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St. Mary's Haiti Ministry
Parish Twinning
Haiti Corner
Haitian Proverb: “Rocks in the water don’t know the
misery of rocks in the sun.”
The second collection on the 6th & 7th of February for our Twinning
Parish, Our Lady of Lourdes, was $1,124.95.
This money will go directly to our Twinning Parish.
The Haiti Committee would like to welcome nine new members: Ann
Harris, Allison Wash, Gabrielle Wash, Chris Elliott, Chris Dowd,
Cynthia Corliss, Victor Diaz, Lucia Ulloa, and Melissa Hutchings.
Photo of Per Duportal
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St. Mary’s is
twinned with Our Lady of Lourdes parish in Belladere, Haiti.
Belladere is located 40 miles northeast of Port-Au Prince. Fr.
(Per) Duportal Michenet is the Pastor. At the heart of the Diocese
of Richmond's Haiti Outreach lies its twinning program. Over 60
parishes in the Diocese of Richmond are twinned with a parish or
organization in Haiti. The twinning program is based on
relationship and solidarity; it is understood that each partner
has gifts to share with the other and that we stand with each
other as we journey forward in faith. Twinning is an active,
mutual, on-going joy filled commitment between two faith
communities. Twinning involves developing a friendship as well as
a working relationship. The hop is that the relationship would not
become exclusive, but a stepping stone to solidarity and greater
exchange in the worldwide mission of Jesus.
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What We Do
Currently, St. Mary’s Haiti Ministry
sponsors two schools run by Our Lady of Lourdes—Our Lady of Mt.
Carmel at Dosele and St. Joseph’s at Los Abeilles. This year,
there are over 400 students , grades K-6, attending the
schools. Through our Sponsorship Program Fund we are able to pay
the salaries of the 7 teachers and 1 principal, pay for school
books and other materials, pay for cooks’ salaries and spices
(beans and rice provided by Mary’s Meals ) , and other
miscellaneous school and parish needs. Recently, a Building Fund
has been created to enable construction of a permanent primary
school building in Belladere. Backpacks for Haiti is another
program that has allowed us to provide school supplies and other
items to the students of our twin parish schools. With
permission of the Suffolk, Franklin, and Southhampton Public
School districts, we are able to collect used backpacks and
school supplies at the end of the school year. In 2009, 24
schools participated and we filled 40 boxes with 264 backpacks
and other supplies! Items are sent in a container shipment
through the Patricia Sullivan Haitian Outreach Foundation.
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