Haitian Ministry Update - St. Mary's Haiti Team Visits the Schools

The same nuns who operate the dispensary also run St. Joseph’s  School which is next to St. Michel’s Church. Overcrowding is an issue. Several classrooms were destroyed by hurricane Matthew and the remaining rooms are tightly packed, with two children sharing a single desk. Indoor toilets have not been available to the students since the hurricane. Some of the $200 in monthly support from St.Mary’s may help address these issues in the near future. 

We visited grades one through six, as well as a classroom of  Restavec students. These children have been sent to other families to act as domestic servants because their parents can’t afford to care for them. The host family is often unable or unwilling to pay for the child to attend school, but through a special program funded by the sisters, Restavec children now receive limited classroom time.

Armed with candy and a few soccer balls, we were introduced to the students and a game was made of who could remember our names and repeat them back. Later in the morning, a few of the Haiti Committee members presented a women’s health and hygiene program sponsored by Days for Girls International.

Across the street from St. Joseph’s school, the Sisters run a trade school for about a dozen women, ages18 - 40. Their mission is to provide sewing and culinary skills which can give the women a chance to earn a living. We were impressed with the commitment and dedication of the students, and the fine quality of the clothing and tablecloths they produced. Before leaving, we were presented with a beautiful tablecloth to take with us back to St. Mary’s.

Our final school visit occurred in the village of Rosier, a mission chapel of St. Michel’s. For the past several years, St. Mary’s has supported the school by paying eight teachers’ salaries at $50 each per month. While there, we learned that a principal, one additional teacher and a kindergarten program had been added. We were impressed with classroom reconstruction that was underway and funded by a non-government organization. Unfortunately, the church in Rosier remains heavily damaged and the canteen that St. Mary parishioners helped construct was completely destroyed by the hurricane.