|
We
frequently hear that Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.
Those of us who have visited there have a glimmer of an idea of what that means.
There is space for fewer than half of all Haitian children to attend school, and
most attend for a maximum of three years. Average annual income is $100 per
year. Unemployment is at about 90%, with most people living by subsistence
farming in eroded, depleted soil.
Electricity is a rare commodity, as are paved roads. Medical care is hard to
find, and so is clean water -- the high infant and child mortality rate is
largely owing to diseases borne by contaminated drinking water. The average life
span is below 50 years of age. When we visit, we see children with signs of
malnutrition. Every year, friends who were there last year are no longer alive.
We also see churches crowded with worshippers, singing hymns without
accompaniment in glorious four-part harmony. The Episcopal Church in Haiti, with
its 30 Haitian priests serving over 100 churches, missions, and preaching
stations, is the largest Episcopal diocese in terms of numbers of active
worshippers.
Every church has multiple uses -- it may also be the only school for miles
around; it houses the occasional clinics provided by desperately stretched
medical personnel; it may provide space for adult education. Often the church
building is no more than sticks in the ground supporting a palm-frond roof,
miles from the nearest road.
Some of the churches have been fortunate to find U.S. partners -- Episcopal churches
and schools -- who may provide salaries for teachers, food for a lunch program
(often the only meal of the day for students), and a concrete-block school
building. Several have provided clean, capped wells, truly life-saving for the
students and for the surrounding communities.
The combination of Haiti's own often-despotic government and the wrong kind of
intervention by others has always been problematic, and the recent turmoil has
plunged the country into violent chaos. Partners were not able to visit this
year, warned off by their friends and by the Bishop of Haiti, quoted in the
enclosed article from the Episcopal News Service.
Although the situation has always been bleak, Haitians have displayed to us over
and over the triumph of hope over experience. They have given us warm friendship
and the example of faithful people singing the Lord's song in the midst of great
adversity. We feel blessed and incredibly lucky to be in partnership with these
fine people and some of the 90 schools in that diocese.
The overwhelming suffering forces us to beg your assistance. Please consider a
partnership for your school or church. The smallest gift can literally save
lives. Consider taking on one of the following as a service project for your
school:
-
Adopt a teacher. Depending upon the location of your partnership, a teacher's
salary can range between $100 and $1000 per year. A few schools and churches
have taken on the obligation of meeting a school's entire payroll.
-
Save some lives. Sixth Graders at a small Episcopal school in California
have sold bottled water at sporting events in order to raise funds for a clean
well for their partner school.
-
When its safe, go in person. High school students in partnership programs
have visited their partners and assisted with painting, tree-planting, and
moving bricks by hand.
-
Build a school. An elementary school in Las Vegas has raised funds through a
Christmas Gingerbread House decorating event over the last five years to build
schools of three classrooms each on two separate sites.
In order to enter into a
partnership, contact Roger Bowen, SAES chaplain, at
rbowen@sstx.org.
If you would like to help personally with a partnership which already exists,
we would be happy to provide information, too. A relationship with Haiti can
change your life.
~ The Reverend Roger Bowen
~ Serena Beeks
SAES Chaplain
Partner, Eglise et Ecole St. Andre
Trianon, Haiti |
