As news trickled in from Haiti after the devastating earthquake on Jan. 12, members of St. Andrew Catholic Church in Apex anxiously awaited word from the town of Gressier, Haiti, located less than six miles from the epicenter.

Gressier is the home of Christianville Foundation, a 65-acre complex with schools, medical facilities and a farm that educates and feeds hundreds of children.

Six years ago, St. Andrew began an annual project to support the children of Haiti. Initially the church collected vitamins to supplement the children’s diet which was severely lacking in vital proteins. Under the leadership of parishioner Char Farin, St. Andrew’s role grew to partner with other organizations that were building a means for providing a stable, ongoing source of food for the children. F.I.S.H. Ministries runs the farm at Christianville Foundation, raising fish, chickens and goats to supply food for the school. With the financial support of St. Andrew parishioners, Farin, who is a professor of animal science at NC State University, helped establish the goat herd at Christianville. By introducing genetics from U.S. goats, the program built a sustainable herd. It gradually expanded the herd and at the same time created the infrastructure to support the animals, such as a goat barn and vaccine supplies.

Farin explained, “The Haiti Goat Project, in concert with the other activities of F.I.S.H. Ministries, means that children at the school have a source of high quality protein for their diets. This is important because it allows their bodies and minds to develop to their full extent. They will not be held back by inadequate nutrition which will limit their capabilities when they are adults.”

“Also, it means the kids have access to a nutritious lunch every single day they are in school. For many this is their largest and most complete meal,” she continued.

The farm at Christianville was succeeding. It had expanded its operations to also feed children at two nearby locations: Macombre School in Leogane, Haiti and Pastor Val’s orphanage farther in the mountains– for a total of 1,400 children a day. Last November, the farm was able to give out goats to local farmers who in turn could grow their own herds, offering them a way to feed their families and break the cycle of poverty. The Day of the Quake

Obinson Joseph is director of F.I.S.H. Ministries and runs the Macombre School. Joseph visited St. Andrew Catholic Church last spring, and was planning another visit to the congregation this spring. In an email, Joseph reported the events of Jan. 12:

“Myself and another employee were the only ones present in the school building that afternoon. She was cleaning the classrooms at the first story, and myself lying in my bed in the apartment at the second story of the building because I was sick all day that day.

God ejected me out through the debris as the floor split under my feet while the collapsed massive concrete roof sped its way down to me as I had already fallen face up [on the floor]. It took those very few seconds to eye-witness [the devastation of] what together, YOU, our faithful and devoted partners, and us, by God’s grace, had put up over the last decades. “ Assessing the Damage

In addition to the farm, Christianville Foundation had three elementary schools, a high school, a college for educating teachers, and medical, dental, and eye clinics. Fortunately the earthquake hit after school hours, so no casualties have been reported.

But the compound was devastated. The high school and college buildings collapsed. Only one of the three elementary school buildings is still standing. The eye, medical and dental clinics are gone. On the farm, the ponds for raising fish, a building for housing the chickens, and the goat barn are damaged but not destroyed. Everyone at the compound is sleeping outside for fear of aftershocks and structural instability.

At the Macombre School, located about six miles from Christianville Foundation, 16 out of 22 classrooms were destroyed.

Based on email correspondence and phone calls from Haiti, Farin said, “The situation at the schools is not good. Most of the school buildings are rubble. If the kids don’t have schools to go to, then there is less chance they are going to be fed.” Helping Haiti

St. Andrew will kick off their annual Haiti Goat Project on Jan. 23, with this year devoted to raising money to first meet immediate needs and then to rebuild the program.

Farin said according to conversations with missionary aid workers at Christianville, “the most immediate needs are medicine and doctors. There are many injured people and supplies are being used up and not replaced. Once the medical emergencies are handled, then the efforts will turn to how to keep everyone fed and sheltered.”

This year’s Haiti Goat Project will provide support for re-establishing the food production capabilities of the farm so that once the medical emergency is under control, food will be available not only to children but also to their families.

In addition, the project will support the repair of farm buildings and replacement of the school buildings that have been destroyed. “Anything that we can generate from this year’s Haiti Goat Project will go toward bringing ‘normalcy’ back to families in the Gressier area,” Farin said.

It will also give hope for Haitians who have devoted their lives to raising their country out of poverty and hunger. Joseph wrote, “On behalf of Haiti, [we] express [our] gratitude to each and everyone of [our] individual and church friends, supporters and partners for their sympathy, prayers and concerns, as we are thinking of and planning the rebuilding of the country. Thanks a lot for your partnership and the financial support and contribution to the needy [who are] rebuilding.”

Donations for the Haiti Goat Project can be made by check to St. Andrew Catholic Church with Haiti Goat Project written in the subject line, and sent to 3008 Old Raleigh Rd., Apex NC 27502. A website for F.I.S.H. Ministries is available at www.haiti-earthquake-relief.com.