Haiti Outreach Project

“The Lord hears the cry of the poor, blessed be the Lord.” 

Perhaps it was the tears of the Haitian people that watered the seeds that were planted in 1992 when one member of each IHM congregation was appointed to the first Haiti Outreach Project Committee as part of the preparation for the celebration of our sesquicentennial. The committee shared and researched several ideas and was drawn to a possible connection with a religious congregation in Haiti. The Director of the Haiti Parish Twinning Program, said that while “twinning” was usually between parish and parish she was very open to the idea of “twinning” between two religious congregations. She remarked that the Little Sisters of St. Therese were the oldest indigenous congregation as well as the most stable. During the October 20-22, 1995, Tri-IHM Governing Board meeting in Scranton, the Governing Board accepted Haiti as the outreach project by supporting Les Petites Soeurs de Sainte Thérèse de L’Enfant Jésus (PSST). This commitment was in recognition and honor of Mother Theresa Maxis Duchimen, the co-founder of our congregation who was of Haitian decent. In November 2006, the Oblate Sisters of Providence became members and the name of the committee was changed to the OSP/Tri-IHM Haiti Outreach Project Committee.

For the last 30 years, this committee has listened attentively and responded willingly to the cries of the poorest of the poor of Haiti. Through our bonds of relationships within our congregations as well as with a network of other associates, from all walks of life and financial situations, the committee has overseen the donation of millions of dollars and an abundance of medical, educational, clothing and personal supplies to the Little Sisters for their ministry to the poor of Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. While the sisters and many Haitians have expressed their gratitude often and in many ways for our support and these financial and other donations, they have stressed that what they appreciate even more is our relationship and presence which for them indicates they are not forgotten by the rest of the world and there are people who care… which gives them hope. 

One summer I was in Baradere, a tiny village accessible only by boat or a treacherous trek over the mountain on only a dirt rut-filled road where the sisters had a hospital of sorts and trained midwives. Sister Denise asked me to share our connection with the sisters and with the people who came for class. Several came afterwards with words of gratitude but one person I will always remember-Joseph. 

Joseph, a young man about 30, expressed his gratitude to our congregations for all we have done to help the Sisters and his people. The ease with which he shared his faith and relationship with God startled me at first, so unaccustomed am I to having young men share anything personal except which sports team will finally make it to the main event of the season! He dreamed of building a house for his wife and three children who live with her parents, becoming a teacher so he could improve the quality of his own life and perhaps more importantly, change the quality of life in his country. When I asked him where he lived and he said in Les Cayes. I asked him how he was able to get to Baraderes. It was the first time he hesitated. He had walked, of course – over the mountain, for God knows how many hours! His hope of a better life as a midwife had motivated him to go through so much for a meagerly paid job! Overwhelmed by the reality of the extreme obstacles he faced and humbled by this young man’s sincerity and hopefulness, I tried to express my frustration at not being able to do more, bring more. His look held no judgment but his words have never left my heart: “Your presence here is much more important to us than what you can give us. YOU bring us hope!” “HOPE”! This is not the greatest of the three according to St. Paul, but to this young man, in a situation that most of us would call hopeless, it was the most important. 

My hope is that our bonds of relationship in service to the poor of Haiti through the ministry of the Little Sisters continue to bring hope through the efforts of the OSP/Tri-IHM Haiti Outreach Project Committee.

Sister Eileen has served on the OSP/Tri-IHM Haiti Outreach Project since its inception until the present and as its director from 2000 until 2005. She has made many trips to Haiti until travel to Haiti became perilous. Her primary ministry was in secondary education.