Faith and Concern was founded in 1976 by Micheline Vareika and a group of residents from Peabody and Lynnfield. Micheline and her organization introduced New England and other states to Mother Monique, the founder of the Filles de Marie Reine Immaculée (Daughers of Mary, Queen Immaculate) founded in 1971 to help Haitian girls; and also to the Peres de St. Jacques, the first missionaries to Haiti about 150 years ago. The first group to go to Haiti included several severely handicapped persons, some in wheelchairs, some with cerebral palsy, some cancer patients. "In weakness strength." They were the pioneers and came in 1977. At that time, sick people were abandoned on a dirt floor in a back room of the General Hospital, and women were on the street offering their infants.

For over twenty years thereafter, Faith and Concern returned once or twice a year with new groups of pilgrims. With the help of both clergy and lay people , Faith and Concern was chartered as a non-profit corporation in 1979 by a few residents of Peabody and Lynnfield. Since its beginning, many have become involved who wished to respond to God's call to help the poor.

In 1984, Faith and Concern received the special blessing of Pope John Paul II.

Faith and Concern is a small, ecumenical organization which seeks to Gnd ways to~respond to poverty and distress, primarily in Haiti. Faith and Concern organizes pilgrimage retreats to Haiti and invites participants to find ways to respond actively and concretely to the needs they have encountered.

There are two different types of retreat, a pilgrimage retreat and a contemplative retreat. Faith nnd Concern also provides leaders for colleges and other groups wishing to organize their own retreats.

Participants' responses to their Third World experiences have been as varied as the participants themselves. For some, the response has been primarily personal, with a renewed sense of priorities or a broader understanding of the world. For others, relationships begun during the trips have led to the donation of time or financial support for the construction of schools, wells, and medical facilities, and the establishment of a number of organizations that have continued outreach activities in Haiti and other developing nations.

The pilgrimage retreat involves a group of from five to twenty-five participants and lasts about seven days. For most of the week, the group is based at a convent school run by the Daughters of Mary Queen Immacuate, on the outskirts of Port-Au-Prince. The Pilgrimage Retreat includes:

* helping Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity feed and care for infants and toddlers at the Home for Children;

* visiting the Missionaries of Charity at their Home for the Sick and Dying;

* seeing Father Bohnen's schools and feeding programs in the slums of Portau-Prince;

* visiting the school for the Blind and Handicapped run by the Episcopal Sisters of St. Margaret;

* taking a one or two day trip to the back country and experiencing rural parish life;

* sharing these experiences with one another.

For more information write:

Faith & Concern, Inc. Micheline Vareika 184 Winona Street Peabody, MA 01960 - USA