July 2020
Hello All
Marg and I hope and pray all is well with you, your families and all your friends. Marg and I are doing well. We have been working at the isolation, wearing a mask, washing and all the requested items our health officials have been asking us to do to eradicate this awful pandemic. All our families are doing well, although we all are “just itching” to give each other the BIGGEST hug ever……
This pandemic has profoundly affected and killed a lot of people and is not slowing down. I read an article that said “it took 100 days to hit the first million cases and now 5 days to go from 9 to 10 million!!! Our neighbours to the south are truly showing us how NOT to reopen and move on.
Marg and I are very thankful we were able to go to Haiti in February and return before this all hit the proverbial fan. We have been monitoring and keeping in close contact with many of our friends there. They are reporting around 6,000 cases and just over 100 deaths. As Shawn Hodges at HBS has said many times “no one really knows as the Haitian people do not come to the hospital until they absolutely have to, which usually is not a good thing. We have no way to test for Covid-19 and must send them to Cap and rarely hear the results.” If they have someone come with the symptoms, they treat them like they have the flu!
Something else he was telling me this week is that things are starting to do the usual thing in Haiti – get violent!! He sent me this “I don’t know if you saw in the news the cases where people that were said to have been infected were almost killed by mobs. There were new treatment centers that were attacked as well, as the local people did not want them in their area.” How sad. We are so truly blessed to live in this country. I know a lot of people, here in Canada have suffered as well. Loss of jobs/income/financial; sickness; stress working from home with children to care for; death and unable to share with family in any of these losses.
We have been communicating with all our Project Precious Priests and friends to see how they are dealing with it all. Father Charles has been continuing with the renovation of the 4-classroom building he started back earlier in the year. He does have some issues with getting materials and gourde is now 110 to buy an US dollar. In February it was 90!! He along with others have been telling us more and more that they are getting a lot of requests for food from parents for their children. They say to them “you feed our children when they are in school, why can you not feed them now?” Father Patrick was telling us that although “the Dominican border is open, there is getting to be a shortage of food and Haiti does not produce enough food to support themselves. The people in my area are also asking him the help feed the children”.
Then I received this message from Shawn on Saturday the 4th. “Ministry of Education says schools are to reopen on August 10th for the last 2 grades of high school (12 & 13) and the 17th for all other classes, except for preschool. (NOTE: this is to finish the school year 2019/2020 as they missed close to 7 months of school due to unrest in fall and then Covid-19 in spring). They have yet to specify more – will they be allowing regular clothes as some children have outgrown their uniforms (he has 2 children that have); tuition whether they be a credit or add on. Nor have they mentioned the Public Health recommendations. I hope they are not planning to have the kids wear masks in this heat, particularly Jessica with her asthma).”
Marg and I are really concerned about this as most classrooms in Haiti are smaller than classrooms here and the usually average 35-50 children in a room. This will not likely be a good thing.
When the pandemic hit, we had money in the Diocese of London bank that was to be sent. It was not due to closures here and also, we had received news banks in Haiti were only operating part time. This money finally we sent and received late last week. They were very thankful to receive it as Father Patrick will use it for feeding and Father Wisly will be able to finish his water system he is installing to provide clean drinking water for his students and people in his area.
We know this pandemic has created a lot of issues here and donations to charities including ours have been zero since March (Note: we are still at around $975,000). We really believe we should send this update to all of you as with schools opening, even if they were not, we know we are going to be asked, even pleaded with to help in any way we are able. So even though we are still in the midst of all of this going on around us, if there is any of you that would find it in your hearts to help us through prayer or a donation we and the Haitian children/parents will be truly thankful.
You have all been totally awesome in the past when we have asked for help and believe you will be again this time. If you are able to help us you are able to do it through or website projectprecioushaiti.org or you can make out a cheque to St. Joseph’s Church; TAG it Project Precious Haiti OR HBS Haiti and the send it to: St. Joseph’s Church, 96 Huron Street, Stratford ON N5A 5S6.
Thank in the past for you amazing support in helping us “Keep Hope Alive in Haiti.
May God bless you all and keep you safe and Healthy.
Jim and Marg
A grade 2 class at St. Agnes School in Limbe, enjoying a meal of rice/beans/tomato sauce and some pasta.
Girls enjoying a hot meal. Likely the only hot meal most children will get in a day.