[Episcopal Church Office of Public Affairs press release] At its recent meeting in June in Port-au-Prince, the Haiti Partnership Committee took steps that enable progress on three projects: Holy Trinity Cathedral Complex, St. Barnabas Agricultural College and St. Vincent’s Center for Handicapped Children. 

The Haiti Partnership Committee was established in 2016 through a memorandum of understanding between the Episcopal Church and the Diocese of Haiti, and is charged with assisting in the three projects. The group first met in February 2017. The Haiti Partnership Committee is comprised of a team of four members appointed by the Diocesan Bishop of Haiti and four members appointed by the Presiding Bishop. The work of the Haiti Partnership Committee continues as the diocese prepares to call its next bishop.

The Haiti Partnership Committee reports on the following actions:

• The Haiti Partnership Committee voted to name the current Board of St. Vincent’s Center for Handicapped Children as the Project Committee for that work and to continue the development and fundraising for that work.  The St. Vincent’s Board is chaired by William S. Craddock and has been moving forward on the relocation to a new site and facility. The St. Vincent’s Board acquired a new property, renovated an existing house to meet student needs, and is planning other buildings on the site. Bishop Mark Bourlakas of the Diocese of Southwestern Virginia will serve on the St. Vincent’s Board and provide a liaison to The Haiti Partnership Committee.

• The St. Barnabas Agricultural College in Terrier Rouge, established in partnership with the Presbyterian Church USA, is currently seeking a new director and has begun to develop programs for new projects. St. Barnabas also looks to expand the school through reconstruction, reorganization with a board of directors, and in concert with the Project Committee of the Haiti Partnership.

The Episcopal Diocese of Haiti’s Holy Trinity Cathedral in downtown Port-au-Prince as it stood in October 2006, a little more than three years before it was destroyed by the magnitude-7 earthquake that struck at 4:53 p.m. local time on Jan. 12, 2010. The quake’s epicenter was 10 miles southwest of Port-au-Prince. Photo: Dave Drachlis/Diocese of Alabama

• The Holy Trinity Cathedral Complex work is focused on a new cathedral to replace the one destroyed in 2010 earthquake and the temporary structure currently in place. The Haiti Partnership Committee is in the process of identifying persons to serve on the project committee.  The Haiti Partnership Committee will also meet with the project architects to reduce the cost estimates and move forward on construction drawings.  A design for the new structure was accepted in 2013.

For more information contact the Rev. Canon Rosemari Sullivan, sullivanreg@gmail.com.

Members of the Haiti Partnership Committee are: the Rev. Pierre Gasner Damus (Co-Chair), Long Island; the Rev. Canon Rosemari Sullivan (Co-Chair), Virginia; the Rev. Roldano Auguste, Haiti; Dr. Marise Bayard-Mc Neeley, New York; Bishop Mark Bourlakas, Southwestern Virginia; the Rev. Yvan Francois, Haiti; the Rev.  MacDonald Jean, Haiti; Bill Robison, Milwaukee; Presiding Bishop Michael Curry (Ex Officio); the Rev. Gay Clark Jennings, President of the House of Deputies (Ex Officio).