The organization “Amis de Fond des Blancs” is led by Ferel Bruno, one of the first Hai-tian “children” of Father Wasson. We have known him since his time at the English school in Arizona in the 1980s, which Father Wasson had built at that time on the property of his late parents (against the vehement opposition of the discriminating neighbors). In any case, Ferel Bruno has already launched several community projects in the isolated area of Limonade (more on this below). After the earthquake, he immediately organized the distribution of food aid packages to affected families.

Our donation of $1,300 for a new shelter for a family has long since arrived there, but implementation is difficult. Here is his interim report on November 5:

“I want to give you an update on the $1,300.00. We went off to build the houses. After spending two days on the land, we had to come back because the gangs announced they were going to block the main road. We had to return late Sun-day – the next day, Monday, the gangs attacked many cars, buses, and three tankers of diesel.

The news in Haiti this week is not good. The fuel crisis is making life difficult for everyone. About 50 hospitals are closed because they lack fuel for their generators. There is little transportation to get to work, and food is not being delivered to stores or markets. All food supplies in the countryside have been lost because of fuel problems, and gangs control all areas. Violence continues to increase in Port-au-Prince. Last Saturday, there was a mass shooting at a school in Bour-don, not far from Petion Ville. Over 150 gangs continue to terrorize the city. In 2021, according to the news, some 800 people have already been kidnapped.

But we will never give up on our people. They are amazing people who share the fate of living in a time of extreme problems in Haiti. They deserve all the support they can get from us. Even though the news has been terrible again this week in Haiti, we will not just sit and wait, because as soon as we have fuel and clear roads, we will return and finish building the homes for the families. I hope you understand that we need to protect ourselves from the gangs.

We will continue to fight to ensure that young adults and families do not join the gangs in the communities. With your help, they will complete their education, learn a trade, and be able to build a stable future and contribute to the safety of their communities.
May God help us and protect us.
Ferel Bruno”

Ferel Bruno had already told us about obstacles at the beginning of September: “Now we are focusing on the earthquake to continue to support the families who are currently in difficulty. Last week we brought more water and food, and we want to continue to do so.
We did not stay in the city but went to the countryside where the poor people lost their farms and houses. We used mules to bring water and food to the families for a week, promising to return in a week. We cannot transport much because we are stopped on the way by gangs and people who want to steal the material. We use different strategies, for example, we pretend to carry sand so they don’t stop us.
We are very grateful for any support you can give us so we can continue to help those in need.”

On August 25, about ten days after the earthquake, Ferel Bruno describes the situation on the ground like this:

“Report what we have done:
Last Wednesday we left to support the earthquake victims. Yesterday afternoon we came back. We went back and forth between Fond des Blancs and Les Cayes, but mainly to the villages because we noticed that all the relief supplies were in the towns. We went to the villages and not to the towns. Many farmers had lost their livestock and gardens that morning of the earthquake when they went to check on their livestock and their work. Some farmers died from mudslides and falling rocks. We stopped in Aquin, Cavallion, and Les Cayes. We used both trucks to transport all the relief supplies without any problems.

We packed bags of drinking water rations, prepared corn, and obtained tarps to temporarily cover roofs. We then distributed the following in the area of Aquin, Cavallion and Les Cayes:

600 bags of drinking water bags from our own production.
250 bags of corn from the production of farmers.
20 tarpaulins of plastic that we had in still our warehouse. “

We want to continue to distribute water, but we no longer have plastic bags to fill the water because we have distributed everything in the villages that do not have access to water. I’m also thinking of helping families rebuild their homes in the countryside rather than in the cities because everyone is focused on the cities. We want to make more water bags for them if we can get the necessary water supplies, as we see that water is a priority because all water sources are contaminated with black or red after the earthquake.
Thank you for allowing us to do whatever we can to improve the lives of families.
Ferel Bruno”

It is precisely the construction of the house that we want to help with the Padre Wasson Foundation and for this, the cost for a family is 1300 dollars. The money is on-site and will be used as soon as the security situation and the availability of diesel allow it.

Ferel Bruno writes about the history and past achievements of his organization:

“Amis de Fond des Blancs has initiated and led numerous projects and has been working with others in the community of Fond-des-Blancs since early 2008 to facilitate comprehensive, holistic community development.”

“Amis de Fond des Blancs” has a long history of agricultural projects there. They were responsible for the reforestation of orchards in the commune of Fond-des-Blancs. Over three years, they distributed more than 60,000 fruit trees to the target communities through their affiliated farmers. Today, Fond-des-Blancs is a place where trees can be seen again compared to other regions of Haiti. The same goes for goats, which were bred with imported Nubian goats and are still in demand. We helped the families with the goats so that they could gain independence. To do this, we raised the goats and gave them to the families in exchange for other products, while we also provided for the families. “