area. On an average day more than 150 patients are seen for a nominal fee. Fees are often reduced or waived because most cannot afford to pay for their medical care. Donations to this ECO help the staff continue to wrap the Lord's arms around the poor of this community.

La Gonave Community Health, Haiti

Health services for the population of the island of La Gonave are provided at the Community Health Center and through village health workers and midwives.

St. Vincent School for Handicapped (Haiti) 

St. Vincent, in the Haitian capital of Port au Prince, provides day and boarding school for over 400 children who are blind, deaf and/or crippled. Services include a medical clinic, physical and occupational therapy, surgery when indicated, music and crafts. Former students who are deaf operate a brace shop. Gifts to this ECO provide needed supplies and subsidies for students whose families cannot afford to pay.

Mission Personnel

Sharyn Babe — Professor of Educational Technology

Mark Hare — Agricultural Technician

Mark Hare is an agronomist working with the Mouvman Peyizan Papay (MPP), or Farmer’s Movement of Papaye in Haiti. Mark and the 13 young men and one woman working with him are developing a small area of land on which they are raising livestock and crops, including large quantities of vegetables produced in old tires raised off the ground, out of the reach of marauding goats and chickens. The crew has named the project The Road to Life Yard. Mark writes, “In the midst of all the problems and frustrations, there is a clear, shining path before me; God’s kingdom present and also coming ever nearer. The folk of MPP are on it and, praise be to God, so am I.”

Pix Mahler served as a Hunger Action Enabler with the Presbytery of the Peaks for 14 years before she was appointed regional liaison for Haiti. Pix serves God’s mission from a U.S. home base, traveling from time to time, nurturing relationships between Presbyterians in the United States and various ministries of the PC(USA)’s partners in Haiti. She says, “I help people in the United States discover what gifts they may have that are applicable to ministry with our partners.”

Other Support

Haiti Partnership Facilitator

Gifts to this account will be used to defray the direct and indirect costs of travel and operating expenses for the work of the partnership facilitator in helping implement programs with partner churches and institutions, supporting PC(USA) congregations and presbyteries in mission involvement with partners, and supporting PC(USA) mission personnel serving in Haiti. Haiti is the destination of a large proportion of Presbyterians' mission trips.

Vocational School, Cap Haitien, Haiti

The Episcopal Vocational School in Cap Haitien begins at the primary level and extends to the secondary. The vocational component is an important element in the lives of young Haitians as they develop skills that will allow them to seek employment. This project will offer scholarships for students as well as purchase materials such as computers for the school. All PC(USA) mission work in Haiti is directed through the Episcopal Church of Haiti.