Local church leading effort to build kitchen at Haitian school

Six months after a devastating 7.0 magnitude earthquake tossed much of Haiti into chaos, one local missionary is partnering with a Corbin church in an attempt to provide a little "normalcy" to the lives of school-aged children in the country.

Choubert Rémy, is a 52-year-old minister and the driving force behind Haiti Christian Mission of Kentucky, a non-profit organization based in Richmond, focused on spreading Christianity in the Caribbean nation.

Established in 1983, Haitian Christian Ministries, through Rémy, has been successful in establishing a church in Galette, Goureau, about 45 minutes outside the capital Port-au-Prince, and an elementary school called Russell Christian School, named after the eastern Kentucky town. It has about 260 pupils.

Rémy said he is working with members of Seventeenth Christian Church in Corbin on an effort to construct and stock a kitchen at the school capable of storing and preparing large amounts of food for the school children. With cash, and the right equipment, Rémy said he will be able to obtain staple foods from non-governmental relief organizations currently operating in the country.
Rémy said the church and school were spared much of the damage structures in the country suffered as a result of the quake and the scores of aftershocks that persist to this day.

"We had a few cracks in the walls, but that is already repaired," Rémy said. "We were very fortunate. It was a blessing from God. People are really counting on our school."

The quake and aftershocks killed around 250,000 people in Haiti, and destroyed about 250,000 residences and 30,000 commercial buildings. About 1 million people have been left homeless since the main quake.

Rémy said while there are some public schools in Haiti, most schooling is done through private institutions – either missions or for-profit business ventures. Currently, Russell Christian School is allowing students displaced by the quake to attend for free, without uniform or any tuition, until the beginning of the next academic year when, hopefully, more schools will be repaired and ready for operation.

"I think missionaries see the need. We know education is the main highway toward a better tomorrow, therefore we all invest in education in one form or another," Rémy said. "Also, individuals that have that same dream but also want to do business, it is a pretty lucrative business … Parents would stay home hungry to pay for their kids to go to school. It is very important to them."

Seventeenth Street Christian Church is one of about 10 in southeastern Kentucky that helps fund the Haiti Christian Mission. Church Pastor Ivan Spencer said the main focus for the effort is twofold: to help pay for kitchen staff and shore up salaries for teachers at Russell Christian School, and to raise funds and accept items to build the kitchen.

"I think this is an opportunity for people that want to help to be able to give to a reputable ministry that works in that country, through people they know can confirm it is legitimate," Spencer said. "I’ve been there, and I know everything we’ve seen there is valid."

Spencer said he took a trip to Haiti to visit the school and church a couple of years ago and said obtaining good food was difficult then.

"It’s worse now," Spencer said. "It was bad before the quake but now it is a real problem."

Rémy said money is the preferred form of donation for the effort, but that kitchen items, even large appliances, are welcome up until June 15. He plans to leave June 16 for New York in order to secure a cargo ship that will take items to Haiti via ocean.
Items that would be particularly useful include: appliances like dishwashers, refrigerators, deep freezers, mixers, blenders, coffee makers, ovens, etc. Also, sturdy stainless steel pots and pans, crockery and rugged plastic plates, silverware, cutting knives used for food preparation, cutting boards, and anything else normally used in a commercial size kitchen.

Rémy, a husband and father of three children, splits time between his family and fundraising efforts in the U.S., and his mission in Haiti. Born in the small farming community of Hinche, in central Haiti, Rémy said his mother moved the family to an area on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince when his father died. Haiti is located on the island of Hispaniola, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. It is the poorest nation in the western hemisphere.

"There are many problems, but I miss Haiti terribly," Rémy said. "I miss my work there. There is so much I need to be doing."
Since starting Haiti Christian Mission in 1983, Rémy said the overall condition of the country, from his perspective, hasn’t really changed.

"I cannot tell you there is overall improvement … With the missions working independent of the government, we are not making the impact we should have been making," he said. "It is not as visible as it should be, but I can tell you that Haiti is staying afloat. It’s staying alive. If it were not for missionaries and missions like this, Haiti would definitely be a daily disaster area."

Anyone interested in donating to Haiti Christian Mission can do so by contacting Seventeenth Street Christian Church 606-528-4795 or by contacting Tim Jones at 859-369-5454. Go to the groups website for more information at www.hcmky.org.