Delivering food, shelter, and hope to the poorest of the poor
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In a dark corner of Haiti, the Kobonal Haiti Mission shines as a beacon of hope. For more than 30 years, , its founder, Father Glenn Meaux, has worked tirelessly in this remote farming community to care for the poor. Your support helps his ministry provide clean water, food, safe housing, education — and the love of Christ — to the destitute.
Haiti is one the most impoverished countries in the world.
Nearly three in five people live below the poverty line. Kobonal was once called “the darkest corner of the Diocese of Hinche.” Its families had extreme humanitarian needs. Many lived in flimsy shacks and drank contaminated water gathered from nearby streams. Lacking electricity, clean water or sanitary latrines, and decent educational or employment opportunities, they felt hopeless.
When Father Meaux and his missionary team arrived in Kobonal in 1989, he was heartbroken by the poverty he witnessed. In the years that followed, he established a Catholic community to address the local poverty — and his mission has since become a beacon of hope in the diocese.
Kobonal Haiti Mission has helped hundreds of families by building safe and resilient homes, providing clean water and sanitary latrines, offering agricultural assistance to make the families sources of income more sustainable for the future, and ensuring educational opportunities and spiritual formation.
“Once I was exposed to the poverty, and saw the children in the streets, I fell in love with the country. I fell in love with the poor.” – Fr. Meaux
Build and repair sturdy weatherproof homes, to benefit families who are currently living in makeshift shacks.
Fund community water wells that bring clean water to families who must otherwise fetch contaminated water.
Support 500 students with their secondary education and help provide a quality Catholic education and nutritious meals for 1,600 students.
Join us in empowering the Kobonal Haiti Mission.
The cycle of poverty can be difficult to escape, but having a safe place to call home can make a real difference. The initial goal of the mission’s housing program is to improve the living conditions of families sheltering in fragile mud-and-stick huts. The long-term goal is to enable each family to become a landowner, a homeowner and a self-supporting farmer within a faith-filled community.
Each year, Kobonal builds approximately 60 new homes and repairs 60 other homes for poor families. The homes feature cement walls and floor, and a galvanized steel roof. Homes have secure doors and windows and even a small solar panel.
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A new roof. Refreshed paint. Upgraded windows. Every home needs periodic repairs. That’s why, after three decades of building homes, Fr. Meaux wants to ensure past beneficiaries are able to keep up with maintenance and to make important upgrades to their homes. Making necessary repairs is also the Mission’s way of protecting the investment previous donors made in the homes they sponsored many years ago.
Your support helps the Kobonal Haiti Mission build and repair sturdy weatherproof homes.
Water is vital. For the villagers of Kobonal, it’s not just for drinking and cooking, but also to sustain important gardens they depend on for food and income. Community wells make use of freestanding hand pumps. Without them, villagers would have to gather water from unsafe sources, including contaminated lakes and streams.
Supplying an entire family in Kobonal with clean, safe water costs just $249. Community leaders oversee wells and perform maintenance. Water is free, but benefiting families are encouraged to contribute a small amount to handle any repairs — giving villagers a greater sense of ownership and pride.
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Most Kobonal families are too poor to afford the costs of a public school education. To combat this, Kobonal provides reduced or even free tuition and uniforms to its primary schools. Thanks to friends like you, the Kobonal Haiti Mission was able to expand its Mathebonite school campus in 2021, and today, its two campuses are able to educate 1,600 students in kindergarten through sixth grade.
The Kobonal Mission School is one of the largest — and best — in the region. Students receive spiritual formation through catechism courses and weekly Mass. Fr. Meaux partnered with Cross Catholic to offer a scholarship program, providing for 480 financially struggling students to attend secondary school, plus 20 scholarships for university students.
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Your support helps the Kobonal Haiti Mission educate and feed primary school and secondary education students.
Life in the Central Plateau is harsh and many families in Kobonal are still utterly poor. For extremely destitute families this outreach can mean the difference between starvation and survival. Funding from Cross Catholic Outreach donors helps the mission distribute Vitafood meals and provide staples to some of the diocese’s most needy families.
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Your support helps the Kobonal Haiti Mission provide monthly food rations to extremely destitute families.
Proceeds from this campaign will be used to cover any expenditures incurred through June 30, 2024, 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.
Our mission is to mobilize the global Catholic Church to transform the poor and their communities materially and spiritually for the glory of Jesus Christ. Your gift empowers us to serve the poorest of the poor by channeling life-changing aid through an international network of dioceses, parishes and Catholic missionaries. This cost-effective approach helps break the cycle of poverty and advance Catholic evangelization.