John and Beth McHoul of Heartline Ministries in Haiti spoke to the club on November 13. Heartline was a recipient of a donation from the Shrewsbury club in 2016, which was used to update the electrical supply of a kitchen at Hearline's maternity center.John and Beth, originally from Quincy and Weymouth went to Haiti in 1989. They were impressed by the level of poverty there wound up staying in Haiti where they have continued to work to alleviate both causes and effects of poverty in that island nation. Noting that babies die in Haiti by the thousands because mothers don't know how to care for or feed them, the McHouls made it their mission to educate mothers in child care. That mission branced out into giving mothers job skills. Beth, who is a midwife, assists in giving care to mothers and children for the first year of life; she notes that they have not lost a mother in their years of working in Haiti.
In addition to the maternity center, job skill are offered for both men and women. They teach sewing and cooking, teach reading and operating a bakery that trains and employs 50 men. The bakery uses 1,000 pounds of flour each day. In addition to selling baked goods, the supply bread and pizza for the center and local prison. Their next project will be a reverse osmosis water treatment system to make clean, cheap water available. They also provide schooling for children.