Parishes Awaiting Twinning
St. Rose of Lima in Leogane
The parish of St. Rose of Lima in Leogane is about 20 miles south of Port-au-Prince. It has a population of some 90,000 people scattered throughout Leogane and the surrounding countryside. Fourteen chapels or missions are part of the parish.
Along with the main church and 14 chapels, there are two schools. The schools have 510 students and 11 teachers, all of whom volunteer their instruction because there is no money to pay them. The pastor, Fr. Fritz Sauvagere, would like to offer salaries and expand the educational programs.
The parish has many needs. One of the mission churches collapsed a few years ago, and the community now gathers in the yard of the rectory for services. Fr. Sauvagere would like a public address system for the main church so that people could more fully appreciate and participate in services.
Sacred Heart in Vyale
The parish of Sacred Heart in Vyale is approximately 60 miles south of Port-au-Prince and has a Catholic population of 30,000 to 40,000. It is comprised of a main church with a thriving parish school. Of the 15 parish chapels, only nine are accessible by vehicle. Many of these chapels need major repairs. One is a simple roadside lean-to.
Presently there are 2,000 students being taught by 54 teachers. The annual salary for these teachers is $260. As with the other parishes, Sacred Heart has 12 catechists, none of whom receives a stipend.
Medical services in the area are greatly lacking. The parish would like: help to finish construction of a clinic, which began several years ago; supplies for the clinic; and a visiting medical team.
Other needs include: benches and chairs for schools and chapels; all types of school supplies; more classrooms; better teacher salaries; a vehicle capable of negotiating the mountains and streams; a solar-powered sound system for the church.
St. Gabriel in Bosejou
The parish of St. Gabriel is situated 2,000 meters high, atop a mountain southwest of Port-au-Prince. The 22,000 people there have little access to education, medical care and other basic necessities. Once a year, a team of medical personnel visits St. Gabriel to give whatever care they can in that week.
St. Gabriel was founded in 1996 and is led by Fr. Jean-Pierre Philippe, an energetic man with wide vision for the parish and the people in this area.
The school system at St. Gabriel has about 1,000 children and 34 teachers. Teachers are paid about $30 a month, and many must tend their own gardens for food in this remote spot.
The parish would like school buildings. Presently, there is no shelter for the students, who are usually taught outdoors.
Fr. Philippe wants to: start a community bakery to provide jobs; establish a small credit union; and initiate a "tool bank" to promote agriculture.
St. Anne Parish in Thomazeau
The parish of St. Anne in Thomazeau was founded around 1910. Located about 25 miles from Port-au-Prince, it counts 40,000 people scattered throughout the region.
There are 11 chapels and seven schools. However, because of disrepair and no money for improvements, only two schools can be used. Approximately 500 students attend these two schools, and they are taught by eight teachers. The pastor, Fr. Antoine Rene, would like to pay the teachers but is unable to.
St. Anne has other needs. Fr. Rene wants to pay the catechists in the chapels monthly stipends. Other needs range from notebooks, paper and pens, non-prescription medicines, liturgical items to a meeting place or community center for the congregation.
The pastors of these parishes would be happy to host visitors from the Norwich Mission House so they could meet the people of their communities.