Jean was planning her return trip to the sewing school (Lekol Koutur) and needed to have the business plan for the school translated into Creole. At the time Jean and Tom were in southwest Florida and Jean knew of a parish in Naples, St. Peter the Apostle Church which has an outreach for Haitians. Jean went to the parish office to ask about a Creole speaker and she was introduced to Father Adrien Pierre, a Haitian priest!
Father at that time was an associate Pastor at the church and performed Masses in Creole on Sunday afternoons in addition to Masses in English at other times. Father, an Oblate of Mary Immaculate priest (oblatesusa.org.) was ordained in 1998. Father’s current mission is to the prison population of southwest Florida. He is fluent in Spanish, Creole, French and English. How wonderful for Help Haiti to have this talent translating! Father also has a master’s degree in Pastoral Theology from Fordham University.
Visiting with Father, we learned that he was born in Fort Liberte Haiti which is in the northeast near Cap Haitian. He has 2 sisters and 2 brothers. His mother lives in Montreal. His father is deceased.
The poor of Haiti are in Father’s heart. He is supporting twenty orphan children in Fort Liberte who are currently in foster homes. Father has started Fondation de la Maison de la Lumiere (Lighthouse Foundation for Youth of Fort Liberte).
His goal is to build an orphanage to house the children and establish a vocational/technical school. He has purchased land and a wall around the land is under construction.
Father has many friends in the US who are willing to donate to his project, but would like to have the tax advantages that can come with donating to a charity. Help Haiti is able to set up a separate banking account for Father using Help Haiti’s 501©3. We consulted with our CPA and have become registered in Florida. Help Haiti’s address in Florida is: 3690 Seagrape Avenue, Naples, FL 34104
We look forward to working with Father and hope to see his project. There are direct flights to Cap Haitian from Atlanta and Fort Lauderdale which can be easy, not having to go through Port Au Prince and all its chaos (still happening). Pictures will be added soon.