After several visits to the Ft. Dimanche Prison which was known to be the worst and most cruel prison in the world, we decided to try and preserve the building as is as a memorial/museum honoring the thousands of lives that perished there under great misery and pain. Thousands of people, many of who were never tried and found guilty were crammed into this tiny two story building that at best could hold several hundred people comfortably. At any given time there would be thousands of prisoners living without food (other than what their families could bring). They would sleep “peel sou peel” a creole term meaning intertwining limbs on your side to maximize ground space. Its reported that they would maim, torture, and kill people for sport. Among the people at the prison was the famous soccer player Joe Gaetjens who was taken to the prison in 1964. I have spoken with a younger girl who remembers the screaming throughout the night, and animals eating the corpses. We at Hands Together are trying to make the prison a museum and memorial to be open to the public to remember those who died and suffered such great misery. - Doug 11/19/2020
Hands Together - Dignity and Hope to the Poorest of the Poor in Haiti
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"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.