December 2019 Newsletter

Site Evaluation & Advisory Team members Patrick B. (left) and Michael Moynihan (right) visit a potential Louverture Cleary School location in Les Cayes in the Sud Department of Haiti with His Excellency Chibly Langlois, Cardinal of Haiti (left center), and pilot Bernard Celestin (right center).

The December 2019 edition of Haitian Project News is here! CLICK HERE to read about how The Haitian Project is ready to forge forward with The Louverture Cleary Schools Network with the development of a Model Campus that can be replicated across Haiti—and much more!

Give Education. Give Hope. #GivingTuesday.

Today, millions of people around the world will participate in #GivingTuesday by making a contribution to a cause they care about.

When you join them by making a donation to The Haitian Project, you are supporting one of the best programs in Haiti. You are transforming lives through education, and in doing so, giving hope to a new generation of servant-leaders in Haiti.

Our mission in 60 seconds:

A Special Thanksgiving Message from Deacon Moynihan

Appreciated Members of the THP Community,

It is always a privilege to write our Thanksgiving Message. It is also very easy to do given the many things for which we at The Haitian Project have to be thankful, not the least of which is your support.

This year it is especially easy for me to write a letter of thanks because I am taking stock in a special way how wonderful it has been to be at the front of the great work you have made possible for over two decades. So, this year, I want to lead off the recount of what we are thankful for by saying, "I am thankful for having the opportunity to work with you in our great mission and be a part of so many wonderful people's lives in Haiti and in our US community!"

As you may have read, I will be stepping down (but not away) at the end of December. I am so proud, hopeful and relieved that Reese Grondin has agreed to succeed me as president of THP. She and her husband Jimi are stepping up in a big way. Their combined talents are, as God would have it, just what THP needs in its next first family.

I am excited and thankful that the transition will allow me to continue to contribute to the community, especially with pushing forward with the Louverture Cleary Schools Network. I look forward to supporting Reese Grondin and Patrick Brun in this effort in the role of Emeritus President.

Please keep giving. YOUR SUPPORT is the very support we have to give to our amazing students, staff and graduates. The results of your generosity are spectacular.

Feel good about the work you have made possible and the lives you have changed—and the many more lives that those lives will change.

Pax et bonum. (Latin for Happy Thanksgiving—almost!)

Deacon Patrick Moynihan

Go Forth and Serve

In the early 19th century, a young woman named Pauline Jaricot was moved by the poverty and destitution throughout France and the world. Inspired by her brother’s letters about his work in missions abroad, Jaricot gathered groups of people, asking them to pray daily for the missions and to give a penny a day—a significant sacrifice at the time—to support them.

THP President Deacon Patrick Moynihan (left) speaks with a parishioner of St. Raymond’s Church in Providence, RI.

Through her advocacy for the worldwide missionary work of the Church, Jaricot created the Society for the Propagation of the Faith—one of four Pontifical Mission Societies within the Catholic Church that informs members about global missionary work and encourages active participation through prayer and sacrifice.

Today as part of Diocesan Propagation of the Faith, missionaries all over the world visit parishes to bear witness to their work and ask for support for its perpetuity.

Throughout this past summer, THP visited the four parishes to which it was assigned by the Diocese of Providence. While St. Francis of Assisi Church and its St. Romuald Chapel in South Kingstown, RI, were known to THP, St. Ann Church, Blessed Sacrament Church, and St. Raymond Church, all located in Providence, RI, were new to the Project, bringing a fresh audience to THP’s mission. Most recently, THP was present for Propagation of the Faith at St. Sebastian Church in Sebastian, FL in November.

Deacon Moynihan assisted and preached at each Mass, and members of the THP staff and community were able to engage with parishioners to share updates and materials on THP’s mission, exciting plans for the future, and ways to further get involved. At each Mass, a second collection was taken up to benefit THP.

THP often proclaims that a mission is as strong as the community that sends it. Thanks to the parishes that will welcome THP summer after summer, as well as many growing communities around the US and the world, THP’s mission is well positioned to take root and change lives throughout all of Haiti through the Louverture Cleary Schools Network.

In this season of thanksgiving, The Haitian Project is thankful for our supporting parishes.

Want to get THP involved in Propagation of the Faith in your home diocese? Contact THP at [email protected] or call 401-351-3624 or to find out how!

Looking for a Meaningful Way to Bring Family & Friends Together this Season?

The holiday season is upon us again! Why not do something a little different this year to bring family and friends together? In the spirit of giving, you could host a holiday party to benefit The Haitian Project (THP)!

Already planning a gathering? Great! It’s easy to incorporate THP into your event!

It's as easy as 1, 2, 3!

1. Call or email to let us know you’re interested in supporting THP at your holiday party. We’ll send you a “party kit” with THP literature, delicious Haitian coffee to serve your guests, and tips on how to make your event as successful as possible. We can also provide invitations to mail/email and even send them for you!

2. Host your gathering! It can be as simple or elaborate as you’d like. At some point during your event, tell your guests why THP is important to you, perhaps show one of our videos, and ask them to consider making a contribution. Don’t forget to have a great time, too!

3. After the party’s over, mail any checks or cash received to The Haitian Project. Donations made online will already be on their way. We will personally thank everyone who donates for being part of the THP community!

If you are interested in supporting The Haitian Project at your holiday event, please call 401-351-3624 or email [email protected] to learn how easy planning a Holiday Party for Haiti can be!

Deacon Patrick Moynihan to Step Down as THP President

After 23 years leading The Haitian Project (THP), Deacon Patrick Moynihan will step down as president on December 31, 2019.

Deacon Patrick Moynihan presents a diploma at a Louverture Cleary School graduation.

Deacon Moynihan will be succeeded by current THP Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Marisa (Reese) Grondin, who on Saturday, November 9th, was elected by a unanimous vote of THP’s Board of Directors to take over as president effective January 1, 2020.

Like the Moynihans, the entire Grondin family has been dedicated to THP’s mission since Reese and her husband James (Jimi) both served as volunteer teachers at THP’s Louverture Cleary School Santo 5 (LCS) in 2001. Jimi will also take on a critical role in the mission next year as director of new school construction. (Look for more about Reese’s history with THP and her recent election in a special edition of Haitian Project News coming out in early December.)

Reflecting on the transition, Deacon Moynihan said, “For my part, the change in leadership is not a departure, but simply a repositioning to open up space for the next generation of the Project’s leadership to allow our new vision for the Louverture Cleary Schools Network to thrive.”

THP’s Board of Directors also voted unanimously on Saturday to appoint Deacon Moynihan as president emeritus of The Haitian Project in recognition of his significant contributions to the organization and his continued commitment to its success.

Deacon Moynihan, who will serve as advisor to the president during the transition period, said, “I look forward to supporting Reese and Jimi, lending them my experience when called upon, and focusing on the success of the Network in Haiti."

THP President Deacon Patrick Moynihan (standing, center) and wife Christina (seated) with their children: (from left) Robert, Marianna, Timothy, and Mikhaila.

Encouraged by his wife Christina, who was the first to hear the call for the Moynihan family to go on mission, Deacon Moynihan left a successful career as a commodities trader with the Louis Dreyfus Corporation and moved their family to Haiti to live and work as leaders of The Haitian Project Community in February of 1996.

“The decision to step down represents a significant, albeit positive change for the whole family, especially Christina,” Deacon Moynihan said. “Not only was Christina the motivation for the Moynihans moving to Haiti, she was without a doubt the foundation upon which everything was built.”

At LCS, Christina was integral in providing social and spiritual support to both the students and to the families in the surrounding neighborhood. In addition to teaching and heading the Office of Campus Ministry and Community Outreach, she quickly put in place Ekòl Ankourajman (School of Encouragement), an after-school literacy program for youth and adults from the neighborhood who could not attend the school.

In response to the pressure added on parents in the local area after the earthquake in 2010, Christina devoted much time and energy to the expansion of LCS’s early childhood development center for children from the neighborhood—keeping countless children out of orphanages by providing families with the support they needed to stay together.

When Deacon Moynihan became president in 1996, the Project was struggling with debt and the school served just 75 students. Today, LCS serves 360 students, has hundreds of successful graduates, and operates the largest university scholarship program in the country providing university support to over 100 graduates annually. Its graduates regularly go on to earn 12 times the per-capita income of Haiti just several years out of university.

Having raised more than $16 million for THP’s Annual Fund during his tenure, Deacon Moynihan's leadership and drive increased the Annual Fund 20-fold to nearly $2 million in 2018.

Additionally, he successfully led multiple consecutive capital campaigns totaling nearly $4.5 million in gifts and pledges to ensure the perpetuity of the mission. Deacon Moynihan also led the development of THP’s 20-year strategic plan to create The Louverture Cleary Schools Network, which THP's Board of Directors adopted last June.

“Deacon Moynihan has been a good steward and an infallible model of servant-leadership throughout the years as president of THP,” said THP Board Vice Chair and Haitian private sector leader Patrick B. “At this turning point in our history and on behalf of all the people of Haiti, I thank Deacon Moynihan and his wife Christina for their years of selfless service and engagement toward breaking the chains of ignorance and poverty in Haiti.”

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Your donation keeps THP moving forward. At this significant and exciting moment in THP’s history, please consider a gift in support of a bright future for THP and for Haiti.

There's No Place Like Home

Note: For over two decades, The Haitian Project has been focused on keeping children in our neighborhood out of orphanages by providing families with the resources they need to stay together. Encouraged by recent efforts spearheaded by Lumos Foundation and others, we are reissuing our email highlighting The Haitian Project’s direct response to the dangers of orphanages and institutions for vulnerable children.

The Haitian Project has long recognized the importance of family in the lives of children and the health of a nation. What follows is one story about Christina Moynihan’s forward-thinking efforts to reunite Haitian children with their parents after Haiti’s 2010 earthquake. There are many problems surrounding the use and funding of orphanages in the most economically-disadvantaged populations. Recent research shows that worldwide, 80—90 percent of children in orphanages have at least one living parent. We invite you, after reading this update, to visit the links provided below to gain a deeper understanding of this important issue.

Louverture Cleary School’s early educational program Koukouy Sen Kle (Fireflies of St. Clare) in action.

“We said yes to the mission because we love our own children. All other children deserve the same quality of life. What we have found in Haiti is that the families want education for their children because it will break the cycle of poverty and change their futures.” – Christina Moynihan

When the Moynihan family came to live at Louverture Cleary School (LCS) in 1996, Christina Moynihan became quickly in tune with the neighbors of LCS—families who occupied the “zone” around the school. There was one event in particular that set her relationship with the women of the neighborhood into motion.

She heard the cry of a three-year-old boy who was left alone outside, locked out of the house by his mother who wanted to protect the house from robbers while she went to the market to work. Moynihan cared for the little boy, as she insists anyone would do. However, it was her response after his mother returned home that is unique and, sadly, not a well-trod path of action.

When the child’s mother returned home, Moynihan wisely took the time and effort to learn her story. Because she had already begun to form relationships with women in the zone, she knew that this child was not the only one who was in need of a safe place to play during the day. Other children were routinely abandoned, and some children of school age simply had no place to go. Moynihan (acting as mother, teacher, and partner in mission with her husband, THP President Deacon Patrick Moynihan) knew what needed to be done. She wasted no time in welcoming parents and children from the neighborhood into the gates of LCS, and thus, into a community of support. An early childhood education center at LCS was born.

January 12, 2010—A major earthquake shakes Haiti.

Chaos ensued and nine children who attended the early education program at LCS daily were nowhere to be found. Moynihan visited their families and learned the missing children had been given to "orphanages." Many parents did not know the whereabouts of their children.

Utilizing help from a very wide cast of characters, Moynihan located each missing child. She visited ten orphanages in total and what she found were heartbreaking examples of abuse, neglect, and exploitation that strangely contrasted with the smiles of visitors who came to “help” during the earthquake. These orphanages were not legitimate or monitored by the state. Instead, they were “pop up” operations set up on the fly to make a profit from the earthquake chaos.

Christina Moynihan (back right) with the inspiration and motivation for a full-time development center.

Moynihan recognized that in each case, the parents of these children had been coerced with a promise that their child would receive food, education, and a better life. While the children were being fed minimally, they were not receiving education, let alone any element of nurturing. In a bold move, Moynihan, with the help of a trusted team, returned each child to his or her home.

In solidarity with the parents of these children, Moynihan asked them this question:

“If our school (LCS) takes care of your child from morning until afternoon, if we feed them, bathe them, educate them, and let them play, and all you have to do is take care of them from 4pm to 8pm and then put them to bed and bring them back the next day—will you keep your child?"

Each parent said, “Yes.” As did Moynihan herself, and a whole team of volunteers and staff who agreed to the nurturing of the children in what is now a formalized program at LCS called the Koukouy Sen Kle (Fireflies of St. Clare) .

The program continues strong today with 50 plus children attending every day. Several children who have attended the Koukouy program have gone on to attend LCS and university in Haiti because Moynihan took the time to understand the problems of the women of Santo 5 and address them in a manner that empowered both them and their children.

Moynihan promoted, not exploited, the natural love between parents and their children. And, once again, education proved to be an upstream solution to what seemed to be an overwhelming problem.

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For more on this topic, we invite you to visit the following links:

Standing Against Orphanages That Are Not by Deacon Patrick Moynihan, President of The Haitian Project

Watch a video of THP’s Koukouy Early Education and Development Program

80-90 Percent of Children in Orphanages Are Not Orphans by Tom Price, Catholic Relief Services

Most Children in Orphanages Are Not Orphans by Emma Batha, Thomson Reuters Foundation

Announcing... Going 360 with THP!

This fall, The Haitian Project (THP) welcomed 60 new students in the incoming Sizyem (US 7th grade) class to the Louverture Cleary School (LCS) student body of 360.

This year, we are not only excited about the start of a new school year at LCS Santo 5, but we are also excited about the future when we are able to open the next Louverture Cleary School—one of nine additional schools that will eventually be constructed as part of the Louverture Cleary Schools Network.

In order to make sure that LCS is covered for this school year and for years to come, we are announcing Going 360, a community of 360 donors committed to sponsoring each of LCS's 360 students by making an annual gift of $1,900—the direct cost of one year of education (professors, books, room and board) for one student at LCS.

Members of the 360 Community will receive special updates and a small welcome gift from THP!

WHY GO 360? Because your reliable support ensures that LCS is able to continue its tradition of success and support more LCS Alumni success stories like Keslin Augustin's—read his story here!

Alumni Profile—Keslin A. (LCS '16)

Keslin A. (LCS ’16) works breaking rocks on the Louverture Cleary School Santo 5 campus.

Keslin A. grew up in a family that could not afford his education in Cite Soleil, Port-au-Prince’s most impoverished and densely populated neighborhood. As a young boy, Keslin learned about LCS when he overheard people talking about the tuition-free boarding school—exactly what he knew he needed to succeed.

In 2009, Keslin entered LCS and embraced community life, especially the work and language programs. Throughout his seven years, he nurtured his skills and volunteered by translating for foreign doctors at the local medical clinic. Working to be like the student leaders he admired, he led the students as a “Super Monitor” during his Rheto (US 12th grade) year.

Keslin graduated from LCS in 2016 and went on to study political science at Université Quisqueya on a scholarship provided through LCS’s Junior Staff program. LCS Head of School Ernst V. appreciates working with Keslin for his sense of responsibility and humor. “He always tries to be better,” says Ernst, “and he brings joy to any group he is in.”

Keslin also holds a unique role as a resident of the St. Francis and St. Clare House Community, living with US In-Country Staff and Volunteers as well as other Haitian staff and Junior Staff. Keslin reflects, "Living in this house means a lot to me. The fact that we pray together, we eat together, we go to church together, we work together. I feel like I’m surrounded by my family.”

As Keslin continues his studies, he is working toward a bright future for himself and his country—with no shortage of ambition. “During my professional career, I would love to be an ambassador, representing and protecting Haiti’s interests,” he says. “In the long term, I wish to be President, because Haiti needs someone who really cares for it, who really wants change.”

September 2019 Newsletter

(From left) LCS Dean of Students Rachel Thelen, LCS Head of School Ernst V., THP President Deacon Patrick Moynihan, and LCS Principal Marjorie M. gather in front of the Louverture Cleary School student body on Opening Day, September 16th.

The September 2019 edition of Haitian Project News is here! CLICK HERE to read about the special significance of this year’s Philo (US 12th grade + 1) class and much more.