Saint David’s Reaches Out to Haiti

In response to the massive earthquake which struck Haiti in January 2010, St. David’s parishioners reached out with an outpouring of financial help to the devastated country.

The Rev. Allison Harrity connected with St. Gregory’s Church in Boca Raton, Florida which had a ministry called The South Florida Haiti Project serving Ste. Marie Madeleine (St. Mary Magdalene) in Bondeau. Ste. Marie Madeleine was a poor, rural parish with a guesthouse, school and a technical school offering apprenticeships in plumbing, electrical work, carpentry, and sewing.

St. David’s parishioners were invited to visit Ste. Madeleine in August of 2010 to see the work which was being done. John Nagy, Monique Laird, and Louise Haley met parishioners from other Florida churches and flew to Haiti; other members of our Haiti committee, including Lois Redmond, Robert DiFillippo, Robert White, and Sherri Mullen, kept the travelers in their prayers.

The capital, Port-au-Prince, was devasted. There were 250,000 dead and two million people left homeless in the country. Parks, golf courses, sidewalks, and concrete road dividers were filled with tents and makeshift living accommodations. United Nations peacekeepers were on every corner. People swarmed our car begging for help.

The Rev. Kesner, Pastor of Ste. Marie Madeleine met us with the truck, generously donated by one of our St. David’s parishioners. Our trip took more than three hours to drive 50 miles over ruined roads. St. David’s also contributed over-the-counter medicines, first aid equipment, and cleaning supplies which we carried on the airplane.

Ste. Marie Madeleine’s Guest House, built the previous year, was slightly damaged by the quake.

Prior monies contributed by St. David’s helped repair the damage to the exterior.

We witnessed the poverty in which almost all the people of Bondeau lived. The only running water and electricity available for the community was at the Guest House and at Ste. Marie Madeleine’s; therefore, they became the gathering center for almost all activities. They also served as an oasis for many people from the cities whose homes were uninhabitable. So many Haitians, who were left with nothing, moved to the rural areas, such as Bondeau, to be with relatives or friends. In another parish, St. Sacrament, the number of children being fed rose from 300 to 450.

We visited the crowded, tiny island of Bidew, just off Bondeau and, through the mangroves, could see the deep poverty. There was no fresh water or sanitary facilities and 150 people were living in makeshift homes made from cardboard and discarded plastic bags.

We also witnessed great joy during our trip: a graduation ceremony and party to celebrate was held for the students at the technical school; there were three weddings and four baptisms. Many Episcopal diocesan priests came from all over Haiti for the services and celebrations. We were treated to fresh Haitian cuisine during the all-day festivities. Our group was very grateful to The Rev. Kesner and all the people we met for their wonderful fellowship.

Through 2011, St. David’s continued as partners of the South Florida Haiti Project. We contributed to the feeding of the children at Ste. Marie Madeleine’s. We also helped the people of Bidew transition to housing on the mainland with grants from our outreach commission. After some discussion, the Haiti committee decided that St. David’s had helped Ste. Marie Madeleine’s with enough specific projects and, because of distance, excused itself from the partnership with The South Florida Haiti Project and its relationship with Ste. Marie Madeleine.

In May 2012, The Rev. Matt Holcombe contacted the members of the Haiti committee and explained that a Haitian friend from seminary, The Rev. Frederick (Fred) Melenes, had contacted him for support in his parish, St. Sacrament Fonds-Parisien, outside Port-au-Prince. Lois Redmond and John Nagy had a chance to meet him when he was visiting his brother in New Jersey. In a subsequent Skype meeting the committee was able to determine The Rev. Melenes’ needs and our ability to help.

In 2013 St. David’s provided its first grant to The Rev. Melenes which allowed him to repair the sacristy that was damaged by an earthquake two years previously. The Rev. Matt Holcombe, David Noteware, Nerida Gordan, and Louise Haley travelled to St. Sacrament that September. John Nagy provided 20 laptop computers to be used by the students of St. Sacrament, again, other members of the committee held the travelers in their prayers. St. David’s parishioners also contributed school supplies, toys and first aid supplies.

We saw that Port-au-Prince was returning to its original, crowded self. The Peacekeepers had left, and the parks and sidewalks were cleared; yet it was evident that poverty was everywhere in the town. Our group was able to see the repaired sacristy, as well as the church and the school on the compound. We were given the opportunity to spend time with The Rev. Melenes, his family, parishioners and, also to interact with the many children at the school.

The Rev. Melenes took us to Croix-des-Bouquets, an area outside of Port-au-Prince, that features artists creating world famous Haitian steel drum art. Nerida and Louise purchased many items to be sold in the St. David’s Gift Shop, which supports international ministries. The Rev. Matt Holcombe employed a local artisan to create a piece of art depicting the St. David’s cross and purchased 25 to bring home for sale in The Gift Shop.

We were surprised by The Rev. Melenes’ news that a week previous to our visit, he was told he was being transferred. He was to go to a rural parish in the mountainous Sud (South) area. At this point, our Haiti committee had to decide whether to continue supporting St. Sacrament or follow The Rev. Melenes to St. Matthias. After much discernment, we decided to follow The Rev. Melenes to support him and the other NGO’s currently supporting St. Matthias.

Because it was very difficult to get to a town for supplies, St. Matthias also had a general store for all the people of Cheridant, a “boutique.” Most supplies were brought up from Jacmel or Portau-Prince. It was difficult and expensive to haul items in trucks traveling on the treacherous roads in the mountains.

Through the St. David’s grant process, we were able to replace the roof of the boutique and offer cash to purchase rice, pasta, and other nonperishable food items and building materials. These could then be deeply discounted for the people of Cheridant.

After The Rev. Melenes had settled in at St. Matthias in Cheridant, we learned that there were almost no tap-taps (public buses) within his rural location. There were also no working cars and fewer motorcycles available. It took him an hour to traverse the mountainous roads by motorcycle to get to the closest town of Jacmel. Then, it took another hour to arrive in Portau-Prince where he was required to teach at the seminary. The First Presbyterian Church of Shreveport had provided a guesthouse and rectory at St. Matthias school, and the HEF (Haiti Education Foundation) provided meals for hundreds of elementary school children. Being one of the very few places in the Cheridant area with running water and electricity, St. Matthias was the main gathering place for both parishioners and locals.

In 2015, the St. David’s grant process helped The Rev. Melenes purchase an SUV to allow him to transport people to Port-au-Prince hospitals for medical emergencies, deliver items to the boutique, and visit parishioners in the more remote areas of Cheridant.

In November of 2015, as part of St. David’s 300th Anniversary Celebration, we invited all our international partners to Philadelphia to participate in our celebration. We were blessed to have The Rev. Melenes, his wife Wislande, and their two young children come to meet many of our members and to share his mission in Haiti.

In late 2015 HEF pulled its support from St. Sacrament. This meant that 500 children would not be fed. The First Presbyterian Church and St. David’s took over the feeding ministry. St. David’s provided help for half of the cost of food for the year through the St. David’s Cares outreach grant program.

In August of 2016, The Rev. Matthew DaytonWelch, Teri Santivasci, and Louise Haley traveled to Haiti. The other members of the Haiti committee continued to hold them in their prayers. The Rev. Melenes met the group at the airport with the Nissan SUV provided by the parishioners of St. David’s. Again, they carried school supplies and medical supplies for the small “hospital” on the campus of St. Sacrament.

The members of St. David’s met with the St. Matthias parishioners, the vestry, and many people of Cheridant and the Grande Colline area. Teri, laughingly called The Rev. Melenes the “mayor,” as almost everyone with whom we spoke expressed their gratitude for the help he provided to the community. We also found that First Presbyterian was taking a very active role in supporting the parish, including taking over the feeding program and some building projects.

When we arrived, the parish was getting ready to put the roof on a church it was building and preparing to plant a few acres of beans to supplement the food provided by outside sources. We came home with a video from the vestry expressing their gratitude for the help we have provided. The parishioners also spoke of the progress they are making in becoming selfsustaining.

Unfortunately, in October of 2016, a hurricane went through Haiti devastating the area. The crop was wiped out and the school buildings were badly damaged. All the supplies in the boutique were ruined, but no one was injured. St. David’s again provided monies to St. Sacrament to help repair the damaged and to replace supplies so the people of Cheridant could begin rebuilding. For the 2017 St. David’s grant, the Haiti committee requested money to shore up the walls of the church to support a roof. First Presbyterian was providing the roof, but engineering was needed for a correct fit. Haitians do not receive loans to complete projects, rather they build as money becomes available. We witnessed the parishioners putting coins in the offering plates, money, we understood from getting to know many people in the area, was hard-earned, especially in the mountains.

The Rev. Melenes was in constant communication with the Haiti committee. He was grateful for the help that St. David’s was providing for his parish, but the Presbyterian Church at Shreveport was becoming very active in supporting the parish financially. When discussing his needs for the 2018 upcoming grant, The Rev. Melenes requested a small grant to start a goat farm. St. David’s happily granted the request.

Louise Haley served as the lead for the Haiti committee for some years and decided to step down after the First Presbyterian Church assumed the feeding and school supply needs. The committee was disbanded in June of 2018.