Church Group Constructs Homes for Haitians

OCEAN VIEW – When Tony Geinnotta saw a Haitian woman making mud pies to feed her hungry children, he knew he had to become a missionary.
He agreed to take on organizing a construction crew from the First United Methodist Church of Cape May Court House, and nine years later, looks with pride at the complex of homes, schools, medical centers and churches they have built, knowing he’s helped save lives.
“My first mission was after the 2010 earthquake when I went with my pastor at the time,” Geinnotta recalled. “While we were on the trip, he asked me if I would take on organizing a construction team. I told him I would give it some thought. I wasn’t really interested in being the organizer.”
On the walk back to their living quarters, Geinnotta said their guide took them a different way. “I saw a woman throwing dirt in her bowl and asked the guide what she was doing,” he said. “When he told me she was making mud pies to feed her children who hadn’t eaten in a few days, I thought he was joking. He wasn’t. It hit me like a ton of bricks that I needed to become a missionary and help these people.”
He agreed to become the local construction crew organizer in Bayonnaise, which is located in Haiti’s thick jungle, about 3,000 feet above sea level in the northern part of the island. Geinnotta said people live in huts with dirt floors, often without electricity. Children don’t always have clothes to wear. Many still practice Vodou, commonly known as Voodoo, which originated in Haiti.
“We began rebuilding houses after the earthquake hit,” Geinnotta said, referring to the country’s most severe earthquake in more than 200 years. Estimates put 1.6 million people homeless and up to 300,000 dead following the 2010 disaster.
“Since then, we’ve built schools, churches, medical buildings, a complex for people to get help,” he said. “The children can get an education, a Christian education. They get uniforms to wear and are fed twice a week at the school; meals they might not have gotten at home. Babies are healed because there are medical facilities there in the jungle. We are saving lives and with a Christian education, trying to get them away from practicing Voodoo.”
There are three missionary crews from the Court House church that visit Haiti for a week every year. Geinnotta’s crew usually goes in October. The other crews include one dedicated to the schools and one focused on teaching sewing skills to the Haitians, so they can make clothes for themselves. They go at other times during the year.
The materials are bought with money raised through their annual golf tournament and dinner at Avalon Links, this year planned for April 13. Geinnotta said they work with a Haitian missionary who was raised in the village and went to seminary school in the U.S. where he roomed with the pastor who took him on that first trip. Their Haitian counterpart also uses the funds to buy food and school supplies.
“You never can fully understand what the community is like until you go there, and it is heartbreaking,” Geinnotta said. “It takes a special type of person to put aside what they are seeing to focus on the work that needs to be done.
“We see improvements each year when we go, and it’s become like family,” he continued. “I have been blessed with a bunch of people who want to help, and we stay in touch year-round. I’ve fallen in love with the people, and the work we’re doing will outlast all of us.”
For more information, contact Geinnotta at (609) 425-9019 or the church at (609) 465-7087.
To contact Karen Knight, email kknight@cmcherald.com.