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Haiti Outreach

The Haiti Outreach Group communicates with our sister parish Notre Dame de la Nativite in Malfety. Our parish has a regular collection to support our community in Haiti. We share our common experiences both personal and faithful - a community to community connection. Thus, we are creating an opportunity to nurture real and long-term relationships.

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Having a sister parish relationship between North American parishes and parishes in Caribbean and Latin American countries encourages respect and promotes awareness of worldwide injustices. All Catholics are called to live the messages in the gospel. Creating a relationship and community with a church in a less developed country provides us at the Shrine the opportunity to answer this call. The Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Atlanta, Georgia and Notre Dame de la Nativite in Malfety, Haiti have been sister parishes since 2012.

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Notre Dame de la Nativity in Malfety is located in Northeast Haiti in the Diocese of Fort Liberty. The parish was established in 1991 and consists of the main church and three mission churches. The mission churches or chapels are in Minier, Garde-Saline and Garrot. There are two schools in the parish, Our Lady of the Nativity in Malfety and The Immaculate Conception School in Garrot. The church also has a small medical clinic in Malfety that is opened two days a week. The parish is in the process of rebuilding a rice mill in Malfety.

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For more information about the Haiti Outreach Group or to volunteer, please send email to haiti@catholicshrineatlanta.org.

There are many needs at our sister parish:

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  • The church and rectory in Malfety are 25 years old and need much TLC. Window screens are torn, door knobs and jams are missing or in need of repair. The church and rectory have a well but no electricity to run the pump and the plumbing is cracked.

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  • The electricity in Haiti is not consistent and can be expensive. It would be a great idea to explore solar energy as an alternative.

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  • The community in Garrot has no clean water and the residents get all their water from the river.

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  • The medical clinic is only open two days a week. The doctor comes from Fort Liberty and could work more days but there are no resources to pay a doctor.

Want to help?

You can donate money to our Haiti Outreach.

You can join our committee.

We meet every second  Sunday at church after the 11:00 am mass.

You can pray for the people of Haiti and all the poor.

School

Notre Dame de la Nativity in Malfety

Supporting the schools of our sister parish in Haiti is a main focus. Many parishioners in Atlanta sponsor a student in Malfety or Garrot. By doing this the church is able to keep the teachers employed at both schools. Recently Hurricane Irma flooded the churches and schools in Garrot and Malfety and it was necessary to replace books, desks, benches and other supplies. Without our sister parish relationship the students would have suffered even more form the floods. The parish purchased land to build a school but now needs to raise money to build the building.

Trips to Haiti

Since 2012 three groups of members from the Shrine have visited Haiti. Since it is difficult for Haitians to get Visas for travel to the US, usually the pastor is the only Haitian that visits Atlanta. Groups of 3-4 parishioners from the Shrine travel to Cap Haitian on American Airlines and then it is an hour or so ride to Malfety. The church rectory is the only place to stay and electricity is only available for 8 hours a day at best. There is no air conditioning and Haiti is warm all year. Only bottled water is recommended for Americans to drink. Although the rectory has indoor plumbing there is still only one bathroom. Traveling to Malfety will show you how much faith and trust in God people can have. Traveling to Haiti will also open your eyes to the needs of the poor and the waste that we have in the United States.

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