For weeks pictures of Haitians trekking into Canada from the United States in the hope that somehow they might be allowed to stay in Canada rather than being returned to their homeland have filled the media.
The vast majority will find themselves back in Haiti where they will once more be faced with a reality that the vast majority of Canadians cannot even begin to imagine.
The majority will die by the age of 50, and their children will be left to face much the same life as their parents. They live without hope, without a future, and without a reason to expect that anything will ever change.
But for more than 25 years the congregation of St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Fergus has been intimately involved in the lives of Haitians in the area in and around Haiti’s second biggest city, Cap Haitien, attempting to provide a sense of hope that change can be a reality.
This assistance has evolved over the years from collecting school and medical supplies as well as clothing and toiletries, and transporting these donations to Cap Haitien, to one where upwards of $50,000 will be sent this academic year to assist four schools in the education and feeding of more than 1,000 students from junior kindergarten to Grade 6.
“It is not without its difficulties, meeting these commitments to our schools and to our donors,” church officials state.
On Oct. 14 St. Andrew’s will hold its 15th annual “Race for the Children of Haiti.”
This is a 5km run/walk that raises approximately $10,000 each year. Without this $10,000 many of the children that attend the four schools would be without the means to attend any school.
“Without hope there is despair, without hope there is violence, without hope there is nothing worth living for,” officials state.
Call St. Andrews at 519-843-3565 to learn how to help the children of Haiti or to register online at www.standrewsfergus.org.
