Answering God's Call
While they were in their 20s during their college days at the University of Evansville, George and Dianne Moll of Evansville’s Corpus Christi Parish created a bucket list that included “God’s calling for them.”
In 2009, they traveled to Haiti with a mission group from St. Joseph Parish in Vanderburgh County and had a life-changing experience. They learned what God was calling them to do. They were inspired to get their parish involved and helped to form a Haiti outreach ministry, which teamed with St. Joseph to support St. Jacques Catholic Church and schools in Plaine du Nord. The Molls have been going to Haiti twice a year since 2010.
Dianne, who had enjoyed sewing for many years, discovered a small sewing school in Plaine du Nord, Haiti. Students learn and advance their skills at the sewing school; however, none have a sewing machine at home, making it impossible for them to continue their trade. Dianne was instrumental in finding sponsors for the sewing students, and upon graduation, presented each one with a treadle sewing machine.
She also helped create “Pretties from Plaine Du Nord,” a program in which dress outfits made by Haiti sewing students are brought to Southwest Indiana, and are sold at the St. Meinrad Abbey Press gift shop and local craft shows. Recently, arrangements were made to enable Haitian seamstresses to sell their outfits at the Royal Caribbean resort in Labadee, Haiti.
“The workmanship is amazing. Dress outfits for boys and girls from infants to size fivesell for $20 each,” Dianne explained. “Ten dollars goes to the seamstress in Haiti, and $10 is used to purchase fabric and supplies that are sent back to the sewing school using every coupon, discount and wholesale price we can find.” While the average income in Haiti is $300 per year, a sewing business income can generate $2,000-$3,000 per year.
“Eighty percent of the Haitian population is below poverty level, with 54 percent in dire poverty.” George said, “There is no government help or assistance of any kind; people in Haiti are on their own to survive. This is where God is calling us to be.”
George, along with the Haiti outreach team and the ongoing support from Corpus Christi parishioners, continue to work on the school-sponsorship program, chicken farms and a mercantile program. George and Dianne’s “sponsored son,” Fredson Joseph, lives with them and attends Ivy Tech working towards a degree in computer information systems. The Molls also work with the outreach committee from Evansville’s St. Boniface Parish (Sacred Heart Church), which is twinned with Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Carrefour des Peres, Haiti.
