God's Heart for Haiti

This Update follows a meeting last month with the leadership of College St. Pierre, the Bishop of Haiti, and Dubois Eggleston (Head of School, Porter Gaud, Charleston, SC), Patrick Martin (English Professor, Porter Gaud), and Bishop Thomas Johnston

Dubois Eggleston and Patrick Martin

Leadership Team from the June Meeting

Accomplished to date:

+ All rubble and debris from the destruction of CSP has been removed from the school grounds

+ Temporary classrooms have been constructed and classes have resumed (535 students / 40+ faculty)

+ Administration and Faculty are preparing for national examinations

+ The Bishop of Haiti has had on-going meetings with the national leadership of Haiti in an attempt to secure additional land for College Ste. Pierre’s future

+ A preliminary report by the Bishop’s Task Force on assessing damage to Diocesan Structures has recently been completed and will be released in the near future

Short-term Needs to prepare CSP for the Fall

The first of October marks the beginning of a new school year for College St. Pierre and the beginning of a temporary season in the life of CSP (at least two years before a new facility is designed and constructed).  In preparation for a new start, the administration of the school has identified the following as priorities and needs for this next season.  [A certified engineer who is currently working with the School and the Diocese has provided the following estimates]:

+ 5 Laptop computers for administration use  (approximately 6,000 USD)

+ Photo copier for the School  (approximately 2,000+ USD)

+ Security is a significant problem for the School and there is an immediate need to repair portions of the security wall surrounding the campus.  The entire wall needs to be replaced at some point in the future; however, we can patch certain areas temporarily to meet this pressing security need.  [$42,000 USD for the entire security fence and iron gates and approximately $15,000+ to patch the portions that have been destroyed.]

Damage from a thunderstorm to one of the temporary classrooms

+ Construct a one-story administration building that would connect to the existing library.  They are currently using the library for administrative offices and this would return the library to its proper function.  This building would have seven offices and two restrooms, $78,000 USD.

+ Repair the existing computer / laboratory building.  The engineer has determined that this building (which was the newest one in the College Ste. Pierre complex) is structurally sound, but it is in need of repair before students can use it.  This building houses four large classrooms one of which is the computer-lab and functions as the main entrance to the School.  The computer lab is essential for accessing curriculum, online classes, and connecting the students and administration to emerging partnerships.  This is a very important piece of our short-term strategy of returning to academic excellence even as we are in a much longer-term building program ($18,000 USD).

Existing Building to be repaired

Computer Lab to be repaired

A friend and partner in the rebuilding of College Ste. Pierre passed on the following video to me about the demolition of the School.  All the footage is from College Ste. Pierre.  At one point in the video (shot about four weeks ago), they speculate as to the kind of temporary structures that will be used for the school.  As you can see from my posts below they have worked very quickly to put in place temporary structures so that the students could resume classes this past week.  You will find the video below interesting:

Source: Global Nomads Group

(LtoR) Harry Anglade, Principal; Steve Hickman; Pere Rigal Lucas, Administrator

Steve Hickman (Head of School of Episcopal Collegiate, Little Rock, AR) and I met with the leadership of College Ste. Pierre (CSP) this past Saturday.  Our meeting took place in an administrative office of the School.  It was a productive time.  The most significant things that emerged from the meeting were a clear desire on the part of the Haitian leadership to thoughtfully position CSP for a new mission that is committed to both excellence and one that is internationally recognized and accepted.  The desire is to serve emerging leadership from all of Haiti and to provided not only academic excellence but also to raise up a next generation of leadership that can address, the environmental, social, political and spiritual needs that are peculiar to Haiti.

The most encouraging part of the meeting was a genuine engagement of issues and what I sensed was an openness and eagerness to form a working partnership in the design and development of CSP.  A very clear next step was identified and eagerly agreed to and will be pursued in the days ahead.  +TJ

Temporary Classrooms

College Ste. Pierre has undergone significant change in the four weeks since my last visit.  The damaged and destroyed buildings have been removed, temporary classrooms have been constructed by the Haitian government, and over half of the those living on the soccer field in tents have been moved to make room for the temporary classrooms .

Classes resumed this past Monday (19^th) in the open-air rooms and among those refugees remaining in tents on the School grounds.

Open air classrooms among refugee tents

Demolition of CSP

The removal of the debris and remains of what was College Ste. Pierre (CSP) is well underway.  This is both a moment of hope as we look toward a new CSP and also a moment to remember those faculty and staff who died in the earthquake.  I thank God that he is a God of new beginnings — “³And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ⁴He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” ⁵He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making all things new!” (Rev. 21:3-5).”

If you would like to be part of the new birth of College Ste. Pierre contact millie@stpetersmp.org or you can make a contribution above.  +TJ

Demolition of CSP

One of the images relating to the earthquake that Bishop Duracin used when we met with him was that of baptism and new life through Jesus.  It is the image of passing through death into life that he believes will be the enduring word coming out of the January 12^th earthquake.

That was also the tone of the first meeting that we had on March 10th with the leaders of the Diocesan Committee overseeing the reconstruction of the infrastructure of the Episcopal Church in Haiti, including College Ste. Pierre.  Even as Haiti continues to struggle with the immediate affects of the earthquake, many are praying for and working toward a life-giving future.  That certainly was the focus of our initial meeting regarding the future mission of College Ste. Pierre (CSP).  In the days ahead, I will share with you both the history of CSP and the emerging hopes and dreams for its future.

The challenge of re-building will be enormous, the hope and impact that the New CSP will have will be defining for a new generation of leadership in Haiti.  I am thankful for the privilege of being part of this effort and I invite you to join with me in building the New CSP.  +TJ

Pere Val, Carmel, Phil Black, Millie Powell, +TJ

I met with the Episcopal Bishop of Haiti (Bishop Zache Duracin) today along with Millie Powell of St. Peter’s Church (Mt. Pleasant, SC) and Mary Balfour VanZandt and Philip Black of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church (Birmingham, AL).  Our time in Haiti will be focused on furthering the medical work of Lespwa Timoun and laying the ground work for re-building the Episcopal High School (College St. Pierre).

I will post an update with pictures tomorrow, but tonight we are thankful for the hospitality of Father Fritz Valdema and his wife, Carmel.  Among the four of us, the image that stands out among the many that we have seen is the countless thousands of people continuing to live in tents and very minimal and temporary shelters.  Lord, have mercy.  +TJ

According to the Episcopal Diocese of Haiti Special Crisis Commission, College St. Pierre, one of the best high schools in Port-au-Prince, is completely destroyed.  The College’s soccer field has been turned into an Internally Displaced Person (IDP) staging area, providing shelter for approximately 3000 displaced people coming from all over the capital without any consideration given to religion, creed and social class.

The satellite images below show the devastation to College St. Pierre.  You will be able to see the College camp or IDP area (marked in yellow) where the Diocese of Alabama will hold its first medical clinic under the direction of Carmel and Pere Valdema.  Please keep this school and its families in your prayers as they try to heal from their grief and loss and attempt to rebuild their lives and their school.

Note: Click on photos for larger images.

Before the Earthquake	After the Earthquake
College St. Pierre (Aug 25, 2009)	College St. Pierre (Jan 17, 2010)
Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) Internally displaced persons are persons or groups of persons who have been forced or obliged to flee or to leave their homes or places of habitual residence, in particular as a result of or in order to avoid the effects of armed conflict, situations of generalized violence, violations of human rights or natural or human-made disasters, and who have not crossed an internationally recognized State border. – Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, United Nations	College St. Pierre Camp (Jan 24, 2010)

I have been asked by the Bishop of Haiti to assist him in the rebuilding efforts in Haiti – focusing on the mission and ministry of the Anglican Church in Haiti.  I have known him and worked with him for over 20 years. Personally, his house was destroyed and his wife seriously injured.  She has a broken leg and has had two surgeries to date.

His highest priority in this effort is to re-establish the education structure throughout the areas affected by the earth quake.  In Haiti, schools provide not only intellectual opportunities, but they are also a delivery structure for faith, food, medicine, and the basic social services that we might expect municipalities to offer.

One of those is an Episcopal High School called College St. Pierre (800 students). It was totally destroyed and still has over 300 students entombed in its rubble.  The Bishop’s heart, as a first priority, is to re-build this school which all the other schools  ( Anglican and otherwise – and those currently functioning and those destroyed) feed into.  The Country simply can not put on hold for years to come the education of its brightest and best.

I have felt called by God to step up to this opportunity and I am attempting to put a team in place to work with me in developing a strategy to accomplish this work.   I believe that this project has the potential not only to re-build a high school, but also to bring hope and encouragement to a next generation of leaders for a country that lacks Godly leadership at every level of its national life.