It is an admirable
international collaboration that makes the construction of the future Village
Notre Dame de Lourdes possible... friends of the 96 children of Maud Laurent
are in Canada, France, Germany, the US and of course also in Haiti.
While Anne-Marie
Bryson from Canada was working hard to find out how to start the construction,
the Sisters Missionaries of Christ King in Haiti were introducing Ray and
Catherine to Maud and 3 days later work began. It is thanks to the faith
of the Filles de Jesus of Montreal, Anjou Haiti in France but also in
particular a young German Marcel Koetter, working for Hoffnungszeichen, who
witnessed the reconstruction efforts done by Ray as he was training young
unemployed Haitians struggling to find a future during post-earthquake Haiti , that
construction was able to begin. Ray Arana, general contractor in the USA had
left his family business in the care of his 27 year old twin sons to come help
in Haiti as early as February 2010 and among other things, rebuilt the condemned
Jesuit Novitiate and neighboring convent of the Sisters Missionaries of Christ
the King. He was also interested in teaching these young men construction
skills and taught them basic English during 6 am classes. Before leaving
the US for roughly a year and a half (he had thought he was leaving for three
weeks), Ray founded a non-profit called Relief Team One www.reliefteamone.org with the mission of teaching skills while
helping reconstruction. When I met him in June 2010, he told me: “by
myself I can accomplish something but if we are several we can do so much
more" and so we teamed up on various projects of which the construction of
the Village is the most important.
When Mario Landreville
( Mario's story is on the French Canadian blog) made his first donation of a
cement mixer, construction moved faster, but work is still all hand done by the
team of young people whose talents are being revealed as the progression of the
construction continues. Last summer at the busiest, 48 men were employed
at the site, including some of the young men from the Foyer who were learning
about construction. The energy, tenacity, kindness and good mood of
everyone warmed the heart.
Among the friends in
Haiti that have helped so much, there is Patrick Joly, a trusted friend of
Maud's without whom all the material purchases wouldn't have taken place:
tireless driver, quick to laugh and always on the look out to help others, he
has the constancy and honesty essential to his responsibilities.
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| March 15, 2011 |
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| Site of future construction, March 2011 |
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| Ray installs water pump |
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| Leaving work after a long day |
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| Semi-finished generator room, May 2011 |
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| Catherine reviewing English assignments |
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| Proud crew in front of first steel post |
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| Catherine in her office, June 2011 |
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| Setting floor of main building October 2011 |
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| Teaching measurements, March 2011 |
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| Witny and Patrice working on cement |
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| Bakery being built |
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| Ray teaching plumbing |
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| Construction in English class, 6 am |
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| Gannon University student volunteer |
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| Jean-Baptiste & Fenel finishing the roof |
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| Translating water filter instructions |
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| Side view of main building with new windows May 2012 |
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| Windows on thanks to Terre des Montagnes |
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| Marcel & Kervin, Spring 2011 |
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| Marcel, Ray and Mario, spring 2011 |
Truly an international
collaboration, with Gilles Hudicourt in Canada, who activated the online
presence of the Foyer, initiating monthly donations and with the generosity in
deeds or funding of the Quebecois mentioned on the blog of the Foyer ( among
whom the Filles de Jesus of Montreal and the Fondation le Pont) and of course
the tireless Mario Landreville ( who among other things had the electricity
installed and repaired the plumbing at the Foyer and recently donated a large
generator). He is also currently actively fundraising to send a whole container
full of bakery equipment to Haiti which is almost ready to go. It is the most
important grant coming from the Germans of Hoffnungzeichen that really enabled
the construction to grow and after that also the support from the French of
Grandir en Haiti, Anjou Haiti, and lately Terre des Montagnes ( they have just
pledged additional support for the dormitory construction: many thanks). In the US, help
comes from Food for the Poor, For One Another Foundation, Holy Trinity Church, School
Sisters of Notre Dame, International Samaritan with Gannon University and
Loyola University Maryland (gave a computer lab) that allowed me a personal leave to volunteer in
Haiti for six months. There are also all those individuals who support in
multiple ways from afar or near Relief Team One's effort for Maud and her
children with monetary contributions or volunteer work.
All this wouldn't be
possible without the leadership of Maud Laurent, her energy, intelligence,
kindness, big heart, perseverance and her abilities to manage all, as she tirelessly watches over the well being
of the 96 children and the accompanying staff of the Foyer NDL.
What now? We
can't stop: if a lot has been accomplished (read the blogs of the Foyer NDL and
of Relief Team One and see the pictures) a lot remains to be done to establish
a sustainable infrastructure with a new dormitory in the Village NDL.
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| Bellegarde just finished installing shower heads, march 2012 |
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| Volunteer touching up professional centre |
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| Bathroom block |
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| Waiting for doors and windows, main building |
Catherine Savell
