Dinner out helps school in Haiti

NORTH CANAAN — For four hours on Oct. 6 customers at the McDonald’s here, whether they knew it or not, supported a group called Partners with Haiti.The Rev. Ed Eastman of Greenwoods Community Church in Sheffield, Mass., said turnout was excellent and that about $650 was raised between the McDonald’s proceeds and a teacup auction. The organization earned 20 percent of sales from a four-hour period that evening. The church is targeting the money toward something it hopes could help move the island nation in the direction of self-sustainability: education.This is not earthquake relief. The faith-based Partners with Haiti has been around for 40 years. It collaborates with pastors and others in Haiti, who take the lead on projects. Members and friends of Greenwoods have been sending resources and teams to Haiti for about seven years. On Nov. 3, a team will make the church’s fifth trip.They continue to support a remote community, with many of its schoolchildren sponsored by church people here. The latest focus is a city school, where work to expand is ongoing as funds are available.Eastman is a Greenwoods team regular.“Our mission is to improve the quality of life for Haitians, especially the children. Public education is funded privately there,” he said. “If you want to go to school, you have to pay. It is way beyond the means of the majority of Haitian families.”The Bethesda School, in the capital city of Port-au-Prince, accommodates between 400 and 500 students. As with most schools in Haiti, they enlarge by adding concrete block stories when they can afford it.The Greenwoods team will spend 10 days traveling and working there. But it is their donation and moral support that is welcomed.It’s the concept of “teach a man to plant, rather than giving him food” approach.“We’re not there to do work that Haitians can be paid to do. That would be counter-productive,” Eastman said. “We assist in small ways, maybe carrying blocks or mixing cement, under the supervision of the contractor.“What we go for mostly is to bring resources, show that we are partners and see firsthand how the money is being spent. We visit the school where we sponsor children and make sure they are being properly cared for.”The church also underwrites a large part of a school hot lunch program. The Canaan Child Care Center was inspired to help fill a donated school bus with food and supplies, and raise the cost of shipping it to Haiti. “Now, our goal is to not just add classroom space, but to accommodate older children,” Eastman said. “Typically, they go through grade six and they’re done. We want to get them through high school. Part of the current building project is to add two apartments for students going on to college. They can get scholarships, but they can’t afford to rent a place to live.”Partners with Haiti’s efforts have been rewarded with students who are completing degrees and getting good jobs, mostly with the government.Donations are tax-deductible and may be made out to Partners with Haiti, memo “Bethesda School construction,” and sent c/o Ed Eastman, PO Box 1119,North Canaan, CT 06018.