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On The Road to Recovery in Zoranje
Aid from Hartford Parish Helps after the Flood (October 2007)
By Nick Kocmich
Norwich Mission House Director
The Brutelle River runs through the mountainous region of Zoranje in central Haiti. As it slowly winds its way through the valleys, this tranquil waterway looks so insignificant that one wonders how it ever warranted being called a river. Haitians have learned to live simply along its banks, using its life-giving water for drinking, bathing and irrigation.
On Oct. 10, a freak storm hit Zoranje and turned the lazy Brutelle into a raging river. The flood waters took the lives of 11 people and destroyed or severely damaged 86 houses in Zoranje and another 114 nearby. Flooding also ruined countless crops, which were many people’s only source of income.
In comparison to recent headline-making natural disasters, this loss of life and property might seem minimal; by numbers, the devastation in Zoranje is small. But in Haiti, recovering from any disaster is extremely difficult. Those affected have no savings in the bank to turn to in emergencies. There are no insurance companies to file claims with, and the thinly stretched Haitian government has neither the resources nor personnel to help. To add to the difficulties is the location of this rural community. Deep in the mountains, Zoranje is just far enough away from Port-au-Prince to be out of sight and out of mind.
But there was help for the people of Zoranje. The Catholic parish of this community—St. Genevieve—is twinned with St. Patrick-St. Anthony Church in Hartford. After the flood, Fr. Frixner Jean Francois, who is St. Genevieve’s priest, turned to Haitian Ministries, which oversees the twinning program, for assistance.
With an outpouring of donations from the St. Patrick-St. Anthony congregation and the help of other donors, Haitian Ministries has been able to respond by creating a house re-building project. Catholic Relief Services, an international, non-profit, has joined Haitian Ministries by offering technical assistance.
In Zoranje, Edner and Lusmen Saintiliese, both in their late 40s, were among the hard-hit by the flooding. They lost their home, two pigs and piglets and nine chickens, and their gardens. They were left only with the clothes they wore. Today, while they build a new house paid for by their twin parish in Hartford, the Haitian family is staying in a farm house, which amounts to little more than a grass tent.
Edner and Lusmen have had eight children, four of whom died in early childhood. Today, their two youngest children, 12-year-old Bernadette and Fedner, 15, attend one of the schools supported by St. Patrick-St. Anthony.
To help the family survive, their two oldest—Roosman, who is 19, and 18-year-old Iseman—often hike three hours to a local market to sell water crescents.
Asked recently if there had been any flood comparable to the one in October, Edner told a visitor, “All of the men with white hair say they have never seen floods like this before.”
And speculating what would have happened to his family without the housing assistance, he added, “We would do what we could but probably nothing. … Thank you!”
The gratitude of Edner Saintiliese has been echoed by others in Zoranje.
The housing project, which began in December, is progressing with construction of five homes at a time. The goal for St. Patrick-St. Anthony is to build 50 houses. Each costs $1,450, which covers all materials and transportation costs. All the families getting the new houses help in the construction.
Last Christmas, St. Patrick-St. Anthony collected more than $82,000 for St. Genevieve, much of which will go to the housing project. (Donations also go to a lunch program, which feeds about 400 children a year, and to teacher salaries and school tuitions.) In early February, eight parishioners from Hartford traveled to Haiti to visit their twinned community and to see the houses built and under construction.
The houses are simple—two rooms, a front porch, cement flooring, and a tin roof. However, they are bigger and sturdier than those destroyed in the flooding, and the families who live in them feel fortunate.
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February 28, 2008 - Letter from Fr. Frixner, Pastor of St. Genevieve
Dear Friends;
I am writing to say hello to you in the name of the Lord. I was happy because you sent an important delegation to visit Zoranje from February 5 to February 7. We were happy to see them all. Our thanks go to Fr. Mike, Judy, Jane, Jack, Roger, Mary, Fran, Kim, and Nick who came with them.
I was thankful that they were able to see the damage that the flood had caused and see the progress of the new houses being built. Mrs. Lucker Alexis, who lost her husband in the flood that hit Zoranje on October 10, 2007, is just one of many who also wants to give her thanks to the parish of St. Patrick and St. Anthony. Mrs. Alexi is facing many problems with her family. She has seven children to take care of because now by herself, but she is happy now because you are helping her build a house. She also thanks you for the other four families that you are building a house for. They ask the blessings of God upon you.
Thank you to all the faithful in St. Patrick-St. Anthony and the priests in the Franciscan community.
Thanks for the support you have been providing for St. Genevieve and thank you for your support to the victims of the flooding. I look forward to visiting you in June.
I love you so much. God bless you
Fr. Frixner
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House Blessing Se pou tout moun viv byen ansanm nan kay sa a May this house be a good place for you to live.
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