ECRS has been a proud sponsor of the Haitian Orphanage, Maison Fortuné, for the past five years. We are currently funding approximately 10% of their yearly operating budget. I am also happy to report that ECRS is now funding 100% of the construction cost for a new, much needed cistern.
Haiti has been ranked the poorest country in our hemisphere and the plight of the orphans of Haiti is absolutely horrendous. These children are literally the poorest of the poor in material wealth. Though poor materially, these children are rich with life and deserve a helping hand. I am very proud that ECRS can play a role in this much deserved solution to their plight. The orphanage provides a loving and safe place for them to live, eat and learn; a place to help them grow into young men and women that perhaps one day will serve to pull their struggling nation out of poverty.
Psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor, Viktor Frankl, said this about each persons search for meaning, "Everyone has his own specific vocation or mission in life to carry out a concrete assignment which demands fulfillment. Therein he cannot be replaced, nor can his life be repeated. Thus, everyone's task is as unique as is his specific opportunity to implement it."
I believe organizations also need missions to thrive. ECRS's mission is to be part of the solution, in what way we can, to the challenges of our time. On a daily basis, we will contribute to what is needed to help our families, our customers, our communities, our nation and our world. I believe that in our contribution to the solution we each can find meaning.
Peter T. Catoe, ECRS Founder and President
About the Cistern Project, Hinche Haiti
To keep up with the need for water for bathing, laundry and cooking, as well as, to feed into the filtering system for potable water, the orphanage staff have to pump water from the well several times a day. This means that the diesel-fueled generator must be turned on. Maison Fortuné founder and director, Lefort Jean-Louis proposes building a concrete reservoir or cistern which would store both well-water and rainwater. The cistern would be mostly above ground and have spigots for drawing water, and actually could double as a hand-washing station for the children, meeting a need identified by the people working on the Maison Fortuné wellness program.
Acner Pierre, a Haitian civil engineer we have worked with before, has drawn up a proposal for its construction. The cost is significant, but Chip Wirth, an engineer and President-elect of the Foundation, has estimated that the cost could be recovered in three years, since it would eliminate the constant use of the generator for pumping water for daily needs.
Another step, along with the solar energy proposal now being prepared, in the "greening" of the campus.
