Hurricane Matthew has finally released southwestern Haiti from its clutches. In its wake it left unbelievable devastation. Our children and staff are all safe though exhausted as sleeping through a hurricane like this one was impossible.
We gathered all the children and put them up in our two-story solid Primary School. Plywood sheets covered the windows in an effort to keep the rain out but the water came in anyway.
When the force of the wind hit us it ripped off the metal roofing on all the boys homes, our Secondary School and the homes in Sitwon. Trees were uprooted or branches torn off. It is painful to hear the descriptions of the damage inflicted on Espwa. There will be no school for the foreseeable future because one school is destroyed and the other is housing our children. One positive note: the girls' village is structurally intact as the homes there are dome buildings. They are a mess inside but can be cleaned up.
All our agricultural projects are gone, wiped out by wind and water. Our mango trees suffered much damage; our banana trees are all laying on their sides and the coconut trees look like bare sticks.
Hundreds of our neighbors from Madame Combe, Pico, etc...came to us after their homes were destroyed. They were seeking shelter and food. We'll do what we can but we need help, too.
Please consider giving us a hand as we face the clean-up, repairs and reconstruction. Go to www.freethekids.org to make a donation. Keep us in your prayers.
Father Marc
