Partners with Sassier Zanmi Sasye: Engendering Hope, Creating Opportunity and Improving Lives in Haiti.

Partners With Sassier Blog

7.2 Magnitude Earthquake Strikes Southwest Haiti

7.2 Magnitude Earthquake Strikes Southwest Haiti

Saturday morning, August 14 2021, Southwest Haiti was hit by a 7.2 Magnitude earthquake. There is heavy damage and reports of many dead and injured. We have heard from our friends in Sassier that the schools, rectory and clinic are still standing. The church was badly...

Adopt a Sassier Student 2018

Adopt a Sassier Student 2018

    It’s September again…the sounds of children’s voices and laughter once again fills the hallways at the St Jean Baptiste Parish Schools in Sassier. More than 600 students from preschool to 13th grade are very happy to be back in school. Almost two years...

Health Care in Haiti: Sassier Medical Clinic

Health Care in Haiti: Sassier Medical Clinic

Just a year ago, the Clinique Medical du Sassier (Sassier Medical Clinic) was inaugurated in a fabulous community celebration attended by Haiti's Minister of Public Health and representatives of the donors from the Winnetka area. The Clinic, staffed by a doctor, two...

Sustainable Agriculture: Breadfruit, Peppers, & Limes

Sustainable Agriculture: Breadfruit, Peppers, & Limes

Growing fruits and high value produce can provide significant and sustainable short and long term benefits for our farmers. Our Agriculture Project's primary focus  is providing our farmers the capability, expertise and business frameworks that will enable them to...

Spotlight: Farmer Collaboration & Teamwork

Spotlight: Farmer Collaboration & Teamwork

Labasti Farmer Team collaborates to ensure a bountiful harvest Over the past year, we have been working with 230 farmers to help re-establish agriculture in the greater Sassier area. Our team, led by Agronomist Wisly Jasmin, has provided seeds, plants, tools, training...

Children with Empty Tummies Cannot Learn

Children with Empty Tummies Cannot Learn

    Dedicated teachers throughout Haiti will tell you that one of their greatest challenges is students who come to school hungry. Younger children begin crying by 10 AM, asking for bread or other food. The eyes of older students glaze over about Noon, a...

Agriculture is Coming Back in Sassier

Agriculture is Coming Back in Sassier

  Agriculture is Coming Back in Sassier Agriculture is the primary business in the Sassier area, with almost every family involved in growing crops and raising animals. Rebuilding agriculture is key after the devastation caused by Hurricane Matthew in October...

News From Sassier: 2018 is off to a good start!

News From Sassier: 2018 is off to a good start!

Zanmi Sasye's President, Gerry Keenan, is visiting Sassier this week and sent us the following update:  The rainy weather of the past few weeks has cleared, so everyone's activities are back to normal as the sun shines on the Sassier area. 2018 is off to a good...

2018 Building on Success

2018 Building on Success

Happy New Year! Bonne Année! Bon Ane! We hope that your 2018 has started very well. We ended 2017 with a Huge Thank You for your support and dedication to helping our sisters and brothers in the Sassier area back on their feet after Hurricane Matthew destroyed so much...

Merry Christmas 2017

Merry Christmas 2017

Thanks to all of you, there will be a joyful Christmas this year, fourteen months after Hurricane Matthew ripped through the Sassier area, leaving devastation and destruction in its path. Your immediate response ensured that food and emergency supplies were available,...

Haitian Farmers Win Big with New Storage Technology

Haitian Farmers Win Big with New Storage Technology

Earlier this year, we introduced a new grain storage technology to our Agriculture project's farmers. Thanks to great research and networking by Winnetka's Michael Morette, we implemented a Pilot Program using PICS bags from Purdue University. PICS bags have been used...

Adopt A Sassier Student 2017

Adopt A Sassier Student 2017

Adopt a Sassier Student 2017: Our Students Need Your Support! It’s September again…the sounds of children’s voices and laughter once again fills the hallways at the St Jean Baptiste Parish Schools in Sassier More than 600 students from preschool to 13th grade are very...

Graduation Day in Sassier

Graduation Day in Sassier

Matthew Can't Defeat Us! Graduation Day in Sassier What a celebration for the 24 graduates of College Pierre Toussaint! Wish you could have been there. It would have been easy for the twenty four 13th Graders at College Pierre Toussaint to quit this past year-but they...

Agriculture is Coming Back in Sassier

A Bountiful Harvest In Sight

A Bountiful Harvest In Sight Four failed harvests in a row have created desperate situations for farmers in the Sassier area. Nearly two years of drought and the devastation caused by Hurricane Matthew last October left farmers with almost nothing--no resources and...

700 Meals A Day

700 Meals A Day

700 Meals A Day Over 100,000 Meals Per Year! Jesus fed the 5000, and our team of skilled cooks feeds 700 students and staff at the Sassier Parish school about 150 days a year--over 100,000 meals a year! Providing a hot lunch to the students is extremely important,...

Rebuilding Roofs Rebuilding Lives

Rebuilding Roofs Rebuilding Lives

Rebuilding Roofs, Rebuilding Lives Our past few posts have focused on the farming aspects of our Agriculture Project. Helping our farmers regain their livelihoods after Hurricane Matthew is not simply one-dimensional. Replanting, pest control, better means of...

Update: Restoring Agriculture After Hurricane Matthew

Update: Restoring Agriculture After Hurricane Matthew

How Many Trees Can You Get on a Bus? "How many Haitians can you fit on a bus?" "Always one more!" Our friends at Trees That Feed Foundation (TTFF) provided our partner organization in Haiti with another 800+ trees to replace those destroyed in October. Our Challenge:...

Up on the Roof – Strong and Secure Concrete

Up on the Roof – Strong and Secure Concrete

Zanmi Sasye's President Gerry Keenan is in Haiti this week managing the recovery projects funded by your generosity. Hurricane Matthew showed the significant value of well-built concrete buildings. Buildings with metal roofs could not withstand the 120+mph winds. Once...

Celebrating the Return to School! 

Celebrating the Return to School! 

Celebrating the Return to School! Play the "Celebrating the Return to School" Video. Please note that the video has no sound. The video above shows a portion of the dedication of the new roof at St. Jean Evangelique School. The sign is in English...

Planting Dinner for February

Planting Dinner for February

Planting Dinner for February Zanmi Sasye President Gerry Keenan returned from Haiti last weekend. Here is his update on the situation in the Sassier area. It is now 7 weeks since Hurricane Matthew made a direct hit on Sassier and the surrounding area.  The focus has...

New School Roofs

New School Roofs

New School Roofs Thank you to Trees that Feed and St. Francis Xavier! Zanmi Sasye President Gerald Keenan has been in Sassier and Jeremie, Haiti, since last Friday. He sent us the following report today. Roofs for Schools A primary focus of our Haitian partner...

Three Weeks Later, Reality Sets In

Three Weeks Later, Reality Sets In

Fortunately, the weekend rains gave way to sun on Monday afternoon.  Tuesday, food and supplies delivered to Jeremie on Friday finally made their way to Sassier.  The road is too steep and slippery for the large truck when the road is wet. Now that three weeks have...

Twin Victories!  Cubs Win, Schools Reopen in Sassier.

Twin Victories!  Cubs Win, Schools Reopen in Sassier.

While Chicagoans everywhere cheered the Cubs on to the World Series victory, our local Haitian partners have continued their work to relieve the suffering of those in the Sassier area. Deacon Gerry Keenan, President Having done his part for the Cubs, Zanmi...

Thankfulness

Thankfulness

"Thank you so much, sisters and brothers! Without you, we would be dead." It's three weeks since Hurricane Matthew left Sassier and Jeremie in shambles. Even though some food and other assistance has gotten through, very little has gotten to remote locations like...

Rainy Day Blues

Rainy Day Blues

Rainy Day Blues The misery index in Sassier is rising. The Fall Rainy Season has arrived in the Sassier area, right about on time. Usually, the rains are welcome, as they provide moisture for the crops planted in the September. "The rains bring life," people say. Good...