The very slow process of rebuilding
in Haiti continues. The people of St. Rock have a long road
ahead of them, but the St. Rock Haiti Foundation and the St.
Agatha Parish community have been very active in assisting
them in the process. St. Agatha Parish has been working to
raise funds to assist our brothers and sisters in Haiti. In
addition to over $24,000 that was contributed to the Archdiocesan
collection for Catholic Relief Services in Port-au-Prince,
a Special Collection was held on Ash Wednesday and another
$6,000 was contributed for St. Rock relief. In addition, the
School has planned several fundraisers, the first of which
raised over $5,000 (See story and pictures below)
The St. Rock Haiti Foundation Board of Directors met last
Sunday to further refine its objectives for both long-term
and short-term support for the people of St. Rock. In the
immediate future, the Foundation is focusing on providing
temporary housing materials, increasing the medical staff
in the clinic to meet the increased demand since the earthquake,
and repairing damage to the water supply system. The two engineers
for the water project made a trip to Haiti and delivered the
first shipment of temporary housing supplies. The clinic and
the water project were inspected for damage during their visit,
and although one of the two cisterns was damaged, the system
is functioning. They were also able to establish a connection
with U.S. Aid. As a result food was delivered and distributed
and surplus was delivered for ongoing distribution.
The Foundation’s plans to address longer term issues
begin next week with a trip to Haiti by Ralph Stowe, its founder.
Consistent with the Foundation’s commitment to solicit
meaningful input from the people of St. Rock before putting
any plans into motion, he will meet with the people of the
St. Rock to ascertain how they wish to proceed with more permanent
structures. Several approaches for rebuilding will then be
discussed. One potential plan involves recruiting skilled
contractors who would head up construction missions to offer
instruction and/or manual assistance with the rebuilding.
The idea of teaching workshops or perhaps demonstrations of
sound construction of permanent structures is another possibility.
This would work in a similar fashion as our medical mission,
but with a different focus.
So there is much to be done, but there is much Faith, energy
and creativity at work. The partnership that has existed between
the people of St. Rock and the people of St. Agatha’s
is stronger and more important than ever. In this time of
tragedy, we are God’s hands. As President Kennedy said
in his inaugural address 50 years ago, “On earth, God’s
work is truly our own.”
St. Agatha Parish’s response to January 16-17 weekend’s
appeal for relief funds was tremendous. Over $21,000 was contributed
to the Special Second Collection, making it the largest collection
of its kind in the parish’s history. We’re also
happy to report that more donations have been received over
the last several days. All of this money is being forwarded
through the Archdiocese directly to Catholic Relief Services.
We will post further updates as they become available. There
is also information posted on the St. Rock Haiti Foundation
web site at www.saintrock.org
If you would like to make a contribution to the Foundation
to support the emergency response and re-building on the mountain,
you can do that through the web site as well.
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