Marguerite JaneIle has taught on the junior high and college levels, was Program Developer at Wisdom House Retreat Center in Litchfield and was Director of Religious Education and Pastoral Associate at St. Patrick's in Collinsville for 20 years. She is currently the coordinator of the Associates of the Sisters of the Cross and Passion, a Reiki Master, a spiritual director and has been a member of the Haiti ministry since 1999, having visited St. Therese School and parish ten times since then. (She hopes to return once it is safe to do so.)
Tracy Scala resides in Avon CT with her husband Scot and 2 sons Ryan (23) and Evan (17). She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science/Mathematics from Marist College and a Master of Arts Teaching - Secondary Level degree from Sacred Heart University. Since 2007, Tracy has worked as a consultant in her husband's consulting business for non-profits - Scala & Associates, LLC. Her focus has been funder research, proposal compliance & review, client support, creative design, and MS Office support. In mid-December 2021, she began working as a part-time Administrative Assistant for St. Vincent De Paul Mission of Bristol, Inc. where she has many responsibilities. Tracy volunteers for the St. Mary's Haiti Ministry acting as its Secretary. She is also a 17 year
member of Soroptimist International of Farmington Valley, a women's advocacy group and has held several leadership roles within the club, district, region and federation levels of the Soroptimist organization. She is currently the region Co-Treasurer and a federation Donor Relations Task Force member where she cultivates and stewards major gift donors.
This crucifix is carved from a solid block and symbolizes the people of Haiti who are one with the cross. The statue was given to St. Patrick's by the Archbishop of Haiti who later died in the 2010 earthquake as a thank you for the work of the Haiti Ministry.
The mission to Haiti began in 1999. It started when 7 folks from St. Patrick's church took an immersion trip of 10 days to Haiti and visited the school, which is about a 45 minute drive from Porto-au-Prince. They fell in love with the people who are so warm, so hospitable, and so loving. Marguerite shared with us a number of pictures. This one shows some of the children that attend the school. Unlike, what is often true about education in the US, these children all love to attend school.
One of the things they have been able to do was to build a kitchen or at least move it from open air to sheltered.
One of the main things that they do is feed the children. Without the school program, the children might only have 3 or 4 meals a week! That's the average for Haiti. Because of the support from groups like Rotary, we are able to feed the children every day during the school year. The staple is beans and rice. They cook on charcoal and have chicken once a week. The $2,100 that we contributed will be able to feed the 470+ children who attend the school for a whole month. It costs $50 -$80 to feed a child for a year.
Here are scenes from the classroom and the computer room which the mission built. The reason that they are able to have computers is a St. Patrick's parishioner donated funds so that they could install solar panels. Electricity in Haiti is very erratic.
The children of Haiti are amazing in the way they share and treat each other with kindness.
This picture in the top left corner shows part of a library the ministry built. The toilet was part of a program called "pots for tots" to replace the primitive facilities that they used to have. The kids had to be taught how to use it as there home environment are shacks, as seen in the bottom left without electricity or running water. The upper right is a picture of the batteries that are needed to store the electricity from the solar panels. Batteries need to be replaced, so that is part of the ongoing expense. The lower right picture shows part of the school.
This is one of their success stories. After high school, they were able to support him, as well as 7 others, with a $1,000 a year scholarship for college. He has now graduated, works for the government, has married, and is buying a house. The only way out of poverty is through education. Haiti has a system of state exams. St; Therese has a 100% pass rate for their students.
The slide summarizes what the Haiti ministry has been able to accomplish over the last 20+ years.
They currently provide help for 470+ children. The chart shows the ongoing expenses to continue these programs. They feel that the university scholarship is very important as the road out for many of their students. When they give a scholarship, it is for the full 4 years. University tuition is around $1,500 (Compare that to UConn), so they are able to support ⅔ of the cost.
If interested here are ways you can help and how to contact the ministry:
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