Also... please go to Stories From Ouanaminthe for news with a "personal" touch from Pam Mann.

Hugues Bastien and COCINA Honored at EPOCH Mission Gala in Atlanta

October 24, 2011

Report from Pastor Dave Mann, September 2011

The official exam results are out. Once again Univers did very well. I have heard that the national pass rate was a 52%. Not sure of the reliability of that statistic. But here are Universí stats. We're proud of all our students.

1. 73/79 sixth graders passed.
2. 100% of the 96 ninth graders passed.
3. 100% of the 99 twelfth graders passed.
4. 100% of the 34 thirteenth graders passed.

Note that with the success of all 99 of last year's twelfth graders, we will have 99 students in the grading "Philo" class. There will be three classrooms for 13th grade this year - up from one as we had the past three years. The size of the student body at College Univers will near 2200. In order to accommodate the increase of students, several of the 1st grade classes will be held in the kindergarten building.

In October, UTEC (Vo-Ed school) in addition to accounting, computer, and English, we will offer the new mechanics and sewing curricula in the new building.

Report from Director Hugues Bastien, July 2011

It has been 17 years since we began our Ministry in Ouanaminthe, Haiti.  Our mission to provide high quality education, health care and economic development projects to improve lives of children and adults in our region has been expanding and moving progressively forward.

Today we serve 2,100 students from Pre-K through high school.  Our medical staff of 35 is making a remarkable difference in the overall health care of our community of 120,000 residents.  The construction of our first vocational education building has been completed and by this coming Fall, we will provide classes in Auto Mechanics, Industrial Sewing, Accounting, Computer Science and English.  We anticipate enrollment to be 150 students.

As for our university education, our satellite campus for university students has now completed its first year thanks in large part to our collaboration with the University of Quisqueya in Port-au-Prince.  We are very proud of our graduating students who are attending universities either in Haiti or abroad.  We can boast 57 graduates from Institution Univers in the 2009 and 2010 classes, and 41 of them are now attending colleges in the U.S., Africa and here in Haiti on scholarships. 

Despite our wonderful successes, as you might guess, the challenges to maintain and increase our good results continue to plague us.  COCINA’s budgeted support for the ongoing operation of our programs here in Ouanaminthe in the fiscal year starting September 1, 2011 is a total of $736,000. See this budget elsewhere in this newsletter. This is a 28% year-to-year increase in the needed COCINA funding subsidy for operations.  We struggle to keep our operations in the black.  The economic crunch of the last several years has affected us tremendously.  I invite you to consider and pray about your financial contributions to COCINA in the coming year.  Our initiatives have achieved resounding successes, we have improved the quality of life in our community immeasurably, and we can now look to the future with more optimism.

We often remind our children, “With God all things are possible” (Luke 1:37).  He who has begun good work in us will see it to completion. (Philippians 1:6).

We are eternally grateful for your kind, generous friendship and support through the years.

In His Service,

Hugues Bastien, Director
Institution Univers and Univers Medical Centre

Institution Univers Teams Win Haiti National Volleyball Championships
May 2011

Univers has added yet four more feathers in its plume-filled cap. And these feathers make sounds – bump, set, SMASH!
In 2011, four Univers volleyball teams won regional championship trophies. Then, at the national level, all four made it to the finals. Two of them claiming the runner-up trophy and two were hailed as the national champions. The Univers teams Boys-Under-15 (Minimes) and the Girls-Under-17 (Cadettes) won the 2nd place trophies. The Girls-Under-15 (Minimes) and the Girls-Under-21 (Juniors) carried off the 1st place cups.
You can imagine the pride that these Univers students brought home. Hailing from a town en province far from the capital, these four teams made the trek to the big city to play against the hometown favorites. When it was all over, it was their team photos and action shots which were featured in the newspapers in Port-au-Prince. The MVP of the Girls Juniors division was Chedeline Nemorin, known for her high leaps and blistering smashes. Taking the MVP honors for the younger Girls Minimes division was Mejeane Daquin, whose intelligent play regularly moved the ball just out of arm’s reach on the opposite side of the net.