More Information about our Presence

The Sisters of St. Joseph of Cluny have been in Haiti since 1864.  We have 14 communities there at the moment. The sisters are involved in Education, health care, women’s promotion and social development. 

In the centre of Port of Prince, at La Providence, we have three major establishments, two of which were completely destroyed. 

This location took a direct hit.  Most of the houses in the neighbourhood collapsed.

(i) Our school « EXTERNAT » at 140 rue du peuple, is completely destroyed.  This school caters for 600 primary pupils by day and about 60 street children in the evening.  Luckily most of the children were out of the building when it collapsed. However, there were some adults and street children in the school compound at the time the building collapsed.  We do not know as yet if any of them are trapped under the rubble.  Just next door, we had a newly constructed orphanage, La Madeleine which was to be opened one of these days.   This building collapsed.  As I write this there are more than three hundred people with the sisters.  This does not include the many children, whose homes have been completely destroyed, and who have come to the school grounds, looking to the sisters for help.  There are many wounded, young and old, men and women with the sisters.  They need food, water, basic medicine

(ii) The second establishment is called MERE LOUISE, -
Also located at 140 rue du Peuple but further down the road.  This is a school for very poor children (650 children from 3 to 10yrs old). Even in good times, these children were given one meal a day by the sisters.   The school is completely destroyed.  The situation here is desperate – more or less as described above.  Here as in EXTERNAT, the Sisters are sleeping in the yard with the people.  Unfortunately, Sr Edwige DÉSIR, the principal of the school was trapped under the rubble of the collapsed building for about twelve hours.  She has two broken legs.  She needs surgery.

Second Location: 123 Avenue John Browne, Port of Prince.  
Also took a direct hit.  Hardly a building standing.  School, St. Rose of Lima.  Primary School.  513 pupils.  Secondary school, 400 pupils.  Literacy centre 102 adults.There is also a dispensary run by the sisters.  Most of the buildings in this location either collapsed (including our buildings) or are not usable.  The same scenario is repeated here as in the other places.  However, there are more injured people (hundreds of them) here looking for help because they knew the sisters ran a dispensary.  

Third Location

PETIONVILLE
Petionville is a suburb, south of Port of Prince.  Here, there was quite a bit of damage but not as much as in the other places.  We have a primary school for 500 children and a literacy centre for about 100 adults.  Most of the people from the City centre have gone to the relative safety of Petionville.  There are hundreds of people there at the moment looking to the Sisters for help.  They are hungry, wounded, all without shelter. 

Fourth Location:  rue de l’Eglise, JACMEL

Jacmel is a south west suburb of Port of Prince.  At Jacmel, we have a mixed school of 650 children during the day.  In the evening the building is used for literacy classes for street kids and for skills training for 60 women.   As far as we know, there was some damage to the buildings but they did not collapse.  We have not yet succeeded in talking to any of the sisters at Jacmel but we have talked to the other three mentioned above.

Here also the same scenario is repeated. 

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Some General information on NEEDS:There is a total breakdown of services in Port of Prince.   

Food

There is no food and some unscrupulous drivers in the suburbs are asking the people to pay $20 per person to go to nearby towns to buy food.  Of course, the people cannot afford this.  With help, the sisters can organize to go to towns that were not touched by the Earthquake to buy food supplies and basic medical supplies.  Normally, 1 euro would feed a child for a day.  But with the situation of transport and the rocketing of prices in the nearby twos, we estimate just under 2 euros per person per day. 

Medical suppliesSr. Christiane mentioned basic medical supplies such as paracetamol, antibiotics, anti-inflammatory, anti-diarrhea, gauze, cotton wool etc.   

Resources on the ground

1$ = 60 Gourde (Haitian Money)

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