The Holy Spirit Haiti Mission started in 1998 when the pastor, Father Louis Giardino, suggested the parish might consider this outreach. The early teams took physicians and nurses to Haiti providing much needed medical assistance. The need was so great the parish supplied funds to establish a medical clinic with a resident physician. It was noted that the impure water in the area was causing much illness among the residents. In response, the Holy Spirit Mission team researched providing pure water wells in the area and teamed up with the organization Waters for Life. Since that time, ten wells have been dug and equipped to provide safe water for the inhabitants. The water can be bottled and sold to the community as a way to provide income to the various parishes and monasteries with a well. Luckily, a decline in gastro-intestinal disease has been noted.

In 2005, it was brought to the attention of the Holy Spirit Mission team that a local woman was trying to provide education for the children in the area and had started taking orphans into her home. The team and parish stepped in and built a two-story orphanage facility that provided housing for seventy children, classrooms, dining facilities, and a chapel. The students housed in the orphanage are adopted by various members of Holy Spirit Parish in Huntsville who pay their annual support of $700. At the present time, ten of those “adopted” students have graduated and are studying to be teachers at the university. Fifteen others are pursuing various university degrees. One student is in medical school and plans to return and assist the current physician at the clinic. Three other students have completed their degrees and have returned to the community to work out their college contract for their education. Another has returned to the community and is employed as the assistant administrator of the orphanage.

The medical clinic's full-time physician, Dr. Yanne, sees between 125 and 200 patients per month with her mobile locations. She packs up her equipment and heads into the mountains by car, pack mule, or motorcycle, seeing patients that would not otherwise receive medical care. Holy Spirit is very blessed to have this mission, and the church’s goal is not to just provide for the needs but to teach members of the community how to provide for themselves. The children in the orphanage are being taught the fundamentals of running small businesses in addition to their regular studies. For example, the girls of the orphanage were baking goods to be sold in the community. They learned that the money received had to be returned for expenses, then invested into more supplies before they could receive a profit.

The operation is truly non-profit. All funds donated to the mission go to the mission. The Holy Spirit Mission team pays all their own expenses for travel and donates many items to projects. Since COVID-19 and recent political unrest in Haiti, it has not been possible for teams to physically travel to Haiti, but through communication and training, it has been possible for the Haitians to install wells and maintain. The Holy Spirit Haiti Mission is a real success story in the making.

For more information visit https://holyspirithaitimission.org/. Contributions are always welcome and can be sent to https://holyspirithaitimission.org/ or Holy Spirit Catholic Church, 625 Airport Rd., Huntsville, AL 35802.