From Parish Twinning Program

Dear All,

First of all, I want to impart to you a thought to promote in the media or any avenue you might have that would impact the rebuilding of Haiti.

As I'm sure you agree this tragedy has just defied all comprehension. I pray that out of the destruction and suffering some good will come to Haiti -- and that with the exodus of people from PAP, the world will focus on rebuilding the heart of Haiti -- the rural areas. Just think of the possibilities if roads, water, electricity, schools and medical facilities could be brought to those who have suffered the most (for centuries) in Haiti. With the infrastructure in place, the businesses and jobs will come. Give the government a temporary space to operate while funneling funds to all the exterior outreaches of Haiti. Give even more Haitians a reason to stay in their original homes instead of migrating to the big city. We need to demand that the people in the rural areas not be forgotten.

Secondly, I would like to encourage all of you to make an effort to approach a neighboring parish, a parish of a family member in another state, or a parish that you think would be receptive to reaching out to Haiti in order to twin with a parish in Haiti. If you have anyone interested, please contact me and I will send them information. I'm receiving a lot of requests from priests as many families and individuals from Port-au-Prince return to their former communities and are in need of food, water and shelter.

SEA CONTAINER: We are still planning the April Sea container with the collection times from Monday, April 19 to Friday, April 30. We will soon be mailing out the information with a notice that if we run into complications with the port, customs or government offices, we will notify you. Domond, our Coordinator in Haiti, says that his does not currently don't know the status of the Ministry of Planification, however, the military is presently reconstructing the Ministry of Finance and customs has established offices at the airport.

FONKOZE: Fonkoze in PAP is now operating and you can safely send your checks to City National Bank, c/o Sabrina Brice, 382 125th Street, New York, NY 10027. They are temporarily waiving the $10.00 deposit fee. If you are sending a large amount to your sister parish, the pastor may not be able to withdraw all of the funds at once. However, he can eventually obtain all of the funds with a second or third trip to the bank.

MATTHEW 25 HOUSE: For those of you who may not have received a recent announcement from Pat Tortora at Matthew 25 House, he has forwarded some
information regarding your questions and concerns about your parish or medical visits to Haiti, the status of the house and accommodating guests.

Many of you have been so generous in supporting the post-earthquake work at Matthew 25 and in your offer to help us renovate, rebuild or move Matthew 25 if necessary. We thank you for that and ask that you keep us in mind as you share your donations. Matthew 25 House accommodated over 2200 people last year and in order for us to continue to offer hospitality and many other services to you, we may need you help. We attempting to locate the owner so that we can make a decision as soon as possible on the future of Matthew 25. When we do have more information, we will share it with you.

Our deep gratitude to all of you for your concern and generous gifts to PTPA & Matthew 25 House.

Blessings,

Theresa Patterson
Executive Director
Parish Twinning Program