Earthquake adds urgency to task NJ nuns in Haiti | Faith is important

On the morning of Saturday, August 14, four Felician nuns in Jacmel, Haiti, heard their animals—dogs, cows, and birds—making a racket and acting starting at 7:30. It was unusual, but the sisters weren’t worried at first.

Then, at 8:29 a.m., several of the sisters felt things moving and swaying a bit. Immediately, Sister Inga Borgo realized that it was an earthquake and asked the sisters to get out immediately.

Fortunately, they were fine because the epicenter was 80 miles away. Sister Marilyn Marie Minter said they were waiting for aftershocks, which had already arrived.

Soon, images began pouring into social media of the devastation that killed more than 2,200 people and injured 12,000.

A medical student caring for the sisters, Techeri Lewis, jumped into work and traveled to affected areas to help.

Within days, Borgo, Minter and sisters Julita Couric and Izagasza Rojic returned to their American monastery in Lodi on a trip planned long before the assassination of the Haitian president and the earthquake.

But their time here is more urgent than usual because the people who have returned to Haiti need it most. Porco said that besides the regular need for food and clothing, they now need bandages, towels, gloves and sheets to help the displaced and injured.

Minter added that the nuns’ mobile clinic, which treats 7,000 Haitians annually, is always in need of supplies.

She said there is no postal system in Haiti, so this is the fifth time they have rented a massive $10,000 trailer to pack and ship all the things donated or purchased. It would take weeks for the container to finally find its way to Jacmel, where Felician built a thriving mission to help more than 10,000 people a year in the nine years they spent there. They may not arrive until October 6, when they are due to return.

The Sisters isn’t the only Bergen County organization mobilizing help.

Holy Name Hospital in Teaneck has been a sponsor of Haiti’s Health Promise since 1968, according to Johnny M. Patterson, PhD, director of development and management for the program. In 2012, it became the sole sponsor and supports the Hopital Sacre Coeur in the Milot region of northern Haiti, providing financial resources, supplies, training and education for a region of 2.5 million people.

After the 2010 earthquake, the hospital expanded to more than 400 beds.

Clean drinking water is also a problem.

After the sisters return to Lodi, they learn that clean water is a scarce commodity across the country. On their mission, they have a clean water program that trains Haitians to teach their neighbors how to purify their water.

The two sisters were also busy arranging remotely for their driver to deploy supplies and personnel to Les Cayes, which was badly damaged.

Felician Sisters, their supporters and alumni across the United States donate to their mission. For example, 1,000 surgical masks came from Livonia Abbey, Michigan. All items find their way to Lodi for year-round storage until the arrival of the trailer at the beginning of September.

But material things are not the main reason they do a task.

“It’s not enough,” said Rojic. “They need to learn how to take care of themselves.”

So, the mission provides education. They recently started a sewing school to teach the skills to most women and some men. Most machines are pedaled due to the scarcity of electricity but have an electric machine.

Their new bakery has been put on hold because many building materials are required to rebuild after the earthquake. Minter said there is a private donor that covers the cost.

“There is a need to change the mindset because a lot of people are losing hope,” Porco said. But, she added, “People are survivors.”

Haiti doesn’t seem to be getting any breaks. Natural disasters, corrupt governments, extreme poverty, and gang violence are matters of great magnitude. For example, the two sisters said they couldn’t drive to the airport in Port-au-Prince because they could be robbed, attacked and even killed, so they boarded a support plane to the small airport next to the main airport.

They face all these doubts because of faith.

“Haiti makes me love my faith,” said Porco.

Couric has only been in Haiti for two months and thinks she can’t do much. But she believes her presence could be a sign “that God has not left them, and that God is with them, especially now.”

They teach poor children for the sacraments and then hold First Communions and affirmations in their message.

“Thank God, we can continue to work with youth and youth,” Minter said. “If nothing else, we can be women of hope.”

Reverend Alexander Santora is Patron of Our Lady of Grace and Saint Joseph, 400 Willow Ave., Hoboken, NJ 07030. Email: [email protected]; Twitter: @padrehoboken.

How can you help

Donations to the Haitian Mission of the Felician Sisters may be sent to: Office of Mission Advancement, Felician Sisters of North America, 871 Mercer Road, Beaver Falls, PA 15010. For information, call 944-944-9814 or email [email protected] .

Donations may be sent to the Haitian Health Organization Promise in the Holy Name (founded as the CRUDEM Foundation) to: PO Box 804, Ludlow, MA 01056. For information, call 413-642-0450 or go to crudem.org.

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