By Ana Rodriguez Soto - Florida Catholic newspaper
Canned goods are ready to be put on a pallet Oct. 14 at Notre Dame d'Haiti, as the first load of emergency relief supplies was packed for shipping to Miragoane, Haiti.
A pallet of pasta is ready to be put on a truck outside Notre Dame d'Haiti Oct. 14, as the first load of emergency relief supplies was trucked to the Miami River for shipping to Miragoane, Haiti.
Volunteers with FEMA Search and Rescue, Florida Task Force 2, load a pallet of donated items into a truck outside Notre Dame d'Haiti Oct. 14, as the first load of emergency relief supplies was trucked to the Miami River for shipping to Miragoane, Haiti.
Volunteers with FEMA Search and Rescue, Florida Task Force 2, load a pallet of donated items into a truck outside Notre Dame d'Haiti Oct. 14, as the first load of emergency relief supplies was trucked to the Miami River for shipping to Miragoane, Haiti.
Volunteers wrap a pallet of rice at Notre Dame d'Haiti Oct. 14, as the first load of emergency relief supplies was readied for shipping to Miragoane, Haiti.
Rolls of toilet paper are ready to be put on a pallet Oct. 14 at Notre Dame d'Haiti, as the first load of emergency relief supplies was packed for shipping to Miragoane, Haiti.
Father Reginald Jean-Mary, administrator of Notre Dame d'Haiti Mission, answers media questions amid the mountain of relief supplies collected in his parish hall.
Volunteers with FEMA Search and Rescue, Florida Task Force 2, unload a pallet of donated items at Seacoast Shipping, along the Miami River, Oct. 14, as the first load of emergency relief supplies was loaded for shipping to Miragoane, Haiti.
Workers with Seacoast Shipping move a pallet of donated items to the Betty K VI, moored on the Miami River Oct. 14, as the first load of emergency relief supplies was loaded for shipping to Miragoane, Haiti.
Workers with Seacoast Shipping move a pallet of donateditems to the Betty K VI, moored on the Miami River Oct. 14, as the first load of emergency relief supplies was loaded for shipping to Miragoane, Haiti.
Workers with Seacoast Shipping move a pallet of donated items to the Betty K VI, moored on the Miami River Oct. 14, as the first load of emergency relief supplies was loaded for shipping to Miragoane, Haiti.
Workers with Seacoast Shipping load a pallet of donated items to the Betty K VI, moored on the Miami River Oct. 14, as the first load of emergency relief supplies was loaded for shipping to Miragoane, Haiti.
The week before the shipment went out, Notre Dame d'Haiti had volunteers working to organize the donations for hurricane victims. Here, Jean Michel stacks up bottled water Oct. 10.
Notre Dame d'Haiti volunteers Imelda Silfort, Dominique Hosty and Esther Charite place clothing into a cardboard box for shipment to Haitian hurricane victims Oct. 10, a few days before the shipment went out.
A few days before the first shipment went out, Rose Micheline St. Jean packs a box of clothes donated to Haitian hurricane victims, as other Notre Dame d'Haiti volunteers work in the background.
Photography: ANA RODRIGUEZ-SOTO | FC
MIAMI | Exactly one week after citing an “urgent need” for donations, the Archdiocese of Miami loaded 22 pallets of rice, canned goods, hygienic supplies and diapers onto a ship for transport to Haiti’s southwestern peninsula, hardest-hit by the passage of Hurricane Matthew.
“And more to come,” said an elated Father Reginald Jean-Mary, administrator of Notre Dame d’Haiti Mission in Little Haiti, as he watched an army of volunteers packing, wrapping and loading the donated goods onto pallets.
A total of 47 pallets were to be taken to Haiti on the Betty K VII, a “pallet carrier” provided by Seacoast Shipping that was set to sail Oct. 16 and arrive in Miragoâne, on the peninsula’s northern coast, around Oct. 19.
Photographer: ANA RODRIGUEZ-SOTO | FC
Volunteers wrap a pallet of rice at Notre Dame d'Haiti Oct. 14, as the first load of emergency relief supplies was readied for shipping to Miragoane, Haiti.
From there, the Haitian Church’s relief agency would transport the supplies overland to its local affiliates in the areas that bore the brunt of Matthew’s fury: Jéremie in the peninsula’s northwest and Les Cayes in the south, as well as Môle-Saint-Nicolas in the remote northwestern tip of the country.
“It’s a beautiful day,” said Father Jean-Mary as he stood in his church’s parish hall, which until an hour earlier had been brimming with relief supplies.
“In one hour, everything has been packed. That’s the beauty this morning, the solidarity of the people,” he said.
His volunteer army consisted of adults studying Creole and English literacy in the Pierre Toussaint Center on the parish grounds — a program offered by Miami-Dade County Public Schools. All of the students are Haitian, and they learn to read and write in their native Creole before being taught English.
Photographer: ANA RODRIGUEZ-SOTO | FC
Workers with Seacoast Shipping move a pallet of donated items to the Betty K VI, moored on the Miami River Oct. 14, as the first load of emergency relief supplies was loaded for shipping to Miragoane, Haiti.
“The resurrection of Haiti is not about the millions (of dollars),” Father Jean-Mary said, looking around at the volunteers. “It’s about the people.”
He noted that Seacoast Shipping, which offered to transport up to 60 pallets for free, is owned by Haitian immigrants who have succeeded in Miami. So is Diakonos International, one of two companies that donated a 40-foot shipping container each for future trips.
Father Jean-Mary also was alluding to the billions of dollars poured into Haiti after the 2010 earthquake, which resulted in little noticeable improvement in the lives of the people. The experience created a lot of frustration — among Haitians as well as donors and the relief agencies themselves. With everyone determined not to repeat the experience, Father Jean-Mary offered a solution: the Church.
“Where NGOs don’t go, who’s there? The Church,” he said, using the abbreviation for non-governmental organizations. “There are some areas (in Haiti) you don’t see the government. Who do you see? The Catholics, the Protestants.
“If you want to reach those people, you have to use those channels,” he said.
By next week, a total of 60 pallets of food, diapers and hygienic supplies collected at Notre Dame d’Haiti will be on their way to that nation. So will a container’s worth of food, generators and medical supplies donated by a synagogue in Boca Raton; and whatever has been collected by Miami-Dade County Public Schools, which along with City of Miami fire stations have set up drop-off sites for donations.
But Notre Dame d’Haiti will stop accepting material donations Oct. 22, Father Jean-Mary said. That’s when the archdiocesan relief effort will move to its second phase: collecting building supplies and money. Especially money.
A special collection was taken in every archdiocesan parish the weekend of Oct. 8 and 9.
Individual donations also are being funneled through Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Miami, which can coordinate the bulk shipment of supplies and work directly with Church partners such as Caritas in Cuba and Catholic Relief Services in Haiti.
“That’s why we need money also, for the transportation,” Father Jean-Mary said.
He added that backpacks and school supplies also will be needed, and Miami-Dade County Public Schools will continue to collect those.
“The best thing for the children in Haiti is to continue (with their lives), to go back to school,” Father Jean-Mary said.
But even then, money is king. “If we have money we can buy backpacks from many companies at a lower price,” he said.
He also reassured those who might remain wary of giving cash donations: “You can trust the Church. We have been there (before). We did it and we did it well. And we’ll do it again.”
HOW TO HELP
- Donations may be made through the Catholic Charities website, www.ccadm.org. Click on the “Donate” tab, then on "General Donations" and under the “supporting” box select “Disaster Relief – Hurricane Matthew.”
- Donations via check may be made payable to: Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Miami, 1505 NE 26 St., Wilton Manors, FL 33305. Please note “Disaster Relief - Hurricane Matthew” in the memo line.
