In 1999 a small group from Sacred Heart Cathedral in Knoxville, Tennessee traveled to Haiti to visit our sister parish, St. Michel. The goal was to evaluate the needs of the parish and determine what could be done to improve the quality of life for the people there. They could never have imagined what they would find.
More shocking is what they did not find. They did not find clean water, healthcare, education, shoes. The average person in Boucan-Carré barely had 1 set of clothing and more often than not, they did not have shoes. How could this be possible?? More importantly, how could this be ignored? The poverty was so great that it was hard to describe.
This was the beginning of what we now know as the Haiti Outreach Program (HOP).
A story:
In preparation for her 1st trip to Haiti, Mary Jo Marino packed her bags with vaccinations for the children. She also filled her bags with Beanie Babies, thinking that after giving the vaccinations, the children would cry from the shot and she would give them a Beanie Baby to lift their spirits. Little did she know, that to these children, the pain from a vaccination was insignificant compared to the daily pain of hunger. When she vaccinated the first child, she saw no reaction. She then gave the child a Beanie Baby anyway. The child simply looked at it confused and then lifted it to her mouth, hoping it was food. This child hadn’t eaten in days and had never seen a stuffed animal—oh, how Mary Jo wished that she had filled her bags with food, rather than toys.
Another day on that trip Mary Jo was treating a child with a distended belly. In trying to understand why this child could be so ill, Mary Jo asked what she had eaten that day. The child’s mother answered, “Dirt, because having dirt in your belly is better than having nothing.”
We have so many of these stories from the hundreds of volunteers that have traveled to Boucan-Carré over the years.
This is why the Haiti Outreach Program continues its mission to bring dignity and hope to the people of Boucan-Carré through education, healthcare, clothing and friendship.
Today, the HOP board consists of people of many backgrounds and faiths working together to provide food, clothing, housing, education, healthcare and more to the people of Boucan-Carré. Dr. Paul Farmer, of Partners in Health
Why Haiti? — Mary Jo’s Story
More shocking is what they did not find. They did not find clean water, healthcare, education, shoes. The average person in Boucan-Carré barely had 1 set of clothing and more often than not, they did not have shoes. How could this be possible?? More importantly, how could this be ignored? The poverty was so great that it was hard to describe.
This was the beginning of what we now know as the Haiti Outreach Program (HOP).
A story:
In preparation for her 1st trip to Haiti, Mary Jo Marino packed her bags with vaccinations for the children. She also filled her bags with Beanie Babies, thinking that after giving the vaccinations, the children would cry from the shot and she would give them a Beanie Baby to lift their spirits. Little did she know, that to these children, the pain from a vaccination was insignificant compared to the daily pain of hunger. When she vaccinated the first child, she saw no reaction. She then gave the child a Beanie Baby anyway. The child simply looked at it confused and then lifted it to her mouth, hoping it was food. This child hadn’t eaten in days and had never seen a stuffed animal—oh, how Mary Jo wished that she had filled her bags with food, rather than toys.
Another day on that trip Mary Jo was treating a child with a distended belly. In trying to understand why this child could be so ill, Mary Jo asked what she had eaten that day. The child’s mother answered, “Dirt, because having dirt in your belly is better than having nothing.”
We have so many of these stories from the hundreds of volunteers that have traveled to Boucan-Carré over the years.
This is why the Haiti Outreach Program continues its mission to bring dignity and hope to the people of Boucan-Carré through education, healthcare, clothing and friendship.
Today, the HOP board consists of people of many backgrounds and faiths working together to provide food, clothing, housing, education, healthcare and more to the people of Boucan-Carré. Dr. Paul Farmer, of Partners in Health
, once said, “If access to healthcare is considered a human right, who is considered human enough to have that right?” We know the people of Boucan-Carré deserve that right.