In October of 2010, 12 adults from Christ the King traveled to Baudin, Haiti, a rural mountain village 42 miles outside of Port au Prince to assist the parish of St. Francis Xavier, run by Fr. Delmas Camy. The goal was to help in the process of rebuilding their secondary school, which was destroyed in the earthquake. This is a community composed primarily of peasant farmers, where the average Haitian lives on approximately $250 a year, less than a dollar a day and an average of 1 meal a day, so not only did the group assume the responsibility of helping to rebuild, they also raised the $14,000 to fund the project.
While there, they worked alongside the Haitians in building a 4-classroom school building out of wood, tin and concrete. They helped run electricity, plumbing and helped to dig a cistern to gather rainwater for the community. In the process of digging the cistern, they learned that the 200 students at the secondary school weren’t able to eat during their school day from what was assumed to be a lack of ample water supply.
Upon returning home and seeing the cistern completed, the members of the group were presented with a greater need. Fr. Camy had been approached by students who were struggling with fatigue, stomachaches, headaches, and inability to concentrate because most of them weren’t able to have a meal before school and didn’t eat while at school because there was no money to purchase the food to feed them. He asked if we would help him to fund a program where he could provide 1 simple meal a day to the students at the school.
Feeling that we could do nothing else and also feeling called to continue a relationship with the members of the parish of St. Francis Xavier and Fr. Camy, we are committing as a congregation to support this mission on a longstanding basis.
To feed a student 1 meal a day, it costs $.90. This translates to $20 a month or $230 a year. This is going to be a commitment that we will uphold indefinitely, so even as we fund the entire school year, there will still be a need to continue to send money to the school in subsequent years.
If this is something that you would like to contribute to, please write a check to Christ the King and in the memo write “Haiti Food Program.” If you would like to be included on a donor list for updates and information regarding the progress of the program, please include your name, address and email if applicable. These checks can be given to the pastors, the office, or placed in the offering basket.
We will continue to travel to Baudin and help the community there, so if you would like further information or to be involved in a trip, please contact the church office or Vicky Krick at vickykrick@yahoo.com
