Youthful Talent Benefits Young Lives In Haiti

By Nancy K. Crevier

Fifth and sixth grade church school students at Trinity Episcopal church in Newtown are reaching out to help students that they have never met. Through the efforts of Trinity church school minister Sue Vogelman and church school teachers Ben Toby, Priscilla Jones, and Mary and Rick Chamiec-Case, the young people are putting together a special talent show Friday, April 30, at the Blue Z Coffee House on South Main Street, from 5 to 6:30 pm, to raise funds for the rebuilding of Ecole de Bon Samaritan (Good Samaritan School) in Carrefour, Haiti. The school, started in 1996 by an Episcopalian priest, Jean-Elie Millien, formerly of Stamford, was damaged beyond use in the January 12 earthquake.

More than 180 students attended the Ecole de Bon Samaritan prior to the January earthquake. Efforts to save the school began in the Old St Andrew’s Church in Bloomfield and have spread across the state. Church school children at Trinity learned about the disaster in Haiti as part of the Trinity Newtown Lenten Church School Outreach Project, and met with Danelie Millien, daughter of Father Jean-Elie Millien, who founded the school after retiring to Haiti.

It was coincidental, actually, that Haiti became the focus of this year’s church school outreach program, said Ms Vogelman. “The day of the earthquake, we were discussing at our staff meeting where our church school would do its Lenten Outreach Project program this year, and I suggested Haiti. I work on a diocesan committee with Danelie [Millien] and am familiar with the Haiti church that is part of St John’s in Stamford. We agreed that Haiti was our focus — and this was all a few hours before we heard about the earthquake,” she said. A coffeehouse for adult members of the church to raise money for the disaster relief gave the young people the idea for the upcoming talent show, Ms Vogelman said. “They wanted to do something more, on their own.”

While founders and teachers of Ecole de Bon Samaritan have been unable to teach or use the school building, they have turned a nearby building that survived the earthquake into an emergency medical clinic, operating one day of the week, through the generosity of volunteer doctors and nurses and donations of medical supplies. Old St Andrews in Bloomfield, Connecticut hospitals, and several Episcopal churches in Connecticut, including Trinity, have provided all of the supplies and paid expenses for these volunteers.

Various corporations have generously donated hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of time, services, and equipment to the Good Samaritan project, as well. Trinity church member Gia Card, a Jet Blue employee, has been instrumental in the airline company’s decision to provide free passage to relief workers and the large number of luggage and supplies that goes along with each mission trip, said Ms Vogelman. Students from Trinity Episcopal hope that they can add to the effort.

As important as the medical clinic has become, the teachers at Ecole de Bon Samaritan and the Haitian government want children to return to school. “They have three main goals right now,” said Ms Vogelman. “First, they need to find the students. Many are missing, for a variety of reasons. Then, they want to restart the schooling,” she said. The school has been able to purchase one large tent to serve as a school space, but needs one more in order to accommodate all of the students.

“We would like to make enough at this fundraiser to purchase a second tent so that classes can be restarted,” Ms Vogelman said. “I think that one costs between $400 and $500, and I think this might be an attainable goal,” she added.

The third goal for Ecole de Bon Samaritan is to build a new school building, and any money raised at the talent show beyond that needed to purchase the tent will go to the rebuilding fund.

Donna Randle, the mother of twins Nicholas and Marie, who are part of the Trinity 5/6 church school class, said that there is much excitement by the youngsters. “Auditions were the last two weekends in March, and they are going to start rehearsals soon. Every one of the 30 kids will participate somehow. We have standup comics who have written their own material, instrumentalists, vocalists, and all kinds of talent,” she said. What is important about a project like this, said Ms Randle, is that “kids are not just learning the words, but walking the walk this year before confirmation.”

The public is invited to the free program on April 30, and donations are welcome. Light Caribbean fare will be available for purchase, prepared by the staff at Blue Z.

For more information about the Haiti fundraiser, contact Sue Vogelman at 203-426-9070 or childrensminister@trinitynewtownct.org. To learn more about the Good Samaritan Rebuilding Fund, visit oldstandrews.net.