For nearly ten years, St. Paul’s has partnered with organizations in Haiti to provide medical and educational relief.
ST. PAUL’S GLOBAL MISSION
In 2014, four members of St. Paul’s traveled to Léogâne, Haiti on a medical and educational mission with the Parish of the Epiphany. Since then, eleven parishioners have traveled on seven different mission trips and developed ongoing partnerships with multiple organizations in Haiti. Although we have not been able to travel to Haiti since 2019 due to civil unrest and the pandemic, we continue to provide financial support to the organizations. We have applied for and received multiple grants through the Episcopal Diocese of MA, plus designated our own fundraising to support these organizations, donating over $90,000 since our partnership started.
Since early 2019, civil unrest has prevented travel to Haiti. Political corruption, significant civil unrest, violent protests, increased gang presence and kidnappings, and the assassination of President Jovenel Moise in 2021 has also made it much harder for our partners to safely carry out their missions. Travel by American is essentially impossible. We continue to keep in contact with our partners and Haitian friends, follow the local national news and developments, and pray for a peaceful and just solution to this latest crisis.
FSIL: NURSING TRAINING
The Faculté des Sciences Infirmières de Léogâne de l’Université Episcopale d’Haïti (Faculty of Nursing Science of the Episcopal University of Haiti or FSIL) is the first four-year baccalaureate school of nursing in Haiti. In 2015, FSIL was ranked as the top nursing school in the country by the Ministry of Public Health. With a 93% score for meeting the objectives and outcomes for higher nursing education, FSIL has become a model for nursing schools in Haiti. Our interest in the school started by meeting Dean Hilda Alcindor, who has been running the school since its beginning. Dean Alcindor visited St. Paul’s in December of 2014 through a grant.
St. Paul’s has made multiple trips to the nursing school, staying at their guest house, and getting to know students and faculty. During these trips we have organized their library of nursing and medical textbooks, provided clinical instruction at mobile medical clinics, given lectures and classroom instruction at the school, and built a garden on the school grounds.
https://www.haitinursing.org/fsil
FSRL: PHYSICAL AND OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY TRAINING
In 2015, a program to train physical and occupational therapists was developed alongside the nursing school, FSIL. Université Episcopale d’Haïti / Faculté des Sciences de Réhabilitation de Léogâne (Episcopal University of Haiti Faculty of Rehabilitation Science of Leogane or UNEPH/FSRL) is the only 4 year program training physical and occupational therapists in Haiti. Members of St. Paul’s have traveled to FSRL to assist with clinical teaching, English instruction, student support and curriculum development. Dean Janet O’Flynn has visited with us at St. Paul’s several times, including our 2019 Barn Dance fundraiser. Several members of St. Paul’s have taught classes virtually, filling a vital role in the education of the therapy students.
CNP: CHILDREN’S NUTRITION PROGRAM OF HAITI
The Children’s Nutrition Program of Haiti (Kore Timoun) is a Haitian-led non-profit organization working to fight malnutrition and create sustainable solutions to end poverty in Haiti. Through a network of trained monitrices, Kore Timoun monitors growth and development of children ages 0-5 in the Leogane area. Haitian women who are respected leaders in their community are trained to monitor children and educate families about proper nutrition. Malnourished children are given supplements and treated in one of several local outpatient and inpatient clinics. Members of St. Paul’s have traveled with monitrices into the mountains of Leogane to watch first-hand the work they do. Hayley Fallon, a fellow with CNP visited St. Paul’s in March of 2019 to talk about the work they are currently doing in Haiti. In 2022, CNP’s Country Director, Anany Prosper, visited St. Paul’s and spoke with us about CNP’s continued work fighting malnutrition, especially during these challenging times.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOifnNKuQMM&t=20s
Through Diocesan grants and St. Paul’s fundraising efforts, we have sponsored a monitrice, Nadia Edouard. In this video, she explains the work she does to help improve nutrition for Haiti’s most vulnerable children.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVn98Hg-LF4&feature=youtu.be