Recent Updates and Blog Posts

"Because, Doug, they have nobody else - these are the ones our Lord was talking about - we have no choice." Fr. Tom Hagan's response to Doug Campbell's question as to why we continue to help even after many killings and theft.

Father Tom spends his days in Haiti anchoring the activities at our Hands Together compound in the slum of Cite Soleil and the rural area of Gonaives. He has seen much suffering and trouble, but he has also seen miracles…in the many smiling faces of children who are learning in the only free schools in the slum and are getting fed a hot meal, he has seen miracles in young men who have turned away from lives of crime to caring for their neighbors, and in the elderly who have fellowship and feel valued as they can share their wisdom with the school children and our HT workers. Father Tom lives each day in Haiti by putting everything in God's hands. He says, “I could not last a week without my prayer life – giving everything to Jesus is the only way to find the strength to face each day in this very difficult place.” We will be sharing stories from Haiti from Fr. Tom, Doug and other HT workers who have invested so much of their time and energy to helping the wonderful people of Haiti. We hope you’ll be encouraged, enlightened, and blessed.

Yesterday I met with the parents of over 100 kids have never gone to school, some who are as old as 14. These students will be integrated into our schools and divided into the classes by age. We will work with our current students to help tutor these students to allow them to catch up. “While speaking with these parents, I saw a look of hope and gratitude in their faces. They no longer have to watch their students be looked at from below from other kids their age, and be condemned to a future of unemployment and gang life. I was extremely moved, many parents spoke to me sharing their guilt of not having a job to pay for their kids education

We accepted 1100 students into the Becky DeWine Schools and integrated them into the class appropriate for their age. After witnessing the regular students looking down upon these students when we held special classes for them, we have elected to remove that stigma and put them in the regular school population. We will choose students to mentor them, making their educational progress a part of their peers efforts. Its an excellent way to teach that we all possess the same value and dignity which comes from God and that we are responsible for the well-being and success of those around us. Our students learn that they do not exist for themselves, but for others.