Notes from D.C. Conference on Future of St. Vincent's

Last weekend, a group gathered in Washington, D.C. for a conference organized by Margaret McLaughlin of the Friends of St. Vincent's. Susan, Sienna, and Sherye traveled from Memphis to participate. Pere Sadoni joined as well and gave us an update on the school. Below is a summary of Dr. Nelson's notes, with details on several critical elements of life at the school.

SCHOOL LOCATION/RELOCATION
The Haitian government told Pere Sadoni (not sure when) that they would be taking over the school property, hereafter referred to as SITE 2, which is where the medical clinic and dorms and admin offices are currently located. The school and these services would therefore need to relocate. SITE 1 nearby remains the property of St. Vincent's School; it has the newly renovated prosthetics (brace shop) and PT facility, and for at least the next 2-3 years it is expected to contain all medical activities. This includes Dr. Beauvoir (orthopedist), Dr. Ferdinand (pediatrician), Dr. Kado (family doctor), and Dr. Marius (eyedoctor). These are the Haitian medical staff at St. Vincent's. Our medical clinics will run at SITE 1 for the foreseeable future.

Pere Sadoni was told he must vacate SITE 2 by the end of June 2014. Through some influential contacts with the government thru Tom Landry, the eviction was delayed until the end of August. Pere Sadoni met with the Prime Minister and also the Secretary of State for Financial Affairs on several occasions over the summer. Despite these meetings he was told to vacate and advised to "take out everything of value" before the bulldozers showed up. Therefore, Pere Sadoni took out every door and window and ceiling fan and hand railing, putting all of this in storage. The buildings around the school are apparently in rubble as the bulldozers have razed the surrounding buildings, including the wall that surrounded the school. Therefore security is now a concern as well. The medical clinic is no longer standing. 

Pere Sadoni looked at several places for rent, but the cost ranged from $10,000 US per year to $20,000 per month. After several meetings as noted above, and AFTER Pere Sadoni gutted the property, he was then told he could "stay thru September 2015." Meanwhile, one of the teachers reported to Pere Sadoni they could not stay in their classroom anymore. Apparently when the wall came down, people started throwing garbage behind one of the buildings. The smell was horrible and drew flies. This class of ten students is now meeting in a storage closet.

On a bright note, Sadoni reported that last spring, 100 students passed their State Exams. 16 moved onto the 6th grade and 13 moved onto 9th grade. This year school began Oct 6 with 197 children. By the end of week one they had 220 and expect 300 by the first of November. Pere Sadoni went to each classroom and had a small service and blessed each child one by one, he says to tell them they are loved by God and each one must try to do their best this year.

Pere Sadoni explained why he wants to build a secondary school for the deaf children who are doing so well and have advanced to 6th grade. They don't have a good option in Haiti to continue their education, because the only other school for the deaf in Haiti does not teach (or even allow) sign language. There was some input from others at the conference that this might be changing soon; however, the deaf kids currently have no place to finish their education and qualify for University. I thought to myself, now there's a man of faith. His current school is in rubble and he has a vision for educating the deaf students thru high school! More on that later...

WATER FILTRATION SYSTEM
One of the pipes for this system was stolen, but it has been replaced and the system is in working order. Clean water for students and staff. There is now a new concrete wall around the cistern and pipes for security (as I said the outside wall came down)

FOOD
Many organizations that have supported St V in the past are either no longer doing this or have reduced their contribution to rice only. The school still has to buy beans, oil, etc. Pere Sadoni named at least six different orgs he has been in contact with. Specific figures were not discussed, however I assume they have not changed from the $6000 per month required last school year to feed the children.

DORM
Pere Sadoni lowered the dorm's age limit to 14 years. Older children can no longer board at the school (this does not apply to the orphans, about 28 total orphans). They have 23 new boarders, for a total of 51 residents.

SALARIES FOR STAFF AND TEACHERS
Haiti has new minimum wage laws. 225 Gdes (approx $4 US) for one day, 8 hours. If you fire an employee, they go to the Dept of Social Affairs and report what you were paying them. You must make up the deficit for the last 4-5 years between what you were paying them and what the law requires. Then an investigator comes to make sure your institution can pay min wage for each employee. If not, they shut you down.

Currently St. V teachers make less than min wage (<$100 per month). There are 51 teachers. Each classroom has two teachers including one teacher for the deaf or blind students. Plus there are all the cooks, cleaners, other support staff. Much discussion at the conference about budgets, deficits, and how to bring St. V into compliance with the law.

WHAT HAPPENS SEPT 2015?
There is land available in Santo, near the airport, which we hope to purchase using part of the generous donation by Dr. Mary White from Manhattan. Currently negotiations involve Bishop Duracin and the Episcopal Church Central Office in New York. This is 7-8 acres of FLAT land, with a 3500 sq ft house all on one level. Could be turned into dorms. Ideal site, per Tom Landry, who is an architect

IF this land is purchased by First Quarter 2015, construction can begin but realistically not ready for school to open in Sept 2015. Maybe the residents could be moved into the existing house?
Temporary classrooms can be built on SITE 1 for about $50,000 US. There is apparently transportation provided by Haitian gov't for other disabled kids to go to school in Montfort (the other deaf school I mentioned) so this may be option for our students as well, since the new land is near Montfort. Also discussion about shared services between the two schools.

At the end of his presentation, Pere Sadoni thanked all of us for our work to support St. Vincent's. He said we are following God's commission to "support the weak". And we are doing just that. He reminded us that Sister Joan's original goal was "no integration without education". And that 4.6% of handicapped persons in Haiti don't get regular meals

SMALL GROUPS

After his presentation we broke into 3 small groups including 

I. Medical/prosthetics shop/PT/OT/hearing testing/speech therapy. 

II. education III. admin/ budget.

Each small group discussed assets/needs/solutions

I. In brief, the Medical Group agreed to a goal of establishing a COMMON MEDICAL RECORD to be used by all involved with the care of the students, including PT/OT, hearing evals, other disabilities, and general medical care. There is already a National Database in Haiti for persons with disabilities, and a secretary at St. V who can access these records online and print out forms for each provider to use. We hope to expand this. Team Canada visits St. V twice/year, tests the kids for hearing and provides hearing aids. Their next trip is mid October and will overlap with the CBU nurses and Dr. Trzynka in first week of November. Next steps toward communication and collaboration can begin, and creation of a common medical record.

II. Education Group discussed teacher training (now required by Haitian gov't) and food production at the school thru technology provided by 100 Gardens. Check out their website. They farm tilapia and use the effluent to grow vegetables. Very efficient. Opportunities for curriculum development, business models, trade skills, etc. not to mention feeding the kids and possibly turning a profit.
Plans are to install two portable towers at current St. V site as a test project!

III. Admin/Budget Group discussed budget to meet all salary demands incl new min wage laws, and short term/long term plans for current St. V and new St. V. The current operating budget is approx $14,000 per month. Needs to be $18,000 per month to increase wages as discussed.

Tom Landry gave a passionate description of the NEW ST. VINCENT'S:

New St. V property has vision of sustainable farming, a guesthouse which attracts outside visitors as well as St. V visitors/volunteers. Medical center for treatment of handicapped, with training site for physical therapy and other health profession students. Brace shop serving greater Port-au-Prince area. Educational center with training site for teachers. "A MODEL FOR THE CARIBBEAN" Tom said.

Overall an intense meeting with lots of passion.

Susan Nelson
Medical Director
West Tennessee Haiti Partnership

Thank You from Father Sadoni

Father Sadoni sent this thank-you letter to the Friends of St. Vincent. Please enjoy. On another note, I would like to ask again for pictures from the trip, if anyone has any. A few people have asked when more will be posted, but I have still not recieved very many. Please send them to themadfangirl@gmail.com. Thanks!

-Caitlin

**

Dear Friends of St Vincent,


On behalf of the children of St Vincent, I would like to thank you for your partnership this year. Your donations made all the difference in the success of helping us brought back the smile on our children face.

The donations of this year allow us to buy uniforms, pay tuition, buy stuffs for the kindergarten, food for the children and the staff and many other things.

Thanks to your great support and participation, we made a difference in the school this year. All the children, teachers, parents and even visitors talked about that. We hope you will continue to help us appears useful to the community.

Happy new year to all of you and your family.

Again, many thanks.

Sincerely,
Father Sadoni LEON

Hope Lennartz visits St VIncent's School in July

MY PERSONAL REFLECTION:

MY JOURNEY BACK

To start my story, I need to tell you who I am. My name is Hope Lennartz, the Volunteer Executive Director of the Friends of St. Vincent’s Center for Handicapped Children in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Fifteen years ago, I founded a non-profit 501 c 3 to provide service and support to the children and staff at the Center. St. Vincent’s Center is the only residential school for handicapped children in Haiti.

January 12

Where were you when you heard about the Haiti earthquake?

A moment of time….I was at work as a RN in a detoxification center when my partner called. I rarely received calls at work. She told me the news that Haiti had a BAD earthquake. I did not know how bad it was until I heard the National Palace had collapsed and part of The Montana, a five star hotel on the side of the mountain, had fallen and some of it slide down the side of the mountain destroying houses in its way.

So we waited to get any messages about how bad it was at the Center. It was very bad. Seven of our children and three of our staff died and most of the major structures were gone. To rubble … bright blue shiny painted pieces of cement.

I felt powerlessness over this event. I felt the pain of our friends and the earthquake stories went on for weeks and weeks.

I received messages from all over the world asking questions, requesting information and extending help.

For years I had taken groups down to Port-au-Prince to work with the children and staff at the Center. Due to my personal health and the earthquake, I had not returned to St. Vincent’s for a while. It had been 1 ½ years since the earthquake. Physicians for Peace asked me to return to see what steps were next for the Brace Shop and Physical Therapy program.

St. Vincent’s Center is a very special holy place where handicapped children and adults are celebrated and helped to be the best they can be. It is a tight family who invites you in so you can use your talents and give your love. It was time for me to return.

My first hours in Haiti included the AIRPORT experience which does not seem to change over the years. I saw and smelt the gray haze hanging over the city caused by the burning of the trash. I knew I was in Haiti again. We were taken to the center of where the national government had functioned… We looking through the green metal fence to see the National Palace toppled over and I heard myself say “Oh my God”. I had seen pictures on CNN for months. I knew it was real in my head but now it was real in my heart. I felt the sorrow in my soul upon seeing the city of tents … blocks after blocks… one and half year old tents with logos …. USAID, Republic of China, Save the Children and many others. The green parks were gone. My memory of the old Haiti was a ghost. I had trouble figuring where we were but only after seeing the tip of a historic statue over the tents did I get my bearings. Some folks estimate there are 500,000 people still in tents.

I had embarked on an incredible, wonderful journey to see old friends. I finally let go what was and turned it into what it can be. I let go of the old memories and faced the new reality that we can still make a difference. We, together in partnership, can move programs forward and help the handicapped children in Haiti.

sent in by Hope Lennartz

Fwd: St. Vincent's Center - One Year after the Earthquake

       Dear Friends of St. Vincent's Center,

On January 12, 2010, an earthquake hit St. Vincent's Center at 4:53 pm. The 7.0 magnitude earthquake's epicenter was just 16 miles west of Port-au-Prince.  The buildings collapsed and walls fell over causing the death of seven students and three staff members.  One hundred and thirty children were taken to the soccer field at College of St. Pierre to a makeshift tent city.  About two weeks later, Fr. Sadoni moved the children to the former Episcopal Seminary at Montrouis, about 30 miles north of the city.  The children have since returned to Port-au-Prince are living in an undamaged building next to the Boy's Foyer.  The Friends provide funds to re-model office space for 15 classrooms and purchase new furniture including desks, chairs and tables.  The total library was lost so we also purchased new textbooks, school supplies and an office computer. 

After the earthquake "The Friends" received funds from the Diocese of Connecticut for emergency food and staff salaries.  The Diocese of Chicago sent funds for the prosthetic program. Also during 2010, "The Friends" continue to address the needs of the older orphaned students to move out into society with useful skills by providing scholarships to attend local high schools and colleges.  The prejudice barrier that prevented handicapped children from attending secondary schools has been broken.  Our students are competing well in regular classrooms, making us proud and providing role models for others by their academic and social success.

Recently, Dr. Susan Nelson, a Board member of the Friends, led a medical team down to treat the students and staff at the Center.  We provided some of the funds to purchase medications to stock the pharmacy.

A Japanese non-profit funded building temporary space for the medical clinic, the Director's office and the Brace Shop.  We are working on repairing the "old" Brace Shop building so we can move back to that space at the Main Campus.  Another major project is to reestablish a functional potable water system.  The Cholera outbreak continues in the city and at this point in time some 3000 persons have died in Haiti from this epidemic.

Projects that remain to be addressed include the need for orchestral and band musical instruments to reestablish the music program and providing non-electric typewriters.  The development of musical ability provides a marketable skill that helps graduating students to become self-supporting.  Typing services are needed and marketable.  Since electricity is unreliable in Haiti, use of non-electric typewriters is mandatory. Anyone with musical instruments or manual typewriters in good working condition can contact "The Friends".

"The Friends" are dedicated to doing all they can to improve the life and lot of the handicapped children who depend so completely on the Center. 

God Bless you all,

Hope Lennartz RN  MSN

Volunteer Executive Director of the Friends of St. Vincent's Center   

You can contact us at:

E-mail:   hopelennartz@comcast.net

Phone-  860-233-8366

Address:  Friends of St. Vincent's Center

                  c/o St. James's Episcopal Church

                  

                  West Hartford, Conn. 06107

19 Walden Street

Quilts to raise money for Braillers

This story seemed very relevant to our site. Read about quilt making to raise money to buy braillers for our blind students.

http://www.vnews.com/08292009/5957400.htm