SAVANETTE, HAITI -- Jay and Jan Nielsen of Perrysburg founded Missions International of America in 2002 with the goal of providing medical care, education and employment opportunites for people in Haiti. These days the organization is focusing on a small village in west Haiti called Savanette. Since the mission first arrived in the Savanette several years ago, they have brought clean drinking water, electricity and an elementary school to the village of roughly 2,500 people. Several times a year Dr. and Mrs. Nielsen take a group of volunteers from Ohio to Haiti to provide free medical care and to assist in construction projects.
Last week the mission hired 62 local Haitian men to clear a field the size of two football fields to make way for construction of new living quarters for American volunteers and a conference center to host seminars on farming. The Nielsen's originally planned to hire just 50 men but on the first day, 120 men showed up. Sixty two men were eventually hired and they were paid $10 a day for four days of work. The average income in Haiti is less than $700. Jan Nielsen says it is difficult to have to turn some of the men away. "These men are not asking for a handout, they just want to work so that they can feed their families," Mrs. Nielsen said. The men who were not hired this time will be moved to the top of the hiring list for when the mission next comes to the Savanette, which could be in June.
Missions International of America is a 501(c)3 charitable organization, with headquarters in Perrysburg, Ohio. To learn more about the charity, to make a donation and to learn about the elementary school that the mission operates, go to their website www.missionsinternationalofamerica.com.
TV Station Profiles & Public Inspection Files forWNWO