Project Gros Mangles

In 2012, Dr. Agnès Belval Ragone (1953-2020), a professor of French and Spanish at Shippensburg University (Shippensburg, PA), gathered a group of like-minded individuals who shared her vision for a partnership between her school and the community of Gros-Mangles on the island of La Gonâve, in Haiti. In 2014, thanks to the strong support of the Ship family,  the Friends of Gros-Mangles completed their first project: a playground for the Ecole Presbytérale.  Since then, we have been building a medical center to bring health care to the inhabitants of Gros-Mangles.  It used to take two and a half hours to travel from Gros-Mangles to the nearest medical facility.  Very few people own a vehicle, and taxis are expensive. When people can afford transportation, the roads are difficult to travel -- flat tires are a common occurence -- and they make travel extremely unpleasant for those who are sick, injured or pregnant. As a result, the people of Gros-Mangles were not able to access the care they needed.  After 6 years of hard work, thanks to the generosity of donors, the expertise of the Gros-Mangles construction team, the leadership of Haitian physician Dr. Jean Rony, and the commitment of our Haitian medical team, the medical center became operational on June 1, 2020.  Since the opening, patients have been rushing to the facility, deeply grateful for this major improvement in their daily lives. And in summer 2021, Project Gros Mangles became a nonprofit with 501(c)(3) status. Despite these major successes, still more needs to be done, as the medical center cannot yet operate autonomously.   Our current and future needs are:   ·      3 solar panels and 8 batteries ·     1 generator (>5,200 W)  ·      Medical supplies and equipment for sustained operation  ·      Operational costs   ·      A fence and gate around the facility  ·      An ambulance service    We can't do it without your support. Anything that you can give will go a long way toward helping the people of Gros-Mangles and those living nearby. Check out our project's webpage here  !