Haiti (MNN) — Gang violence in Haiti continues at a steady burn. Just last week, a gang attacked a community near Port-au-Prince, killing at least 70 people.
Meanwhile, the neighboring Dominican Republic says it will deport up to 10,000 illegal migrants per week. Many of them will be Haitians. In the past week, 4,900 Haitians have already been sent back to their volatile homeland, where the United Nations says at least 3,661 people were killed during the first half of 2024.
(Photo courtesy of Christian World Outreach)
Greg Yoder with Christian World Outreach says in the midst of all this trouble, God is bringing hope and vocational skills to Haitian women through their Feminine Training Centers.
“It’s difficult because prices have increased wherever [one lives]. So they have to learn to start small and save some money to the side so they can buy more materials to keep going,” Yoder says.
“[But] these women are very resourceful. They’ll do whatever they can to help improve the lives of their family.”
CWO’s Port-au-Prince center had to close for now due to safety concerns. But the centers in Le Jeune and Mirabalais are still in operation. Sewing, cosmetology, baking, cooking, and handcrafts are taught. Women also hear the gospel, some for the first time.
Yoder says the director of the program invests one-on-one in the women’s lives.
“Anyone that’s kind of discouraged and not thinking they could do it, she encourages them to try, and will even give them a scholarship to come if money seems to be the issue. That opens the door to share the gospel and why we even do this,” Yoder says.
Handiwork of women from CWO’s Feminine Training Centers in Haiti (Photo courtesy of CWO)
“Why do we come and help these ladies? It’s because God loves us and we want to love them and help them with their physical needs.”
Please pray that the situation in Haiti will change for the good. Pray for the people of Haiti to hear the gospel and, if you can, help CWO offer scholarships by supporting their Feminine Training Centers with a gift at cwomissions.org.
“We do ask that the ladies pay what they can, but we don’t turn people away. There [are] times where we pay and we supplement what the women pay there,” Yoder says.
“The support that people give toward the Feminine Training Center help[s] women be trained in a vocation.”
Header photo from 2020 of a suburb of Port-au-Prince. Photo courtesy of Reynaldo Mirault/Unsplash.
