» The school is literally on top of a mountain.
» There is no electric service currently.
» The water source is rainwater collected in a cistern under the school’s main building.
» The ground is very rocky.
» The community is primarily subsistence farmers.

» They are very welcoming.
» They smile a lot.

Actually, a medical clinic was planned and a building (also designed by Ann Aiken of Good Shepherd) constructed for that purpose. But it has only been used for occasional medical missions from the U.S. There hasn’t been one in several years. The people of Petit Harpon are still waiting, and not just for a week-long mission, but for an operating clinic.

The situation is exacerbated by the lack of available medical care anywhere in the area. The nearest road is more than an hour away by foot and the nearest medical help an additional 1 to 1½ hours away in Leogane or Jacmel.

St Stephens continues to hear that call as well as the new need to help restore normal family and community life. We continue to work through barriers to provide a staffed clinic using the existing building and Haitian medical professionals Madame Alcindor, Director of the nursing school in Leogane, has committed to provide student nurses to augment the services we can offer and assist us with getting off the ground. The earthquake damage delays our ability to take the next steps on the ground, but the need for medical care does not change.

Hear the Call, Get Involved: If you want to be a part of any phase of the effort, Call Cameron Ellis or the church office at 483-8497. In the meantime, contributions at this time are a tremendous help. Checks can be written to St Stephens noted for “Haiti Clinic.”

Père (Fr) Jean Fruitho Michaud of the Diocese of Haiti visited East Tennessee in August, sponsored by St Stephens, Oak Ridge and Good Shepherd, Lookout Mountain. Père Michaud, Priest-in-Charge for 4 congregations in the Petit Harpon area, was able to spend about 4 days with each parish and participate in Eucharist with each. Hopefully, parishioners who have not been able to participate in a mission trip to Haiti were able to feel a little closer with our Haitian brothers and sisters.

We kept Père Michaud in our homes and attempted to give him a flavor of East Tennessee culture and life by visiting several sites. There was another dinner party for him on Friday night at a favorite lakeside eatery. On Sunday, Père Michaud joined us in the main service. Fr Kallio preached the sermon but Michaud did present a shorter message during the announcement time.

Our friend returned to Haitian home with several gifts, including a digital camera, and our warm wishes. As we passed a Waffle House restaurant, on the way to the shuttle, he left me with this anecdote: “… in U.S., when someone is dead, he is not dead from not eating.”

The first St Stephens construction trip was in 1996. Numerous trips were made involving Episcopalians from several East Tennessee parishes working together with Haitian builders

For approximately 10 years, the Chattanooga area parishes continued maintaining St John the Evangelist school, funding operations, and making improvements. Principally involved have been: Good Shepherd, St Paul’s, and Nativity.

But Petit Harpon, Haiti has called St Stephens back. First we dove into a work trip with the other parishes in August 2007 doing repairs and painting on the main school building

From St. Stephens:

» Tom Clary
» Lola Estes
» Chuck Estes
» Adolph King
» Luke Ellis
» Cameron Ellis

We also had a list of maintenance needs for the school buildings, besides fellowship and relationship-building. There was painting; of fingernails, steel bars, and building walls.