by Colby Bowker (THP Vice President)
Like so many during this challenging time, The Haitian Project (THP) has been busy adapting to the new and evolving realities imposed by COVID-19.
THP’s US staff has been working remotely since March 16th. Meanwhile in Haiti, Louverture Cleary School (LCS) had been following the guidelines provided by the Haitian Ministry of Health for schools and taking steps to promote the safety of students and the LCS community.
Then, on March 20th, Haiti’s government abruptly ordered all schools in the country to shut down as part of a state of emergency declaration in response to the first confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Haiti. THP takes pride in working with and through local institutions rather than around them, but the order to close schools was nevertheless tough to receive. The stability, community and promise for a better future that LCS represents to its students was evident in the school’s Philo class (US 12th grade + 1), most of whom had tears in their eyes as they left campus.
As THP President Emeritus Deacon Patrick Moynihan recently said, “The concept of social distancing in Haiti is practically impossible given the housing density and need to go to the market daily for food. Most people barely get by on daily provisions. Social distancing is not only completely impractical, it is a sad reminder of how Haiti has been ‘distanced’—marginalized—throughout so much of its history.”
In the face of these new challenges for Haiti, LCS is continuing to provide water to the neighborhood and is evaluating other ways to be of direct assistance under these conditions.
Most importantly, THP is committed to making sure that paychecks to Louverture Cleary School’s teachers and staff will continue. In Haiti and in the US, The Haitian Project’s team members have served through very thick and very thin—economic downturns, earthquakes, government failures, cholera outbreaks, and political unrest. THP’s top priority is making sure they have the financial resources available to manage this situation and to support their families and their communities as much as possible.
Whenever schools re-open in Haiti, it is THP’s mission to make sure that LCS will be there for its students and to continue to develop the human capital that Haiti needs to better manage natural and manmade disasters in the future.
As ever, it is THP’s community of supporters, like its team, that has been there for the Project’s mission—through very thick, and very thin. “Everyone at The Haitian Project is sensitive to the disruptions and hardships ripping through our communities and our world right now,” says THP President Reese Grondin. “We are hoping and praying that those who can still give at this time, will. We will put it to excellent use.”
A Note from The Haitian Project
We understand that these are challenging times and that many people are confronted with significant hardships.
But this is precisely why we still have to ask and pray that those who can give, will. Our teachers and staff in Haiti rely on our support; and we are going to be there for our 360 students when schools re-open again. Please give today if you can.
