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st trisdne lfanomv 23l9f- haitian aid comes from stouffville couple elizabeth botsikos correspondent haiti shaped like a pairof open jaws lies 50 miles east of cuba six million people live here a place with the highest infant mor tality rate and second lowest life expectancy in the western hemi sphere where four out of five people cannot read or write and where corruption and violence in politics is so pervasive that the first freely- elected president in the countrys this hut is typical of the homes found in haiti despite poverty haitians work hard to improve their living conditions history walks with a death sen tence hanging over his head haiti means special place and it takes special people to devotel themselves to helping haitians find their place in the sun special people like stouffville couple joanna- reesormcdowell and her husband andy and other members of globalneighbors a program started by the hager- man mennpnite church gn lias about 80 members it provides opportunities for people in the community to become more edu cated about third world needs and to contribute funds to concrete projects that alleviate suffering in the less developed countries according to the gn mission state- ment one of the coordinators of the program mrs reesormcdowell is striking enthusiastic supporter who stresses this is not a church project we are very open and looking to expand presently gn is working with other churches in the area they do not use any funds towards admin istration costs monies raised go directly to aid those in need in its short threeyear history gn has managed to give funds for two well for a tb hospital and orphanages in haiti which are run by a group of haitian catholic nuns they have also recently raised 7000 to support the mennonite central committees reforestation project there sadly the mountains are stripped this is becoming acriti- cal problems and theyre losing a lot of arable land reflected mrs reesormcdowell with the canadian international development agency cida matching three to one the dollars raised and combined with dona- tionsfrom global edmed sup plies gems an organization through which gn works the donations to haitian relief has been generous cida is like a pot of money you can apply to they wont give 100 percent of the funding but will match dollar for dollar if the project meets cida criteria said mrs reesormcdowell v another global neighbors effort was to convince whitchurch- stouffville council to help raise funds for third world water pro jects by including a watercan leaflet with each water bilh the first major projecttor gn was tosupport a clean water pro ject sponsored by gems in haiti it is not enough to give money however particularly in a country notorious for good intentions gone bad joanna and andy and other members of gn have also volun teered their time to go down and work laboring alongside local workers at the tb hospital in leogane they saw firsthand the results of the gems project only 20 per cent of the people in haiti have clean water todrink so its a real benefit said joanna the water pipe has become a real focal point of the community where close to 1000 families ben- efit from it even trucks will come off the road to stop she added the second phase of the project was completed this fall by building for the use of the hospital a fish pond for fish farming a chicken house and piggery all of which is serviced by the runoff from the well when you consider that the hos pital is allotted only 24000 per year by the- government to cover the costs of the 200 beds jts staff of 70 all the food and equip ment it is easy to see how these m m iirmimt most people travel around haiti in privately owned tap taps col orfully decorated buses which are simple to maintain and keep roiling it is also common for haitians to walk many miles to and from markets donations of funds and labor can have such a beneficial impact on the community the reesormcdowell family hopesto go down to haiti next year arid live there for three or four months its not important for us to have a big house says joanna as long as we make enough to support our family the extra money goes to help others helping others is joannas life long commitment presently she is working as a community worker and her husband works as a man ager for a mental health centre the have two boys aged nine and 12 who are looking forward to the adventure of living in haiti next project gn is supporting is a small village in south india they are raising money to give to inter pares between equals and independent ottawabased organi zation which supports local initia tives in developing countries to that end the hagerman men npnite church is holding a third world banquet on feb 2 which is open to everyone you will not know if you are one of the worlds 10 per cent elite or one of the majority of people points out joanna so you may get a good meal or just a small bowl of food cost for the event is 10 a guest speaker from 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