Dear friends united by our relationship as sister parishes, good evening!

I am happy to be among you this evening to introduce you to your sister parish, Our Lady of the Visitation, in the diocese of Gonaives, Haiti. This parish is situated in the city of Gonaives, or more precisely, in the area surrounding it. The people are economically very poor. The population is estimated at 45,000 people, divided into five Christian communities: four chapels and the parish center church.

I was named the administrator of the parish 22 days before the arrival of Hurricane Jeanne on September 18, 2004. I survived the storm by staying on the roof of the parish school for over four hours in the dark, in the pouring rain. Everything in the parish was destroyed by the hurricane. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your help which allowed me to rebuild after Jeanne. I especially thank Mr. Joe Dulany of the Justice and Peace Committee and Christine Nelson, our translator.

Our parish has a school which serves 300 children. It is difficult for parents to feed their children before sending them to school because they are so poor. In the past, we had a cafeteria for the students, which put the parents at ease, but we have been unable to do so for the last two years because of lack of funding. For this reason, the majority of our students come to school without having eaten and will return later to find no food in their homes. At least when we had a cafeteria, students would be able to have one meal during the school day. You know better than I that food plays an important role in the education of children, but we have no way to help them. This lack of a cafeteria is also a danger to the survival of the school, since parents will look elsewhere in order to feed their children, making education a secondary concern.

In Haiti, it only costs $50 (US) to feed a child for the entire school year. Therefore, I am asking you if you could help me to feed the children at our school. I count very much on you and what God has given you. Thank you to all of our benefactors, thank you to everyone responsible for my visit, and thank you to all of you!

Fr. Effener Renelique
Our Lady of the Visitation, Gonaives, Haiti