19 Dec 2018
Always a Warm Welcome for New Volunteers
Breda Sammon from Co. Tipperary is currently volunteering in North West Haiti, in Jean Rabel. Her latest report explained how with the help of Foi et Joi she has managed to deck out the newly dedicated computer room in Colette school with 16 computers using N Computing. A further 16 computers are earmarked for another school in Acadien. These will be in situ once the new IT classroom at the school is built.
Here’s a sample of ‘A Day in the Life of a Volunteer’ living and working with RJMs in Jean Rabel, NW Haiti.
- Up for Mass (Sometimes)
- Breakfast
- Work = Training, Creating Manuals, Sourcing Equipment
- Dinner
- Siesta (love this part of the day)
- Training or Creole Classes
- Prayers
- Evening Meal
- Social Time – A Film or Cards
Breda lives with a number of Spanish Sisters and Sr Rose from Ireland. The Sisters are members of the Religious Sisters of Jesus and Mary, RJM; some of them have been working in Haiti for 20 years, building capacity in healthcare and education. The congregation shared its two hundredth year anniversary in 2018.
Since the installation of computers in the local schools set up by Castlebar RJM Sister, Sr. Rose, progress has begun in bringing technology to this remote area, with the aim of increasing opportunities for what can only be described as a ‘forgotten’ people. Lack of infrastructure and amenities in this area of the North West of Haiti has meant that without the presence of missionary groups such as the RJMs, the people living locally would remain on the margins of Haitian society, as little governance from the capital of Port-au-Prince impacts them, as they eke out the semblance of a living from the land.
