Feliciana students learn healthy choices during the Body Walk. Page 3H
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THURSDAY MARCH 26, 2015 H
SERVING THE PARISHES OF EAST FELICIANA, WEST FELICIANA AND ST. HELENA THEADVOCATE.COM
Child welfare advocates push training BY STEPHANIE WARREN swarren@theadvocate.com
Department of Children and Family Services advocates reached out to parish representatives for their assistance in helping to stop child abuse during a coalition meeting March 17 at the St. Helena Parish Police Jury building in Greensburg. Child welfare manager Celeste Skinner said the first step in helping abused or neglected children is learning to recognize the signs of child abuse and neglect. The presence of a single sign does not prove child abuse is occurring in a famSt. Helena ily; however, when these signs appear repeatedly or in combination, you should take a closer look at the situation and consider the possibility of child abuse, Skinner said. Skinner said the department relies on community residents, friends and family members, as well as mandated reporters, to recognize and report the signs of abuse. Mandated reporters are anyone who works with children in their profession and are required to report the signs, she said. “What that means is that if you are a mandated reporter and suspect abuse or neglect, you have to report it,� Skinner said. “If you don’t report it and the department learns that you were aware of the signs, you could be fined or even put in jail.� The child welfare worker said examples of mandated reporters include: n A health practitioner who provides health care services such as a physician, surgeon, physical therapist, dentist, resident, intern or a hospital staff member. n A mental health or social service practitioner who provides mental health care or so-
Silliman alum helps heal Haiti BY STACY GILL
Respire is the nonprofit founded in 2010 by LaWhen Kameryn Kline gradufayette native ated from Silliman Institute in Megan Bou2007, she knew she wanted to be dreaux that a nurse, but the former Clinton began with a resident never dreamed she’d Kline vision to help end up working alongside volunteers from all over the coun- orphans and children in Gressier, a community about 20 miles try in poverty-stricken Haiti. Through her church, Felici- from Port-au-Prince, Haiti, in ana Baptist, Kline met Jessi the Caribbean. With so many children not in White Morris, of Zachary, and learned of the organization Re- school and families struggling to provide for their kids, Mespire Haiti.
sgill@theadvocate.com
gan moved to Gressier in 2011 and began helping the children and people of the community, Kline said. Upon graduation from nursing school in 2011, Kline visited Morris who was teaching a kindergarten class for the organization. “There I was performing eye exams on the children of Gressier,� Kline said. “It was difficult and a huge eye-opening experience. I’d never been exposed to anything like that. People don’t understand you,
you don’t understand them. I couldn’t believe I actually went back a second time.� Kline said she had a job working at Lane’s Cardiovascular Center in Zachary and loved the people she worked with, which made it difficult to leave, but being a nurse in America had its limitations and restrictions unlike being on the ground in Gressier, where Kline felt she was meeting a need and making a difference. Boudreaux’s vision for Respire Haiti had always includ-
ed educating and empowering the 50 percent of the children, orphans and child slaves, called restaveks, who weren’t attending school, but the medical component of Respire was fast-tracked after a child there died from a very simple procedure, Kline said. “Megan knew then she wanted to give the children a safe place to be treated,â€? Kline said. More comfortable on her second trip to Gressier, Kline realäSee HAITI, page 2G
Young girls wearing antebellum dresses dance around the maypole.
ä See more Audubon Pilgrimage photos at theadvocate.com.
Cheryl Horst hand quilts at the annual Audubon Pilgrimage.
West Feliciana celebrates history
Roland Bahan, left, explains the history of the LevertBockel House as Harold Sterling, of McComb, Miss., and Cindy Benoit, of Geuydan, listen.
äSee TRAINING, page 2G
INSIDE West Feliciana...........3G East Feliciana............5G Sports .......................1H St. Helena .................2H Schools.....................3H
Evan Pinson crafts a play sword from a piece of wood at Elizabeth McKinney, Jonelise Sturgeon and Kate Cochran, from left, work together to make lye soap at the Rural Homestead the Rural Homestead in West Feliciana Parish. in West Feliciana Parish on Saturday at the annual Audubon Pilgrimage. Advocate photos by HOWARD ARCENEAUX
BY HOWARD ARCENEAUX
mances, and took in all that Louisiana’s English plantation country has to offer. A steady stream of guests visited four houses The 44th annual Audubon Pilgrimage was on the tour this year — The Oaks, Retreat Plancelebrated March 20-22 around West Feliciana tation, Dogwood and the Levert-Bockel House — as well as Afton Villa Gardens, Audubon and Parish. Visitors toured historic homes and gardens, Rosedown State Historic sites and the parish’s enjoyed historic demonstrations and perfor- historic churches.
Special to The Advocate
Activities from the daily lives of 19th-century residents were on display at the Rural Homestead and other highlights included children dancing and singing around a maypole, graveyard tours at Grace Episcopal Church’s cemetery and a play performed in the restored Temple Sinai about John James Audubon, whose time in the parish is celebrated each year.
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