Published February 10 , 2010
By Martin C. Barry • TLN
Photo: Martin C. Barry
From the left, pastoral animators Cheryl Smith, Jan Hannan,
Dominic Di Stefano Paolo Ruscito present World Vision
Quebec executive director Isabelle Depelteau with a cheque
for more than $35,518 to provide assistance in quake-devastated Haiti.
A promise made is a promise that must be kept. Students from several of the Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board’s schools who raised more than $52,000 to provide aid to earthquake-stricken Haiti say they will still be remembering the impoverished Caribbean nation a decade from now when Haiti hopefully is back on its feet again.
Making a difference
During a special student assembly held at Souvenir Elementary School in Chomedey on Tuesday to present World Vision with a large cheque to fund relief work the charitable organization will be carrying out in Haiti, Isabelle Depelteau, World Vision’s executive director for the province, told the students they can make a difference.
“I want to challenge you to one thing,” she said. “Promise me that Haiti will stay on your heart. Promise me that you won’t forget that it’ll take 10 years to rebuild. Ten years. That means you will be finished high school or going into high school or university and you’ll be professionals, right, when all of this happens. But it’ll take 10 years. So will you promise that you won’t forget Haiti?”
A proud accomplishment
The answer she got from the students who’d traveled from elementary and secondary schools in Laval and in Rosemere to be there was a rousing and enthusiastic “yes.” The students had reason to feel proud of their accomplishment, which involved bake sales, book sales and other creative ways of collecting money for the cause. Of the nearly $52,458 raised by the students, $35,518 is going to World Vision. The rest will be divided between two other worthy charitable groups: Doctors Without Borders and the Red Cross.
World Vision has been working in Haiti for more than 30 years, helping an estimated 300,000 Haitians each year to overcome poverty by providing them access to education, better food and clean water, while helping families with improved medical care. Since the earthquake, World Vision has been distributing much needed food and water, as well as providing safe play areas for children who were impacted by the quake.
Local impact of quake
The earthquake, which was the most devastating Haiti has known in the last 200 years, affected about 3 million men, women and children. World Vision has 800 of its people on-site in Haiti providing emergency assistance to thousands of survivors. Steve Alexandre, head coach of the Laval Liberty High School Panthers football team, was able to place the tragedy in a personal perspective.
Several members of his family perished in the quake. In Montreal, he and relatives who live here were blown over the moment they heard what had happened. Unable to reach anyone in Haiti because the phone system had been destroyed, they formed a prayer chain here over the telephone.
After six days, his older brother who lives in Haiti finally called to report he was safe along with his two daughters. But there was also bad news. An uncle and his three daughters were killed. Several other of Alexandre’s relatives in Haiti also died in the quake.