The Sister's of St. Anthony of Fondwa

The Sisters of St. Antoine of Fondwa : In October 1996, a native women's religious order was founded in Fondwa by two religious women, Sisters Simone and Carmelle. They name their community: the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Anthony of Fondwa. This Roman Catholic Religious Community was founded on October 4, 1996 the feast day of Saint Francis of Assisi. The inspiration came from two women from different religious orders, Sister Marie Carmelle Voltaire and Sister Simone Achille. Sister Carmelle, originally a member of the religious community of the Daughters of Mary and Sister Simone, a member of the secular order of the Dominican Sisters, joined together in 1994 with a common vision for God's call to work for the rural poor of Haiti.

Their mission is to bring God's word to the poor of rural Haiti through prayer and direct service. Their goal is to live in solidarity with the poor like Jesus did. They adopted the spirituality of St. Francis of Assisi and have chosen Fondwa as their mission site.

Actually the Sisters are involved in the Church of Fondwa, the School of Fondwa, the Clinic of Fondwa, the APF Guest Center, the Orphanage of Fondwa, with the women peasants groups in Fondwa and in most of the activities of APF. Actually they are working also in a malnutrition program for severe malnourished children and their mothers. At the Orphanage of Fondwa they take care of about 54 children from the ages of one year to twenty five. Most of the children are not orphans, but come from poor families (from the whole country) who cannot take care of them. Presently there are two of the children who are at universities, one at the University of Fondwa in Managment and the other one at the University of Havana studying Agronomy. Another one has been recently graduated from a nursing School in Port-au-Prince and is going to get married during this Summer. Another one was graduated last year as a specialist in Kindergarten program and is now the director of the kindergarten section of our School in Fondwa. The Sisters of Fondwa are now working on a project of building a Convent for their community. There are a few other young women who want to join them and to be trained as Sisters. They need a facility to perform this work. Since 2002, the Sisters of St. Antoine have accepted young women who express a desire to make a similar commitment to God's work in Haiti. Two young women noviciates will make their first vows in October 2005. In the Sisters' Community, there are now seven members all together: the two founders, two professed members, one novice who is going to make her first profession on October 2007 and two postulantes. One group of the Sisters is living with the Children at the Orphanage of Fondwa and the others are living and working at the APF Guest Center. The Sisters receive guidance from Father Joseph Phillipe, co founder and spiritual director. The community was initially approved by and reports annually directly to the Archbishop of Port au Prince, Haiti.