St. Mark’s and St. Andre — Over Twenty Years Together
The Latest from Canon Serena
Long-time St. Mark’s member Canon Serena Evans Beeks, D.Min., is US Coordinator for Haiti Episcopal School Partnerships. Over the past 20 years, whenever political conditions allowed, she has traveled to Haiti, sometimes several times a year. Read her latest posting below about the country, the people, and our paternership with St. Andre in Trinon.
Update on the Haiti Hospital Attack
Dear Haiti Friends, If you have friends in Mirebalais, you have undoubtedly herd from them that a gang has apparently relocated from Port-au-Prince, possibly in advance of expected UN police assistance. People are attempting to shelter in place. It goes...
The Closing of the Haiti-Dominican Republic Border
Dear Haiti Friends, Several of you have asked about the closing of the Haiti-DR border and the dispute over canal construction. Below is today's issue of the Haitian Times with some articles about the conflict. I do not know a lot of details, but have...
News from Haiti
Dear Haiti Friends, I know you're tired of hearing from me this week! One more thing: I've just received news from a friend about yet another very sad kidnapping of a family member in Haiti. I want to remind everyone, please, please, if this happens to friends...
Thank you
Many thanks to all of you who have continued to support our partnership with St Andre Episcopal Church and School, Trianon, Haiti. The Episcopal Diocese of Haiti is the second-largest educator of children in the country, behind the Roman Catholics who are first...
Possible support for Haitian police
Dear Haiti Friends, Today's Haitian Times includes an article about Kenyan security officials currently meeting with the Haitian government and the National Police to discuss possible support under the aegis of the U.N....
Calendar and Chocolate
I know for a lot of you it's a very busy time with the beginning of a new school year, so as a reminder, I'm resending the Haiti school year calendar with classes scheduled to begin September 11. If you provide regular support to your partner school during these...
Melchie, Jamaica, and what to say to friends
Dear Haiti friends, There's a nice article about Melchie Dumornay, one of the stars of the Haitian women's soccer team, in the New Yorker magazine: https://www.newyorker.com/sports/sporting-scene/melchie-dumornay-is-the-revelation-of-the-world-cup-so-far Melchie is...
Les Grenadieres and other news
Dear Haiti Friends, Various Haiti news items: Kenya has indicated to the UN that it is prepared to send in 1,000 police to bolster the Haitian police force. The UN has proposed direct assistance but has until now been unable to find a country willing to take the...
Haiti Fair Trade Home and Gift! Ends July 16
Dear Haiti Friends, Please forward the information below to your friends who live in Atlanta and/or are involved in Fair Trade shops or initiatives and/or have an interest in Haiti and/or love to see artisanal work and/or want to know where they can get some of that...
Calendar for the 2023-2024 academic year
The communication office of the Ministry of National Education unveiled in a press release the school calendar for the 2023-2024 academic year. The start of the new school year begins on September 11 and will end on June 28, 2024. In this new calendar, the MENFP has...
The partnership of St. Mark’s with St. Andre’s Episcopal Church and School in Trianon, Haiti began in 2001. That year, one and then two parishioners began making regular visits, taking with them the offering from the St. Mark’s School’s Christmas Eucharist.
The relationship grew until 2007, when St. Mark’s members were able to make our first group visit. Since then, groups from the church and school have visited annually when conditions in Haiti have permitted.
Students at St. Mark’s School took the lead on such projects as a new four-room classroom building, a water project, and new school uniforms. Support from St. Mark’s pays teachers’ salaries, covers the occasional hot meal, and provides for repairs on the water system—which was damaged in the hurricanes of 2008—and the replacement of the old classroom building, which was damaged in the earthquake of 2010.
St. Andre’s was the first church and school on Haiti’s central plateau established by Bishop James Theodore Holly when he founded the Episcopal Church in Haiti in the early 1860s. Since its founding, St. Andre’s has offered a primary school for the children of local subsistence farmers. In Haiti, only 50% of the children have access to any education at all.
Please pray for the people of St. Andre’s, especially the children. If you can, give your financial support.
