Partners with Sassier Zanmi Sasye: Engendering Hope, Creating Opportunity and Improving Lives in Haiti.
Partners With Sassier Blog
Shoes for Sassier
Once again this year, we are collecting gently-used shoes, sandals, sports shoes, etc. for the people of St. Jean Baptiste, our Twin Parish in Sassier, Haiti. In Sassier, many of their parishioners walk up and down the mountains with no shoes or ones that are badly...
Eggs for Schools in Sassier, Haiti
Did you know-- Haiti imports more than 1,000,000+ eggs a day from the Dominican Republic There is no commercial scale egg production in Haiti, except in the areas near the Capital city of Port-au-Prince? There is a start-up social business opportunity that will both...
Our First Graduates Depart College Pierre Toussaint!
Graduates of College Pierre Toussaint, their parents and teachers during the ceremony at St Jean Baptiste Church in Sassier. Note that the Church is being rehabilitated and expanded. The other dream that has become a reality in Sassier is the first 13th Grade...
Chickens and Eggs
It might shock you to know that Haiti importsmore than 1.5 million fresh eggs a day (more than 500 million per year!), mostly from the Dominican Republic. Many of the eggs sold in stores in Jeremie, the provincial capital near Sassier, come from Port au Prince on a...
New Health Clinic Update
We reported in our June newsletter that a very generous friend of Sassier volunteered to provide a matching grant challenge for the construction, furnishing, and operation of a medical clinic in Sassier. While we were in Sassier in June, we discussed the project...
New Health Clinic for Sassier
For years, it has been a dream of ours to be able to build a medical clinic in Sassier-and to be able to have the funds to staff it and provide funding for medications, etc. Recently, a very generous friend of Sassier volunteered to provide a matching grant...
Water Project Update
A few months ago we reported that the engineering work for the Great Sassier Water Project was about to be finished by the Haitian Government water agency. After the plans were reviewed by the Project's 28 member steering committee, some adjustments were...
St. Ann School
The celebration in Voldrouge was also a great event. St. Ann School is the answer to many prayers by parents in that community. Just made a parish in 2012, St Ann was previous a mission chapel of the Parish in Sassier. "We now have a school to which we can send...
Michael Heiming School
In Sassier, the 18 classroom Michael Heiming School was dedicated by Bishop Gontrand Decoste of Jeremie, Fr. Edner Mars, pastor of St. Jean Baptiste Parish, and Barbara Becker, President of the Association for Schools in Hispaniola. Barbara Becker receives a present...
A Dream that has Become Reality
A Dream that has Become Reality! As tipped in our last Friends of Sassier newsletter, the new school buildings in Sassier and Voldrogue were dedicated with great fanfare on May 9 and May 11, respectively. Hundreds of people turned out for both events, which were...
We Need Your Help to Build Libraries for Our Students
Now that we have space for libraries for the secondary and primary schools, we need library shelves, tables and chairs, more books, maps, etc. We received a great start from Sacred Heart children last year, but we need more help. We need books in French, English and...
College Pierre Toussaint to Hold First 13th and 12th Grade Graduations on June 23
College Pierre Toussaint (7th to 13th grade) students and parents are very excited about the first-ever Graduation ceremony for 12th and 13th Grade students. As noted in School Dedications, just ten years ago, the Parish school in Sassier finished at 4th Grade. ...
School Dedication Coming in May
The long awaited dedication of the new primary and preschool building in Sassier will be held on May 9. The 18 classroom school was completed last summer and has been the home of Lekol Michael Heiming (Michael Heiming School) since September. More than 500 primary...
Visitors from Sassier
Everyone in Sassier was very happy to welcome visitors from Sacred Heart in early March. Rich Adler and Jim O’Donnell, along with Jim’s cousin Matthew, got a whirlwind visit to Sassier and the area over the course of a long weekend. All of the visitors were very...
Shoes for Sassier
Once again this year, we are collecting gently-used shoes, sandals, sports shoes, etc. for the people of St Jean Baptiste, our Twin Parish in Sassier, Haiti. In Sassier, many of their parishioners walk up and down the mountains with no shoes or ones that are badly...
Update on Water Project
You may remember that we have been working on the development of a piped water project that will provide potable (safe) drinking water to about 7,000 people throughout the Sassier area. The project got stalled for a few months due to a change in administration at...
Sassier School Update
After a break for Christmas and Haitian Independence Day (January 1), the students in Sassier returned to School on January 7. Weather has been good, so there haven’t been days lost due to excessive rain and the river flooding that accompanies large rainfall. When...
Two New School Projects are Underway!
In addition to the new Michael Heiming school building in Sassier, our German friends funded two other school buildings in other towns in the Grand Anse province. Both the projects are moving along very well, despite a two week construction delay caused by Sandy. An 8...
The Bad News – The Effect of Hurricane Sandy
Unfortunately, the Sassier area was hit hard by Hurricane Sandy, as was much of Haiti. Although the headlines focused on Sandy’s visit to the US Northeast, Haiti suffered significant damage from wind, rain and flooding from more than 20 inches of rain. The only road...
Good News! School Opens in the New School Building
School opened on October 1 with the 500+ students in Preschool and Primary School attending classes in the brand-new school building, which was designed specifically for them. Everyone is very excited about it. Now the older students (7th to 13th Grades) have their...
*NEW* Update on Teen Trip to Haiti
Our Teen Trip to Haiti 2012 left Sacred Heart on Friday afternoon, July 27. The group comprises 13 Teens and 5 adult leaders. Everyone arrived safely in Jeremie on Saturday about 6:30 PM and in Sassier by 7:30 PM. On Sunday, we went to the Feast in new Parish of St...
New Video: Engendering Hope
In just 8 years, the Parish School in Sassier, College Pierre Toussaint, has grown from 200 students attending school in the Church to 900 students from Preschool to 13th Grade going receiving the Gift of Education in two large reinforced concrete buildings, with hot...
Catholic Relief Services Highlights Sassier Water System Rehabilitation and Expansion Project
Catholic Relief Services just released a new video highlighting the Sassier Water System Rehabilitation and Expansion Project. Remember that the potable water system was substantially ruined in 2008 by four hurricanes that swept across Haiti in just three weeks. ...
St Pascal School Student Council Collects 500 Pairs of Shoes for Sassier!
Student Council members at St Pascal School on Chicago's Northwest side collected about 500 pair of shoes for Shoes for Sassier 2012! Teachers, staff, and students collaborated to get 300 pair of new shoes donated by a local business! There will be lots of Happy Feet...
Final Work on Sassier School is Underway!
Now that the roof is complete, work is proceeding to finish the walls, etc. of the new school building in Sassier. We’re beginning the planning for furnishing the new school. In particular, we are working to raise funds to provide the proper type of environment for...