Easter, 2008

Clinique Espérance et Vie

Clinique Espérance et Vie is being built right on schedule! The Haitian engineer called me the first week of March to ask about pouring the first floor roof slab. I could answer, "Yes", with a big shout thanks to several significant gifts topped by a special gift from First Presbyterian Church, Athens, GA. The dream of a top quality healthcare facility is becoming a reality for the people in Terrier Rouge.

The local community, which is very much a part of the process, eagerly anticipates the completion. This facility is already generating much anticipation and excitement throughout the town. In connection with our name, "Hope and Life", Bethlehem Ministry is dreaming of the second floor birthing center.

Jatropha Pepinyè wrapped up the year on schedule with its business plan and actively growing its product, Jatropha curcas. It has momentum: our timing is right on. With "biodiesel" now a very audible part of conversations in all sectors across Haiti, we have tangible product to put into cultivation. We're putting the talk into action. Our next step is to get our seedlings into Haiti's fields and to that end we've developed a good relationship with farmers in the Northeast, who have unused land and a developing interest in this new crop. They also have strong cooperatives.

While JP's goals remain lofty, it is grounded in the practicalities of real land, real farming and real people and it is committed to working with the talents and cautious optimism of Haiti's farming community. Jatropha Pepinyè has come a long way in just three months and as we start the New Year, I am gratified by its progress and its potential to help Haiti develop homegrown, renewable energy and to help local farmers with a new cash crop.