By Diana Barnes
Cpoyright 2001 The Martha's Vineyard Times

Margaret Mayhew Penicaud of the Martha's Vineyard Fish Farm for Haiti project and Sister Marie Françoise Gibbs and Sister Marie Verlaine Cadet of the Daughters of Mary Queen Immaculate of Haiti were presented with a $2500 matching grant by Victor Pisano of the Second Chance Foundation on Saturday evening at the Roman Catholic parish center in the old Oak Bluffs school.

"This is a Godsend," said Penicaud, who, thanks to past generosity of businesses and private individuals of Martha's Vineyard, has already brought together funds and technical expertise to build a school and a sustainable tilapia fish farm in a poor village outside of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Although buoyed by this first success, Penicaud knew that her technical expert in aquaculture, Dr. Val Abe, who has built 50 fish farms in 7 countries worldwide, is soon leaving Haiti for his native Ivory Coast. "Dr. Val promised if we could get him the $5000 needed for construction materials by May, he would build another series of fish basins in another village," said Penicaud.

But how to raise so much money so fast? Penicaud was pondering this when she heard Deborah Medwin, news director of WMVY, announce on her first Sunday current affairs program that Victor Pisano an Judy Belushi Pisano of the Second Chance Foundation were soliciting requests for worthy causes. The privately-organized foundation aims to give awards to Martha's Vineyard individuals and organizations who need a leg up, a second chance, when they find themselves in life situations that may keep them down. "I drove straight to the Pisano's to see them," Penicaud recalls. Says Mr. Pisano, "We are a humble foundation on a humble island, and if we all give back what gifts we've been given, we can feed the world. And fish are perfect."

Penicaud first learned about tilapia fish farming from the Aqua Harvest Project at Martha's Vineyard Regional High School. The fish not only provide an additional source of protein to the villagers of this, the poorest country of the western hemisphere, but give the local women something to market. Half the proceeds are returned to the sisters to run the new school, and the remainder the women may take home to their families.

Sisters Gibbs and Cadet are delighted about the prospect of a new farm.

Said Sister Gibbs, "This is a wonderful occasion for us. Every little bit you do has a great impact in Haiti."

This is Sister Gibbs' first visit to Martha's Vineyard. Sister Cadet has traveled here before with the foundress of their order, Mother Monique, who for many years running stayed with Jeanne Gaudet of Vineyard Haven to recuperate after annual eye surgery.

Other attendees of Saturday night's reception included island volunteers, pilgrims who have traveled with Penicaud to Haiti, donors, and Second Chance board members and daughters of Mr. Pisano, Rebecca and Vanessa. All were welcomed by Gaudet and shown a short documentary, produced by Deirdre May, who grew up on the Vineyard, depicting the introduction of tilapia fingerlings into the first basin this March.

Says Charlie Terry, Vineyard Haven carpenter and Squibb Nuggers band member, who also witnessed the arrival o the fish firsthand, "In spite of the rampant poverty and squalor in Haiti, I found their attitudes and outlooks on life inspiring." Also present was Islander Kirk Briggs, a graduate of College Lycee Ceveno International in south central France, who, along with his alumni organization, is sponsoring Haitian painter Wilfred Dantis, age 20, for a full-year scholarship and living expenses to the college.

Opportunities to get involved in the Fish Farm for Haiti project are ongoing. Past events have included concerts held at the Tabernacle in Oak Bluffs, featuring both Boston Haitian musicians and local talent. This coming Memorial Day weekend, on Sunday May 27, at the O.B. Flea Market, Islanders are encouraged to donate items for a giant yard sale. All proceeds will go directly to the Daughters of Mary Queen Immaculate for schools and fish farms. As the daughter, wife, and sister of Vineyard fishermen herself, Penicaud likes to say, "It's an island-to-island outreach."

For more information about the Fish Farm for Haiti project or the May 27 O.B. Flea Market yard sale, call Jeanne Gaudet at 508-693-0368. Tax-deductible donations, payable to Fish Farm for Haiti Project, may be mailed to P.O. Box 1803, Vineyard Haven, MA 02568.

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