Pastor seeks local partnerships with Haiti ministry

When disaster strikes, countries like Haiti come into the spotlight, and relief efforts focused on rebuilding the tiny Caribbean island nation after an earthquake in 2010 killed at least 45,000 people. But how can a nation that’s currently the poorest in the western hemisphere overcome widespread systemic poverty and a lack of educational opportunities? Jeff Maskevich, a missionary who resides outside of Aplington and has previously pastored two area churches, is attempting to address the problem with “God’s Mercy to Haiti,” and he’s seeking local partners in Butler and Grundy Counties to help.
           
Maskevich’s new initiative, “Grain for Haiti,” is asking farmers to donate a portion of their harvests to the country in hopes of ensuring food stability for thousands of families struggling to put meals on the table. The only crops that grow are plantains and bananas, and farm workers generally earn around 50 cents a day. For Americans, who enjoy one of the highest standards of living in the world, the depth and ubiquity of the poverty there can be difficult to fathom.
           
“If you’re middle class in Haiti, you make about six grand a year. In my village where I minister (Kilbite), there are some people who don’t make $500 a year,” Maskevich said. “There are some people who don’t eat but maybe two or three times a week, and that will be what they can scare from the ground or the trees, or a soup or roots.”
           
The tiny rural village (home to about 700 inhabitants) where Maskevich runs a school and a church lacks electricity or running water, but he’s doing his part to provide learning opportunities and employment in the community. He points to Iowa as an ideal partner because of its abundant harvest, fertile farmland and food surplus. 
 
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