Students In Earthquake-Struck Haiti Return To School With Hope

"Prayer is our oxygen," says Br. Marcelin. After Haiti's 7.2 magnitude earthquake in August, Br. Marcelin has been leading his team at our Haiti South sponsor site to assess the damage, personally contact each family of sponsored children, and plan a route for recovery. His trust in God, and the prayers from Chalice staff and supporters, has kept the team running non-stop each day since then.

In the immediate aftermath of the quake, the site team and engineering professionals surveyed the schools that sponsored children attend. Most have sustained damage, and Notre Dame de Perpétual-Secours School, in the community of Previlé, was utterly devastated.

Sister Gislene is the principal of Bon Pasteur School in the Roseaux community, where Chalice works. Her school buildings were heavily compromised. It would not be safe for children to return without significant reconstruction.

"We were asking a lot of questions," she said, as she saw the extent of the damage. How are we going to get children back to classes in the first week of October? Terrified parents are mistrustful of any concrete structure now, it would be inconceivable to send their child back to a cracked concrete classroom.

"The problem kept bothering me, I could not sleep," Sr. Gislene recalls. She was hearing from worried parents. One parent told her that her son quivered with fear each night, jumping at any noise, especially coming from the roof. Adults too, are anxious about aftershocks - even Br. Marcelin admits that he feels phantom trembles when he sits still.

Thanks to the outpouring of support from Chalice donors, Br. Marcelin was able to offer a solution to Sr. Gislene's problem. At her school, as well as the other unsafe schools, the Haiti South site will construct temporary classrooms - made from wood - placed on foundations that will eventually form the base of new structures. "Our objective is to create long term solutions", says Br. Marcelin, but "for the time being, we want to go back to our normal lives." The children's smooth return to classes must take top priority.

Sr. Gislene was thrilled by the news. "Our hearts are at peace," she says. Children will feel much safer returning to the wooden structures, and she's confident even the most timid little ones will soon grow comfortable once they are back among their friends and classmates.

Mars Merita is a mother of a sponsored child who graduated from high school, a source of great maternal pride. "Without Chalice, most of our children, especially the ones living in rural areas, would not go to school," she says. She has been speaking with her fellow parents in the wake of the disaster, and the topic of classes is on everyone's mind. "Now, with Chalice, we have hope, because you have built shelters."

Br. Marcelin and the Haiti South team have years of work ahead of them, but they feel confident with Chalice's spiritual and financial support.

"After God, it's you [Chalice supporters] who helped us," says Sr. Gislene. "May God reward you for everything you are doing for the children."