Haiti Outreach: Our Sister Parish in Verrettes
What It’s All About – Sharing God’s Love!
St. Robert’s maintains a Twinning relationship with Our Lady’s Nativity parish in Verrettes, Haiti. St. Robert’s is a member of the Parish Twinning Program of the Americas, a national Catholic organization with a mission of “Sharing God’s Love in Haiti and Latin America” (see ptpausa.org). St. Robert’s assists our twin parish in multiple ways.
Our main focus has been Education and to help Fr. Murat, the pastor in Verrettes, spread the word and works of Jesus Christ. Our financial support pays tuition for about 230 students who otherwise wouldn’t be able to go to school. The money also helps pay teacher salaries and provides lunches for kids (and this may be the main meal of the day for many students; it is usually beans and rice, which are foods that can be grown locally).
When possible, we also assist with special projects based on need and as suggested by Father Murat. Such projects include building a new chapel in remote areas; building a new school; providing toilet facilities at a school or church; or building a “kitchen” at a school so meals can be made on site. Back around 2012 we also sponsored building the St. Robert’s Trade School, which is located behind the main church and teaches skills such as building trades, auto mechanics, sewing, and cooking. What has impressed us on every visit and while working with Fr. Murat over the years is that he does amazing things with very little. Moreover, he tells us what he needs, estimates the costs, tracks the costs, follows-up with us, and delivers what he sets out to do. He perseveres to “help his people” even though his life has been threatened multiple times. People know that he has money to run the church, pay contractors and workers, pay teachers, acquire food, etc. Consequently, he’s a target. It’s not in jest to say he does saintly things.
Sign Up to Receive our Emails!
Stay Up-to-Date:
Read our Newsletters!
When (and Why) We Visited Our Sister Parish
Before the serious troubles with gangs in Haiti, representatives from St. Robert’s would visit Verrettes every year or two. In addition, Father Murat would visit St. Roberts on occasion to address St. Robert’s parishioners on life at his parish and to thank us for our support. The main objectives of our visits have been to:
- Build and enhance personal and spiritual relationships between our respective parishes.
- Review how the projects, schools, and students we sponsor are progressing so we can report back to St. Robert’s parishioners and adjust our program accordingly.
- Understand the needs and priorities of our sister parish and the needs of the schools and students.
- Provide funding to our sister parish for both spiritual and education advancement.
As mentioned, because of gang-violence it is not safe to travel to Verrettes. It might be possible to get to Verrettes via Cap Haitien in the north, but the other issue is that we would bring attention to Fr. Murat – causing more danger to him. The usual route would be to go via Port au Prince, but that isn’t feasible with gangs controlling the capital. In late November (2024), even Doctors Without Borders announced they were pulling out of Port au Prince.
Commercial flights to Haiti were also suspended in November by the U.S. government because gangs were shooting at commercial jets and even hit Spirit Airlines jets. Fortunately, we can still get donations to Fr. Murat via electronic bank transfer.
St. Robert of Newminster Student Sponsorship Program
Some St. Robert’s parishioners directly sponsor students! This is a great program where the money is dedicated to paying student tuition and teacher salaries. There is little to no public education in Haiti. Most education is done at schools provided by the Catholic Church or other Christian or non-profit organizations. Schools need to be built. Materials need to be bought. Workers need to be paid. Teachers need to be paid. Food needs to be bought (or grown). “Cooks” need to be paid. Furniture has to be made and delivered to the schools. Thus, families need to pay something, though some families can’t afford tuition. The schools for our sister parish have no electricity and no running water. Toilet facilities are basically outdoor “facilities” with walls. Some teachers at mountain schools need to hike to the school and stay there for the week in a “dormitory.” Rainwater is collected and held in a cistern for showers.
Fr. Murat supports multiple schools. The new parish school has about 250 students and is located directly behind the church. It is next to the St. Robert’s Trade School. A school in Descombes in the mountains has over 600 students! A school in nearby Allaire has over 200 students. Fr. Murat also supports small schools and chapels in the mountains.
Thanks to St. Robert’s parishioners, especially many who are directly sponsoring students, we sponsor and track (as best we can) 230 students who otherwise would not be able to attend school. Fr. Murat sends us a list of the students for the school year. It is difficult to exactly quantify the actual costs for sponsoring a student, but we have recently ballparked the cost to be about $300/year per student (compare that to the $9,608 per pupil for K-12 students in Michigan, which is a 32:1 ratio). Despite the recent murder of 115 people by gangs near Verrettes in October, 2024, the parish is functioning and churches and schools are open.
In 2020-2021, Fr. Murat built a new parish school behind the church. It is called Pierre Andre Mitton School and was built on the grounds of the St. Robert’s Trade School. There are about 250 students there today. Fr. Murat assists several schools in Verrettes and in the nearby areas and mountains. Our twinning program suffered during and after the pandemic, but we maintain monthly contact with Fr. Murat and one of his assistants.
St. Robert’s Haiti Committee
The Haiti Committee consists of Tom McDonald, Kristen Mahoney, Cindy Ritter, and Chelsea Bossenbroek. The Haiti Committee welcomes new members! Please feel free to contact Tom McDonald at (616) 893-4428 or tmcdonald7287@gmail.com. We have been unable to visit Verrettes, but we are in contact with Fr. Murat multiple times every month. Help us spread the word to support our fellow parishioners and their children and families.