Highlights December 2007

Mission Trips Take LCS by Storm

Two stellar mission groups from the U.S. came down to Haiti this fall and worked side-by-side with LCS students on various projects. St. Bernard’s Parish in Rhode Island sent down six phenomenal volunteers for a weeklong trip in October that left the school with a beautiful new mural, 2 new basketball hoops and 340 students speaking English with Rhode Island accents! (What Row Dilund aksint?) Then in November, our community was joined once again by eight hardworking members of the annual mission trip from LCS’s sister school, Bishop Ireton in Arlington, VA. BI students led the first ever retreat for LCS students, a Salesian retreat that focused on community building. THP is indeed blessed to have such dedicated communities.

THP Welcomes New Admin Member

This October, THP welcomed the latest addition to our US Administration team, Colby Bowker. Colby will be working as Office Manager in the Providence, RI, Haitian Project main office. Colby and his wife Jeannie hail from Richmond, VA, where they both attended Virginia Commonwealth University. Colby is looking forward to learning about working in Haiti and in the non-profit world, and he and Jeannie are both excited to make a trip down to the school. Colby’s talents and enthusiasm are a great addition to our team, and we are lucky to have this energetic couple in our community – and of course we are always happy when out-of-staters move to Rhode Island!

Woodturning - New Skills for LCS

Al Melanson, THP volunteer from Fairfax, VA, brought new skills of woodturning to Louverture Cleary School this summer. Al’s idea to provide staff and students with the opportunity to learn a skill that could benefit them and the school will also benefit the country on a broader scale – woodturning is a craft native to Haiti, but much lost in recent years. Al gathered many new tools and supplies for the project, donated from craftspeople across the U.S. Working with Patrick Faustin, LCS Director of Maintenance, and his team member Jean Wickensen Jean, Al taught them the basic skills and techniques, which they in turn will teach to other staff and students. Al’s work is a great example of a THP community member contributing his gifts for the growth of LCS and our students!