Mercy Focus on Haiti
Haiti and GMercyU United in Spirit and Story
Mercy Focus on Haiti is a ministry of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas. Its members are led to service and solidarity with people who are materially poor, especially those living in Haiti. They partner with the Haitian people to meet their unmet needs and we collaborate with like-minded organizations.
Since 2018, the GMercyU community has embraced the efforts of this ministry by seeking opportunities to support on-ground efforts through service, scholarship, education, and fundraising.
Learn more about our Mercy Focus on Haiti here. Learn more about Haiti with our Library Guide.
Service Projects
GMercyU first engaged with Mercy Focus on Haiti (MFOH) in 2018 when a team of faculty, staff, and student delegates visited Gros Morne, Haiti to learn about the various programs offered by MFOH. With an initial hope to engage with our Haitian partners through travel to Gros Morne, since then political unrest in Haiti and the global pandemic challenged us to explore creative ways to collaborate with our international partners from home.
2025 Campaign
This year, GMercyU's Mercy Focus on Haiti Team will address the theme of Earth.
This coincides with a Mercy Focus on Haiti request for support building 1,000-1,500 gallon cisterns for the Gros Morne community. Rainwater harvesting provides clean water to the community for drinking and gardens and helps control soil erosion. Without the cisterns, water collection usually falls to women and children who must walk 1-2 hours to collect river water and carry it back uphill to their homes.
Funds collected will help build a cistern in Gros Morne, Haiti. While a cistern costs approximately $1,000 to build; see breakdown of costs below. Any amount you contribute will work towards the goal.
The campaign begins March 1, 2025 and continues through the Spring semester.
| $11 | day laborer salary for one day (3 laborers for 5 days on each cistern) |
| $11 | spigot and piping |
| $18 | chicken wire |
| $20 | one day of meals for masons and laborers (5 days needed) |
| $24 | one bag of cement (17 bags to build a cistern) |
| $36 | eaves, downspouts, fixtures to gather the rainwater from roofs |
| $42 | steel rebar for cistern reinforcement |
| $50 | qualified mason (2 needed to supervise and build the cistern) |
| $60 | community organizer (works with village to prepare, train for maintenance) |
| $93 | shipping, handling, transportation of cistern materials to village |
| $100 | master mason (to purchase materials, oversee the project) |
Photos in the video are from GMercyU's 2024 on-campus cistern project.
Past Projects
2024
The GMercyU community was successful in fundraising and building a cistern. To help our community better understand the work in Haiti and the importance of water in their communities, we collaborated with Mercy Focus on Haiti and the engineer who guides the building of cisterns to build a cistern on campus. The cistern's presence serves as a reminder of our connection to the ongoing work in Haiti. The cistern collects rain water used to irrigate the Campus Learning Garden located near Valie Genuardi Hall. Students, faculty, and staff assisted in the building of the cistern.
2023
The Gwynedd Mercy University community was thrilled to present a $1,277 donation to build one cistern allows the people of Gros Morne, Haiti to collect 1,000-1,500 gallon of rainwater. Rainwater harvesting provides clean water to the community for drinking and for gardens, and helps control soil erosion. Without the cisterns, water collection usually falls to women and children who must walk one to two hours to collect river water and carry it back uphill to their homes.
2022
GMercyU was excited to present a $3,600 donation to benefit the Lekól Jesi-Mari (Jesus & Mary Primary School). Our community held a fundraising campaign that engaged students, staff, faculty, who were humbled to learn about the efforts and community work provided by the school.
2021
Social Work, Occupational Therapy, and Public Health faculty members partnered with Mercy Focus on Haiti in 2021 to conduct a secondary data analysis of the Chemin Lavi Miyo (CLM) program, also known as Pathway to a Better Life. The research project covered the factors that contribute to sustained outcomes for CLM graduates in the two years following graduation from the program. Learn more here: Chemin Lavi Miyò Leads a Woman Out of Ultra-Poverty
Here are a few more examples of our innovative community-engaged learning projects from the past several years:
- GMercyU Sends Team to Haiti for Immersion Experience
- GMercyU Social Work Students Raise $600 for Chateau D'eau
- GMercyU Sponsors Pillowcase Drive for Mercy Focus on Haiti
- MFH - Pillowcase Drive
- Mercy Focus on Haiti Liaison Visits Social Work Class
- GMercyU Psychology Students Presents Research about Ultra Poverty
GMercyU Mercy Focus on Haiti Team
- Tatiana Diaz, Assistant Vice President of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
- James Gallo, Vice President for Mission Integration
- Mindy MacRone-Wojton, Assistant Professor, Occupational Science & Occupational Therapy
- Janice Nuss, Assistant Professor & Director of Field Education, Social Work
- Betsy Stone Plummer, Director of Service and Catherine's Cupboard
- Sharla Willis, Program Director, Public Health