Sustain

     I have often heard a negative connotation to the word "sustain" or "sustainability" when it comes to 1st world countries helping to support 3rd world countries.  So I decided to look up the definition of sustain 1. to support, hold, or bear up 2. to bear 3. to undergo an injury, loss ext. without yielding 4. to keep up or keep going 5. to supply with food, drink, and necessities of life 6. to support a cause by aid or approval.  When I read through these definitions I can see that we are MUTUALLY sustaining each other. It is a 2-way relationship....benefiting both parties.

     We have helped "sustain" St. Louis Parish in Pointe-a-Raquette for 35 years....in helping to provide education, meals, and medical care, and prayers on the island. They have helped support St. Francis Parish by teaching us about perseverance, deep faith, taking care of each other, and through their prayers for us. We can learn to be less self-centered and selfish by giving from our excess, and in return receiving the joy that can only be found in giving of oneself.

     This is the airport that you fly into when coming from Haiti's mainland to the island of La Gonave.

     From this point, it is a 2 hour drive, on a nonexistent road, over the mountain to the other side of the island. This is one of the main reasons why life, commerce, and medical care are so challenging in Pointe-a-Raquette. It is a physically challenging and extreme "off-roading" experience to get to St. Louis Parish. One of the things people can do to help is to SIGN A PETITION that will be sent to the Ministry of Public Works, Transportation, and Communications in Haiti in favor of building a road from Anse-a-Galets to Pointe-a-Raquette. You never know what a little pressure and awareness brought to someones attention can accomplish!

                                      This is the "donkey parking lot" at the market on La Gonave.

  This is an "ambulance" that the Prime Minister's office donated for Bob's Clinic to use. Unfortunately, it is useless on the roads of La Gonave because it does not have 4x4 capabilities.

Sign the petition for a road on La Gonave.