PROVIDENCE — Two separate ministries rooted in Rhode Island that have each worked for nearly three decades to provide a free Catholic school education to the impoverished children and young people of Haiti report that their preparedness has helped them to weather the recent onslaught of Hurricane Matthew.
On its rampage through the Caribbean and Southeast U.S., Matthew reached its peak intensity of a Category 5 Hurricane on Sept. 30-Oct. 1 with sustained winds of 160 m.p.h. The storm made landfall along the southwestern claw of Haiti and eastern Cuba on Oct. 4 as a Category 4 storm.
With power and communications knocked out, it took more than a week for word to arrive back in Providence that all 478 students served by Providence-Haiti Outreach, as well as their families and school staff, had survived.
Located in Marigot, on Haiti’s southern coast, which took the brunt of the storm’s fierce northeast quadrant, the St. Dominic/Pezzelli School — supported each year through the generosity of many faithful in the Diocese of Providence — received relatively minor damage compared to the scores of weaker-constructed homes which were destroyed by winds and flooding rains.
“Right now, all our school buildings are serving as shelters because they’re built in a much stronger way than many of the houses,” said Father Robert Perron, who serves as director of Providence-Haiti Outreach. He is also the pastor of St. Michael Parish, Providence, and serves as the director of the diocese’s Office of the Propagation of the Faith.
He said that the school community is currently preparing boxes of rice and beans and other staples of the Haitian diet, which are being sent, along with medical supplies, to the families of each of the students, who attend the school tuition free.
There’s also a plan to help area residents who lost their homes recover.
“We have 12 homes that Providence-Haiti Outreach and St. Dominic/Pezzelli School will be building,” he said.
Father Perron said the organization is also negotiating with a local shoe factory in the area to help outfit students who may have lost clothing in the storm.
“We’re making a deal with them to supply all our kids with sneakers.
Three weeks later, there is still no accurate count available of the number of dead in Haiti, although the storm’s victims are believed to be in the hundreds. And fears of outbreaks of disease due to poor sanitary conditions are becoming a reality.
Dr. Joanna Cherry, chief medical officer of Hospital Bernard Mevs’ Project Medishare, located in the capital Port-au-Prince, in the less-severely impacted center of the Hispanola nation, said that multiple houses had their roofs blown off during the storm, and on the remaining trees that survived the fierce winds, there are no leaves left to provide any shade from the strong sun.
“We can tell you that when our teams arrived, they compared the area to a bomb blast,” Dr. Cherry told NPR.
Meanwhile, just to the north of the capital, in Croix-des-Bouquets, The Haitian Project Inc. (THP), which began as an outreach of St. Joseph Parish in Providence, reports that in being proactive in constructing buildings designed to survive earthquakes and tropical conditions, as well as being supported by a solid, professional staff, it weathered the storm well.
“We are thankful that our area was not greatly impacted due to the storm staying largely west of our area," said Deacon Patrick Moynihan, president of THP. He also serves as a deacon assistant at All Saints Parish in Woonsocket.
Deacon Moynihan said that as in the past, preparation—and education — allowed THP to respond effectively as an institution and community.
He noted that his organization and others remain united in concern for the people of Southwest Haiti who suffered the additional impact of increased winds and heavy rains.
"Assessment is made difficult by communication issues and the remoteness of that region. While we remain concerned for those in the heavily impacted areas, LCS came through great thanks to Matthew's course and being run by a great staff," said Moynihan, who is being assisted on the ground in Haiti by private sector leader Patrick Brun.
The Haitian Project through Louverture Cleary School, its Catholic, co-educational boarding school in Haiti, educates and nurtures academically talented and motivated students from Haitian families who cannot afford the cost of their children’s education in order to maximize their potential and enable them to work toward building a Haiti where justice and peace thrive.
Esther Paul, (LCS '02) now serves as THP's director of operations. She attributed the school's preparation before the storm in helping the community to remain safe and begin operations as soon as possible afterward.
"We were able to prepare for the storm by making sure that all potential debris was put inside the buildings on campus and by buying enough food for the week," Paul said. "We even housed the cooks for Monday and Tuesday (the day before and the day the storm hit) so they could be here to cook for the students."
Given the multitude of problems faced by Haitians, even before Matthew struck, Deacon Moynihan contends that its people should not be viewed through a lens as victims in need of rescue.
Rather, he encourages those both inside and outside of Haiti to support long-term projects that will help these resilient people, who are not looking for a handout, to sustain themselves.
And like Providence-Haiti Outreach, THP is also helping to prepare its students to become the future leaders of Haiti.
"It is education that allows for preparedness and builds local capacity. Storms should send greater investment to education, not less," Deacon Moynihan said of the need for the international community to consider contributions to education in Haiti's ongoing crisis just as vital as those they would make to any emergency relief organization, which may focus only on short-term relief.
Ways to donate to Hurricane Matthew relief efforts:
The tireless relief efforts of many government and social aid agencies, especially Catholic Charities and Catholic Relief Services have brought some help and solace to tens of thousands affected by this natural disaster. Please consider making a donation to help those affected by Hurricane Matthew and say a prayer for all those affected by this tragedy.
Catholic Relief Services
If you would like to make a secure on-line donation, please visit www.crs.org. Or send to P.O. Box 17090, Baltimore, MD 21297-0303
And on the memo line please note Hurricane Matthew.
Providence-Haiti Outreach
Contact Father Robert Perron at the Diocesan Office of the Propagation of the Faith at: 401-278-4520
The Haitian Project Inc.
Contact Deacon Patrick Moynihan at 401-351-3624
