Last year we gave you the bad news – violent gangs moved into the village of Collin, Gressier, where our Haitian partner parish and school, St Philippe et St Jacques, is located. Everyone, including the students and teachers, fled the area. Because of your generosity, we were able to continue paying the teachers their salaries, so they could feed their families during this traumatic time.
So now the good news – the majority of teachers and students from St Philippe et St Jacques have settled in the town of Leogane, which is very close to Collin, but still safe from gang violence. So the Priest in Charge, Rev Markendy Jean, Principal Michel Elissaint and teacher and Administrator Harry Laborde have been working to open the school in Leogane. Now they are all set! They have found a space to rent, for $7700 for the year, have located most of the previous teachers or hired new ones, and have contacted the families whose children have attended in the past or want to attend this year. All schools in Haiti, including St Philippe et St Jacques, will open on October 1.
Now it is up to us to fulfill our promise to our partners and raise the money to rent the space and pay the teachers. Because of the higher cost of living in Haiti, Pere Markendy and the administrators would like to increase the teacher salaries a little. With the cost for rent and the increases in salaries, the yearly budget has increased from $25,000 to $38,000. We still have $8000 in the Haiti account, so we need to raise $30,000.
Can we do it? We think we can! Please be as generous as you are able. This is our opportunity to show solidarity with our partners in Haiti, who are determined to give children a quality education, despite the current turmoil in their country. And paying the teachers help them to feed and educate their own children.
We will have a table set up in the gallery after the 10am service every Sunday in September. Stop by to see photos and to talk to us about Haiti and our partners. You can donate at the table, by putting a check with Haiti in the memo line into the offering plate, or online here (choose Haiti Project from the drop down menu).
Thank you in advance for your generosity!
Dianne Pizey and the Haiti Committee
