The Haitian Project President Reese Grondin
Dear Haitian Project Community,
The current crisis has led me to reflect on the year I first came to The Haitian Project (THP). It was 2001 and I had just graduated from the University of Notre Dame. I was in the first two weeks of my service as a year-long Volunteer teacher at THP’s Louverture Cleary School in Haiti when 9/11 happened and the world changed.
Even before the school year had officially opened, my fellow Volunteers and I faced a tough decision to remain at the school with no prospect of seeing our families until Christmas, or to go home immediately without knowing if we would later be able to return to Haiti. We all decided to stay at the school. Everyone is accustomed to the TSA drill now, but traveling through the newly implemented security at JFK that December was a surreal and sobering experience.
Almost twenty years later, I am now President of The Haitian Project and we are facing another world-changing situation. This time, however, with schools and borders closed in Haiti, the decision to return home to the U.S. was effectively made for our current missionary teachers. As it was for our Haitian colleagues and students who had to return to their homes in Haiti.
We are encouraged by THP President Emeritus Deacon Patrick Moynihan’s exhortation to take the story of the widow’s mite (Luke 21:1-4) to heart. As he says:
We are better people for doing good in the most difficult times. It is easy to help when we have much; much harder when what we have is in question or already vanishing. We need to do the most we can in times when the least are going to have even less.
Our experience in Haiti tells us that the practice of social distancing will be nearly impossible for the people of Haiti. Without funds or refrigerators, the idea of not making the usual daily trip to the market is inconceivable. Houses are closely situated and perpetually open to the air, making sheltering in place an ad hoc gathering.
We recognize with gratitude the incredible sacrifice that healthcare providers and essential personnel (many of whom are lower-income workers) are making here in the U.S. and across the world. For our part, The Haitian Project is focused on supporting our employees here and our colleagues in Haiti to make sure they have the financial resources available to navigate this situation, and on being ready to welcome back our students once schools re-open.
So during this difficult and unprecedented time, I want to offer our heartfelt thanks to you. Your dedicated support helps get us there.
We hope and pray that you and your loved ones remain healthy and safe.
Peace,
Reese Grondin
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 whenever schools re-open. Please give today if you can.