Oblate Director of Largest Orphanage Agrees to 100 More in Haiti
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Orphanage Run by Father Marc Boisvert Accepts 100 More in Haiti

Haiti’s largest orphanage has agreed to add over 100 orphans to their village.  Named Pwoje Espwa Sud (Project Hope South), the orphanage is located near Les Cayes and is already home to more than 650 abandoned children.  The director of the orphanage, Father Marc Boisvert OMI, stated that, “With our staff of 250 and over 140 acres, we have the capacity to handle the extra children left helpless because of this devastation.”  The orphans will be coming from Leogane, a town just a few miles west of the earthquake’s epicenter. 

Pwoje Espwa also feeds and educates 1200 other local children.  This requires a total preparation and serving of over 4000 meals each day.  Boisvert said, “There was a point where we didn’t know where our next meal was coming from but we are starting to see supplies arrive in now.”The devastating earthquake that hit Haiti on January 12 has caused much suffering for the Oblates who serve in the impoverished nation.  More than 120 Oblates work in Haiti, and it is unclear at this time the number of deaths or injuries that have taken place among the Oblate community.

Below is the latest information from Fr. Marc on what the earthquake has meant to the Oblate priest in Haiti:

The Les Cayes region includes the Proje Espwa (Project Hope) orphanage run by Fr. Marc BOISVERT. On Fr. Marc’s blog, we read the stories of his work there and the impact of the earthquake on life in Les Cayes.

 

My heart lept for joy when I saw the amphibious plane in the bay. I was a Navy chaplain years ago. Don't know why they were here but it is good to know that we are on their map. The locals were more than intrigued by the Navy's presence.

Sunday: Day 12

Sorry about the delay in getting back to you all. Internet was very slow this morning so I decided to wait on the posting.
EdH (Electricite d'Haiti) came on around noon which means that it must have received a tanker of diesel fuel this morning. There's less congestion at the filling stations and we were able to get a 55 gallon drum of diesel. Still no propane nor has any food come in from anywhere.
Using our cell phones is an exercise in patience as circuits are always busy. Can't reach our driver who was in Port-au-Prince this morning to find out when to expect the displaced orphans. We have done all the prepping we can for their welcome. There are no mattresses available in town so we have ordered straw mats to be made while we await a humanitarian shipment.
Lots of people roaming the streets in town and sleeping outdoors in the streets, alleyways, lawns. Some are locals who are afraid to sleep indoors now but most are displaced refugees from PaP.
Joey Lamarre is feeling much better and spent the last three days working at the hospital, assisting in any way possible. He is gone to PaP to meet with the university's president, some doctors from NJ and a reporter from CNN. As president of his class and because Joey gets by pretty well in English, the university president begged him to be at the meeting this afternoon.
Still feeding the prisoners and they are still being confined all day long. It is beyond pathetic. One young man passed out yesterday and started shaking like he had a seizure but the guards would not open the door. We gave him water and he calmed down after about ten minutes.
That's it for now. God bless you.

Saturday, January 23, 2010

FRUSTRATION

The word for today is FRUSTRATION. Very poor communication as the cell phone company is swamped with calls and their circuits are overloaded. Can't reach Berthony. Can't reach our driver. We have US cash but can't exchange it for gourdes at this time. GRRRRR!
Fed more prisoners today. Seems like we are the only human touch in their lives at the moment. They are still locked up 24 hours a day. Absolutely no privacy. I'd be bonkers by now and can certainly relate to their frustration (there's that word, again).
Guess what? We had two working vehicles and one broke down yesterday afternoon. Remember the Janis Joplin song "O Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz"? Well, I was singing it all morning. Frustra... you know what I mean?
The pick up and delivery of the children from Leogane had to be postponed until tomorrow because our driver did not have the cash he needed until late this morning. The acting director and staff of the orphanage all want to come with the children but we can't guarantee them all jobs. Some grew up in the orphanage so this is really traumatic for them. We are sensitive to their needs and they could probably use counseling but where to find qualified counselors who speak Kreyole? Frustrating, non?
As always, we are very grateful for your support. Keep us in your prayers.

Saturday morning

Thank you for your supportive comments. To Barb: Michelet is fine and working in masonry to repair the damaged classroom of our primary school.

Thanks to our friends at Cross International who have an office in PaP, fuel was found for our truck there. We have general directions to the orphanage near Leogane that was destroyed by the earthquake. Over a hundred children will be picked up today and brought here. The older boys who were living at LaMadonne in town are moving out here today to make room for them. They have been through enough trauma without adding more. Wish the cell phone was working better. Nine out of ten calls don't make it through. Will keep you posted on news of these children as things develop.

The banks are open this morning and the lines are incredibly long. With little cash reserve, folks won't be able to cash checks or withdraw much cash and tempers will flare.
More fuel has come into town though getting it into our vehicles is a real challenge as everyone is now into hoarding.

It is crowded in town but I have to admire the Haitians here who are making every space available for the refugees. Most of the displaced Haitians are trying to get to their home villages. The housing, food and fuel shortages we have here will follow them wherever they go. We are being bombarded by requests for employment. It will be easier now to find qualified administrators as they tended to be concentrated in PaP.

OK, enough rambling. Gotta get back to the front. Prayers, please.

Friday, January 22, 2010

Light at the end of the tunnel

Can't say that things are much better but there are signs that the situation in improving. Some fuel made it to town so that scenario has been somewhat alleviated. The bank was open for two hours today but they have no cash reserves. We received cash via a courier and that has relieved a lot of pressure on me and my staff. The medicine is still lacking, the infrastructure is still non-responsive as assistance trickles in. My staff and I are starting to feel the exhaustion that this crisis has brought about. Sleeplessness, loss of appetite, headaches are signs of getting burnt out so I've asked that our people take some time for themselves. What good are we if we can't stay awake or be compassionate when the need arises?
Am tired, too tired to write so we'll see you here tomorrow.

[http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_FPbjDdBYOpE/S1hnQbiNkRI/AAAAAAAAGFQ/hZiW4VpDoMQ/s400/IMG_1637.JPG]

 (http://pwojeespwa.blogspot.com/)


Second Report of Fr. Provincial (20/01/2010 - Haiti)

Pétion-Ville, 18 January 2010

Dear Father General and Council,
Dear Brother Oblates,
Dear friends,

I am in a cybercafé (in a less damaged area of Pétion-Ville) to read your messages. Many thanks for your support. There are three of us here: Frs. Maxime Eugène, Albert Cator and I. Besides the information that I have already sent and which can be read on the Oblate internet site (www.omiworld.org), we are now in the process of evacuating Port-au-Prince. Some residents of the provincial house have already left for Mazenod, Camp-Perrin. The scholastics in theology have been sent to Oblate parishes on the Southern Coast. Those in philosophy are waiting for the opportunity to move to the North.

Our sympathy goes out to the Oblates who have lost members of their family. For most of the other Oblates from Haiti, their close family members are relatively all right and have found shelter somewhere. In Port-au-Prince, everyone is still sleeping outside, a situation that will most likely last at least another month. Now there is the exodus towards other towns.

There is no hope of being able to return to academic activities this year in Port-au-Prince, nor even for public life, since most of the state offices and commercial establishments have either collapsed or have become unusable.

We are planning to move the administrative center of the Province to a safer city, but for that, we are awaiting for specialists to better assess the situation, for they are foreseeing an eventual dominos effect in the other cities as well. And then we need to save what we can at the provincial house and the theology house.

The government has decreed a state of emergency and a month of national mourning (January 17-February 17). It is also promising rapid steps to bring into operation the banks, the communications services and the service stations, but we are still waiting for that to happen.

Again, thanks to Father General and his councilors, to all our Oblate confreres and our friends for your support.

United in prayer in Jesus Christ and Mary Immaculate,

Fr. Gasner Joint, omi
Provincial

 


Bro. Clausel GERMEIL, who lives at the provincial house in Port au Prince, e-mailed that he was teaching in a school at the time of the earthquake. The school totally collapsed on him and the students. He was not severely injured. Damage at the provincial house was in a section mostly of offices and not where the Oblates live. The theology house next door was completely destroyed.

While it is impossible to receive complete news of the Oblates living near the center of the January 12, 2010, earthquake in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, the General Councilor for Latin America, Fr. Loudeger Mazile, O.M.I., now meeting with the Central Government in Rome, was able to get some early reports. Haiti Provincial House

Part of the Provincial House has been destroyed (see library photo of the Provincial House, right)

The scholasticate (theologate) has been destroyed. We have no information about the safety of the community there.

The study center for religious where the provincial, Fr. Gasner Joint, O.M.I. teaches, was destroyed with the students inside the building. There is no report of the number of casualties there.

As further news becomes available, we will try to continue to inform the Congregation. Please pray for the people of Haiti and our Oblate community there.

From Fr. Marc Boisvert, O.M.I., founder of Hope House:

Father Marc runs an orphanage for more than 600 children in the city of Les Cayes.  He has a website, www.freethekids.org, in which he is keeping a blog about the effects of the earthquake.  Here are his latest comments.

January 13, 2:24 p.m.  Joey Mlamarre’s mother is one of our housemothers.  She spoke to Joey who was in class when the earthquake struck yesterday.  His professor and two of Joey’s classmates were killed as the walls of the university crashed down.  Joey was hurt and was buried for six hours but he was finally freed and brought to a temporary clinic.  He may have serious injuries and his mom is going to Port-au-Prince to be with him.

January 13, 8:22 a.m.  The children and housemothers slept outside last night as the tremors continued. Not much sleeping took place and the kids are dragging this morning. I went by there around 5:00 this morning to check on them.

January 12, 8:42 p.m. Wow. Just finished with two more tremors that felt much like the first one right after the earthquake. Don't think the folks down here will sleep well tonight.

January 12, 8:11 p.m. The news from Port-au-Prince is very bad. Few could get through as the cell phones are either not working or the lines are jammed with everyone attempting to call. Heard from Andy Topp who is down here with a group helping out another orphanage in the area and they are all well. The focus right now is to help our sisters and brothers in the capital. Getting in and out of Port-au-Prince may not be possible as I've heard that the road has become impassable. As all of us down south depend on food shipments (and all other commodities) from Port-au-Prince, this could become a major crisis for us. Please do what you can for the Haitians and keep us all in your prayers.

January 12, 6:04 p.m.  Yes, we had an earthquake and it was amazing. Lots of shaking and questioning, enthralled kids but, thankfully, no one hurt and no structures damaged. I was surprised at the magnitude... much greater than the few I had experienced in CA. Now there's a tsunami watch so say a prayer! Thanks.