Although news reports note the huge amount of funds raised for Haiti, the Haitian people are still in need of basic supplies and living space, healthcare, and education. Two additional RSCJ from the US province have been sent there to attend to those needs. Suzanne Lasseigne, RSCJ, just returned to the states after a five-week stint in Haiti; and Diana Wall, recently professed, will serve there for the next two to three months. Sister Lasseigne said that her experience there was positive in that she was able to work with adults and educate them about nutrition, even demonstrating how to grow vegetables in a garden. She hopes to return in the future.
Judy Vollbrecht, RSCJ, already assigned to Haiti in Verrettes, shared the following account she received from a university student there:
“Today I met a young lady (17 years old) with a baby nine months old; she is the aunt of the baby. Both of their mothers died in the earthquake in Port au Prince. Someone in Verrettes is giving her a place to sleep. If she can’t find a place for the baby, I am ready to take her (the baby) to save her life. You should see her, she is a little poor baby, her leg is skinny and so are her arms. I feel I should not let her go, just take her. But I don’t know. I will pray to God to guide me and tell me what to do. It’s something I feel I need to share with you anyway. I see all this like a lucky man in a right place; yes, God saves me from the earthquake; it’s like go and help others who can’t help themselves. Please pray for her.”
The Religious of the Sacred Heart would like to thank all those who have contributed to earthquake relief in Haiti through the RSCJ community. As of April 5, 2010, gifts in the amount of $130,306.25 - a total of 460 donations – have been received in the U.S. province. These gifts go to the Haiti Fund and directly support the work of the RSCJ in Haiti and the needs around them that they feel are most desperate. The U.S. province is one of the five provinces/areas responsible for the mission in Haiti, together with Puerto Rico/Haiti itself, Canada, Cuba, and Mexico/Nicaragua.
