In a tiny village in rural Haiti, there is a school serving more than 250 children. Before the summer of 2011, there were just 150. What made the difference?
Before we could build a playground, we sent soccer balls with greetings from St. John’s children written on them.
St. John’s built a playground, possibly the first in western Haiti. For two years, our seminarian, Sam Owen shared with us his passion for the people of Bondeau, Haiti. We sent clothing, Prayer Books and Bibles in French for the Parish and School of Ste. Marie Madeline, and eventually, a team of volunteers to spend a week building a swing set and some see saws. These simple pieces of playground equipment helped create a center of community life that not only entertains the children, but helps them socialize and motivates them to attend school.
We look forward to continuing to help Bondeau develop as a community through the work of the South Florida Haiti Project.