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March 19, 2021A YEAR OF MERCY: A Justice and Charity Council Reflection
Getting Out of Your Comfort Zone, Learning more about Haiti
“When I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.” – Matthew 25:40
In this OLG Justice and Charity reflection for April, we’re thinking about our sister parish in Haiti, Saint Louis de Sud. In our Gathering Space at OLG, was the Lenten Giving Tree -- full of pictures of students from St. Patrick Catholic School in Haiti. Did you ever wonder, why is our sister parish is in Haiti and how are the students at St. Patrick’s?
The OLG relationship with this small island nation in the Caribbean goes back more than 30 years. For those that remember our beloved Father Jim Bates, he “advocated for social justice as the Church calls us to do.” [quote from Fr. Tom Metzger, Catholic Moment, 3.21.2021] and made several trips to Haiti. So did Fr. Tom and many of our other OLG priests along with many volunteers. Father Benoit Tuluce, pastor at St. Patrick School in Saint Louis de Sud says, “We are entering an era of modernality. Thank-you to Our Lady of Grace for helping to improve access to healthcare, technology, and clean water.” The students now have a computer lab powered by a solar system including six solar panels, 12 batteries, and one hybrid inverter attached to an electrical system. Students are learning how care for a tree nursery and plant sustainable crops like coconuts, avocados, mangoes, oranges and grapefruits. They also started a mobile health clinic to provide primary care for the students’ medical needs, including dental checkups. The school’s new water program is improving access to clean, potable water and teaches families about sanitation and hygiene, like the importance of handwashing, safe water storage and the importance of using clean water for more than just drinking. The students and families at St. Patrick School say > Mesi Anpil - Thank-you.
To learn more about life at St. Patrick’s School at Saint Louis de Sud, view this video entitled, Hope for Haiti – Learn. Rise. Thrive. It was made for OLG by our sister parish. Click here to view the video.
A legacy of support since the Haiti Missions of the 1990s
Sue Schaeffer, an OLG parishioner and now-retired surgical nurse, remembers how in 1994 she listened and prayerfully answered the call along with five others to join a OLG Haiti mission trip. That was the first of five trips for her. Her husband Charlie would go four times. She recalls there was an established Catholic school back then but traveling between Port-Au-Prince and the Saint Louis de Sud Parish involved “arduous roads and primitive facilities along the way. “Our most important job was to show love and compassion for the Haitian people.”
Other OLG volunteers will remember the aftermath of the January 2010 earthquake. More than 200,000 were killed and more than 300,000 men, women, and children were injured. OLG sponsored timely mission trips with carpenters, electricians, and essential healthcare volunteers to help rebuild.
Today, even during a pandemic, our Haiti Ministry continues to find ways to deliver support. It’s called the Hope for Haiti program. Yet, the reality is that in Haiti there are few jobs and poverty is a way of life for many families. Haiti is still the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, and more than half of its population lives below the poverty line. The standard of living is hobbled by political instability and natural disasters. A few large businesses control the economy. For example, the bottled water franchise and wholesale grocery distributors control access to clean water, food, and other staples.
Catholic Social Teaching #3 Rights and Responsibilities: The Catholic tradition teaches that human dignity can be protected and a healthy community can be achieved only if human rights are protected, and responsibilities are met. [Source: https://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/what-we-believe/catholic-social-teaching/upload/catholic-social-teaching-handout-adults-digital.pdf] The OLG Haiti Ministry puts words into action and helps fill in social service gaps. Here’s how your time, talent and support matters to our sister parish in Haiti:
- The scholarships we provide to our sister Parish help support girls and boys with tuition support, school lunch, books, and even electricity for the school. Ten dollars buys a student's books and uniform; $50 helps provide two meals a week for many students; $100 covers the school tuition for one student per year. Supporting education helps move a community in distress from poverty to a higher level of human dignity. Education is not a Haitian government-sponsored privilege for children.
- Medical missions bring healthcare to the most vulnerable in remote villages. OLG has also helped by collecting over-the-counter medications and shipping them to Haiti. What we take for granted is hard to get in Haiti.
- Over the years, OLG has sponsored Haitian children who need surgical treatment from local U.S. hospitals, orthopedic surgeons, and other specialists.
- In 30+ years, some local families have adopted Haitian orphans to be part of their family.
- Indianapolis organizations continue to help Haitian immigrants navigate the pathway to citizenship.
OLG parishioner Jessica Ciccarella leads the Haiti Ministry and also works for an international development organization that works to improve the quality of life for the Haitian people, particularly children. She is fluent in the Creole language and is often called upon to translate English forms and help immigrants navigate services in the U.S. Right now, she provides many services virtually to help families in Haiti but looks forward to the day when she can return to Haiti. To learn more about the OLG Haiti Ministry and volunteer opportunities, contact Jessica at jessica@hopeforhaiti.com.Hope for Haiti - Our Lady of Grace Update