Thanks to the prayers and compassion of faithful U.S. Catholics, the Kobonal Haiti Mission has been empowered to continue its profound mission of mercy. The mission is grateful to friends like you for enabling its all-Haitian ministry team to extend important outreach to the poor, including supplying clean water and safe homes to vulnerable families and providing children in rural Haiti with a quality Catholic education they would otherwise never receive.
In 2025, the Kobonal Haiti Mission built four new clean water systems supporting 302 adults and 615 children. Recent well repairs on six clean water systems have helped serve an additional 1,498 people. This is what the combined gifts of compassionate Catholics accomplish! The wells use freestanding hand pumps, and the families in each community have chosen a leader to oversee and maintain the equipment. Each well has a cement wall around it for security and will be available daily during specific hours of operation.
One of the people blessed with clean, safe water is Marguerite, a young mom who has been involved in the Kobonal Haiti Mission’s programs since she was a girl attending the Kobonal Mission School. Now she is married and has four children of her own, and her family was deeply blessed by the new well built nearby. Marguerite was among many of the beneficiaries who were quick to thank God for providing this blessing. Now that fresh, clean water is abundant, the dry season doesn’t bring the same concerns it once did. Marguerite is grateful to the many donors who made this blessing possible for poor families in Haiti.
One of the people blessed with clean, safe water is Marguerite, a young mom who has been involved in the Kobonal Haiti Mission’s programs since she was a girl attending the Kobonal Mission School. Now she is married and has four children of her own, and her family was deeply blessed by the new well built nearby. Marguerite was among many of the beneficiaries who were quick to thank God for providing this blessing. Now that fresh, clean water is abundant, the dry season doesn’t bring the same concerns it once did. Marguerite is grateful to the many donors who made this blessing possible for poor families in Haiti.
When faithful friends like you helped Smith Pierre get an education, his dream of a better life turned into a reality! Today he can support himself and help his family. In fact, he is now a teacher at the Kobonal Mission School, which he attended as a boy. He considers it a joy to be teaching fourth through sixth grade math and says this opportunity has provided him with much more than financial stability. It has enabled Smith to give back to the mission that gave him so much.
Smith says he is the man he is today because of the supporters of the mission. That’s why he loves being a teacher. It enables him to pass on that same Catholic formation and hope to the next generation.
Gertanie grew up in an impoverished community and could not attend school. But now, thanks to the Kobonal Mission School, three of her children are receiving a Catholic education that will enable them to pursue their dreams. Recently, Gertanie’s family also received the blessing of a durable home. The children have a safe place to study and do homework, and the entire family can bond and worship together in their new living space.
This transformation in their lives has also influenced their spirituality. “It’s a safe and comfortable place for my family and reminds me that hard work and faith bring blessings,” Gertanie joyfully explained. The entire family has experienced a surge in faith, hope and love, and they are incredibly grateful for the supporters who have led them to embrace the peace that comes from recognizing God’s presence in their lives.
Saint John Paul II once said, “The future is in your hearts and in your hands. God is entrusting to you the task, at once difficult and uplifting, of working with him in the building of the civilization of love.”
The truth of that conviction is unfolding in the communities served by the Kobonal Haiti Mission. The greatest change since the genesis of this mission is the way the people have grown to love God and their neighbors. Small disputes used to be settled by a judge. Today, there is reconciliation and generosity. When the mission began more than 30 years ago, hardly anyone took their children to receive the sacraments. Recently, there were 700 baptisms and First Communions!
This is why we are so grateful to U.S. Catholics who choose to build up God’s “civilization of love” by generously supporting the Kobonal Haiti Mission. By empowering the Kobonal Haiti Mission to provide clean water, Catholic education, safe housing and more to poor families, friends of Cross Catholic Outreach are showing the watching world the power the Church has to transform lives — glorifying God in the process!
Originally published November 2023. Last updated October 2026.
Donations from this campaign will be used to cover any expenditures for this project incurred through June 30, 2027, the close of our ministry’s fiscal year. In the event that more funds are raised than needed to fully fund the project, the excess funds, if any, will be used to meet the most urgent needs of the ministry.
