WWW.CROSSCATHOLIC.ORG

2700 N. Military Trail, Suite 240PO Box 273908

Boca Raton, Florida 33427-39081-800-914-2420

Formerly known as Cross International Catholic Outreach

Pwoje Espwa Prison Ministry— Les Cayes, Haiti —

I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness… to open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from the prison,

those who sit in darkness from the prison house.Isaiah 42:6-7

PROJECT 0357

1

PRISON MINISTRY PROJECT 0357

Project Synopsis

DescriptionProvide sewing classes to prison inmates, many of whom are petty criminals or are innocent and awaiting trial.

PurposeEquip inmates with a skill to earn an honest, sustainable living, while also exposing them to the liberating message of the Gospel.

LocationLes Cayes, a major port city in southern Haiti.

CostThe annual budget of $13,200, or $1,100 per month, provides two teachers’ salaries, sewing machines and other supplies.

Highlights• Haiti’s overcrowded, understaffed and unsanitary prisons are a long-neglected problem that

endangers inmates and impedes their rehabilitation.

• A lack of money and judges has resulted in only 10 percent of the prison population receiving convictions, while the rest — many of them innocent — await trials that may or may not come.

• Pwoje Espwa (Project Hope), a local Catholic ministry, has initiated a vocational program at the crumbling, dilapidated prison in Les Cayes.

• Inmates are invited to attend sewing classes led by professional tailors. This gives them a chance to get out of their cramped cells, participate in improving their circumstances and equips them with a practical skill that will help them find employment as an alternative to crime when they are released.

• Father Marc Boisvert, founder of Pwoje Espwa, also offers the inmates spiritual counsel and the opportunity to go to Mass.

• Cross Catholic Outreach (formerly known as Cross International Catholic Outreach) is committed to helping Fr. Marc reach out to the nearly 530 inmates at the prison in Les Cayes.

2

PRISON MINISTRY PROJECT 0357

The NeedAuthor Fyodor Dostoevsky once wrote, “The degree of civilization in a society can be judged by

entering its prisons.”

The atrocious state of Haiti’s prisons is amongst the most neglected problems in one of the neediest, most crisis-prone regions of the world. Crumbling walls, severe overcrowding and a shortage of guards are commonplace. In the Les Cayes jail, up to 42 inmates are crammed together per cell, allowed only one hour each day to venture outside and stretch. The congested cells have overflowing buckets for toilets and the unsanitary conditions increase the risk of tuberculosis, cholera and cause most inmates to contract some form of scabies or chronic itching. Unable to escape the filth, they are barely given enough food or water to fight infection. Inmates are also forced to sleep in shifts, devoid of space or any hope of privacy.

It may be difficult to feel compassion for a hardened criminal, even when the punishment outweighs the crime, but many of the men locked up in Haiti’s prisons have only committed minor offenses. What’s worse, a mere 10 percent of inmates have actually been convicted of a crime, while the rest languish in crammed confinement, awaiting trials that will not come any time soon.

The vast majority of the nearly 530 inmates at the Les Cayes prison are men, some as young as 15 years old. Many of these juveniles spend their teenage years locked up to discourage a path of crime. But a lack of judges, transportation and finances turns so-called “preventative detention” into an indefinite and potentially lifelong sentence.

“No one comes to see me or

to help me.”

19-year-old Patrick Orsine,

who entered the prison after his involvement in the 2010 riots

The prison in Les Cayes is marked by crumbling walls, severe overcrowding and unsanitary conditions.

3

The MinistryThe national penitentiary in Port-au-Prince was once described as a “whale stranded on a garbage-

strewn beach and starting to rot”. Sadly, the prison in Les Cayes is no better.

But, if Father Marc Boisvert gets his way, there will be a transformation in Haiti’s prisons, where rehabilitation and restoration will ultimately replace darkness and despair. Fr. Marc is founder of the Catholic ministry Pwoje Espwa (“Project Hope”), which includes an orphanage for hundreds of children, a school, a vocational outreach and a housing ministry all in the area of Les Cayes. Upon visiting the inmates at the jail, learning their names and hearing their stories, Fr. Marc also desired to expand his outreach to provide an educational sewing program to help the men succeed after their release.

With the help of Cross Catholic Outreach, professional tailors visit the prison four days a week and teach a sewing class to inmates. The sessions give the men a rare opportunity to be active and spend a little time outside of their cells, while equipping them with a practical skill they can use in the future to earn an honest income. Jobs as tailors are in increasing demand throughout Haiti, which is one reason why Cross Catholic has joined Fr. Marc in this life-changing, sustainable outreach.

But that’s not the only reason. This ministry offers much more than material benefits; it also

has long-lasting value. The classes restore the dignity of those who have been degraded, stripped of their rights and holed up in overcrowded cells with little hope of a better life. Fr. Marc’s relationship with the prisoners has also opened the door to share the Catholic faith. As a result, he is able to minister to the inmate’s individual needs and celebrate Mass with them.

Cross Catholic Outreach is committed to supporting Fr. Marc and this project. On an average day, 20 inmates participate in each sewing class. Cross Catholic funds go toward teachers’ salaries, sewing machines and other tools and supplies. Fr. Marc is also careful to maximize the benefit of these dollars, using any leftovers to fill vital prescriptions for inmates and supplement the prison’s dwindling food budget at the end of the month.

But we can’t do this alone. Cross Catholic and Fr. Marc need caring Catholics to come alongside us to help equip inmates with an honest, sustainable skill and empower them to choose a moral life that exemplifies the redeeming love of Christ.

PRISON MINISTRY PROJECT 0357

The sewing class equips the men with a practical skill they can use in the future to earn an honest income.

4

Fr. Marc Boisvert

The Man Behind the MinistryWhile stationed in Florida with the U.S. Navy Chaplain Corps., Fr. Marc Boisvert had his first

encounter with Haitians fleeing their impoverished homeland. He was shocked to learn that hundreds of frantic people were launching off the Haitian shores on anything that would float.

As he listened to the Haitians’ stories of disease, oppression, poverty and slavery, he was deeply moved by their suffering. In 1997, a leave allowed him the time to visit Haiti and see what life was like there firsthand.

“Never had I seen the likes of it: the filth, the poverty, the smells and the heat. Families living in shacks that barely stood up; children playing in open sewers; kids in the street begging for money, food and medicine — their eyes bloodshot and their futures unknown. But the thing that impressed me the most about the Haitians was their ability to be joyful in the midst of overwhelming poverty. At that point I knew Haiti was where I needed to be,” Fr. Marc replied.

Upon returning home, he resigned from the service, sold most of his possessions and headed for the airport, arriving back in Haiti on New Year’s Day. Years later, his establishment of Pwoje Espwa has yielded great fruit. His sacrifice has saved lives, spread the Gospel and changed dark times into bright futures for hundreds of orphaned and vulnerable children, as well as poor families in need of housing and prison inmates in need of vocational training.

When asked how he was able to make such a radical choice, he points to the Scriptures, particularly the passages of Matthew 25:31-46 where Jesus expresses the importance of feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, caring for the sick and helping the hopeless. Those radical words, he said, challenged him to make radical choices.

“It became clear to me that this was my calling — to help alleviate the effects of poverty,” he said, and to date thousands of men, women and children around Les Cayes are blessed by his decision to serve.

PRISON MINISTRY PROJECT 0357

Fr. Marc Boisvert knows the names and stories of the inmates, which has given him a heart for helping them improve their lives upon release.

5

2700 N. Military Trail, Suite 240 • PO Box 273908 • Boca Raton, Florida 33427-3908 • 1-800-914-2420

© 2012 Cross Catholic Outreach. Cost effectively written, designed and printed in-house.

PRISON MINISTRY PROJECT 0357

Our Promise to You!100 percent of the proceeds of this appeal will be used for this project. In the event that we receive more than

needed to fund this project, additional gifts will be used for other urgent needs in the ministry.

Help Now!

Give the Gift of HopePrison ministry is a tradition that reaches back to St. Paul, who used his own unjust imprisonment

as an opportunity to encourage his brothers in the faith and to extend God’s grace to the lost. Instead of despairing, Paul amazed the other inmates with his open display of prayer and worship; and when an angel broke his chains and unlocked the doors of all the cells, Paul chose to preach the Gospel to the prison guard instead of running for the freedom he deserved. The guard converted right then and there, and amazingly all the prisoners chose to stay.

You can carry on the tradition by joining with Cross Catholic Outreach in our support of Fr. Marc’s prison ministry. The sewing classes provide a practical skill, some relief from misery, and most importantly, an open door for the message of Christ, who alone is able to set people free from spiritual bondage.

Won’t you join us? The inmates can do nothing on their own but wait for compassionate Catholics like you to take the initiative and help.

[aw1210]