Three years ago, Father Joachim Anantua of Milot, known by all as Pere Tijwa, “the little priest” enlisted the support of several visiting American clergymen and physicians from CRUDEM to help him realize his dream of building a new school and community center on the grounds of the Immaculate Conception rectory adjacent to the Palace Sans Souci, maintained by ISPAN, the Haitian authority over historical sites. There had been a school built on the same location but it had fallen into serious disrepair and was no longer safe to use.
Msgr John. Enzler, Pastor of the Shrine of the Blessed Sacrament, Washington, D.C, Msgr. Peter Vaghi, Pastor of Little Flower Parish, Bethesda, MD and Msgr. William English, Pastor of Our Lady of Mercy Parish, Potomac, MD, as well as Dr. Dale Peterson of Wenatchee, WA and Dr. Richard Perry, Chevy Chase, MD, each offered to raise the funds necessary to build the $180,000 two-storey structure within the existing footprint of the old school, a requirement of ISPAN.
Permission to reconstruct the school and add the community center on a second floor through the help of architect, Gus Brest van Kempen of Evanston, IL took months to plan and secure through multiple channels. At last, permission was granted and construction began in July of 2010.
As it always seems the case, nothing ever goes as planned in Haiti as construction was interrupted several times by riots, Hurricane Tomas, the cholera epidemic and torrential rains which frequented the site.
However, despite these challenges, on May 6th of this year, over four hundred local Haitians and various dignitaries from the Catholic Church, CRUDEM board and blessing and dedication of this new and valuable facility whose main hall can comfortably seat 300 people, entertain from a new stage, serve food from its kitchen and hold classes in the lower school for approximately 210 students.
The fact that such a facility could have been built in an area which possesses little hope or even more meager resources stands as testament to the spirit of our Haitian brothers and sisters and the love and generosity of all of those named and unnamed that participated in making Pere Tijwa’s dream for a better Haiti come true.
