Saint Sister Philomena

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Saint Sister Philomena

Sister Philomena was born in between two world wars, and grew up during the great depression in the United States.

She never knew her father, and this was a life long sadness for her. Even when she was very old, she would repeat in a tearful way how difficult this was for her.

He older brother, Lou, was wounded in the second world war, and Sister looked up to him her whole life long, and was close to him and her two sisters.

She was a woman who knew a lot of personal suffering and yet who. like many people saved by love, become more caring, instead of more closed and cynical, by suffering.

Her own childhood gave her a loving heart for children who also lost one or both of their parents, and for children whose situations were poor like hers was.

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Value for the Disabled

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Value for the Disabled

At St Luke, as our mission is to help the most vulnerable in society, we are proud to have a team of 30 disabled people of all different backgrounds. They work in our tilapia fish farm, raise chickens, grow coffee and moringa, and even sing! We offer them a chance to work according to their abilities, as well as their will. In truth, this kind of work is not always economical from a financial point of view, but from a humanitarian and an eternal point of view, we see it as priceless. Empowering vulnerable people is our true calling, and we enabled our staff to receive a monthly salary and the ability to manage their own lives and families.

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Patient Spotlight: Wilner

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Patient Spotlight: Wilner

Wilner was St. Luke Hospital’s first severe burn victim. Before being admitted to St. Luke Hospital, he was refused care at a different hospital, which claimed he only had about a 30% chance of survival. When this happened, Wilner says he had no hope that his body would ever function again due to the extent of his burns. And when he found out that he was to be taken to St. Luke Hospital for treatment, he was scared because he knew of someone who had been treated at the hospital, but sadly had not survived. He thought he would die too.

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Pieta - When Demonstrations Cause Babies to Die

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Pieta - When Demonstrations Cause Babies to Die

When I returned to St Damien Hospital at about 5pm yesterday afternoon, after spending the day buying medicines for our hospitals, there was a woman in the hallway holding a small child, and I sensed something was very wrong.
She was not crying, but her face revealed a restrained panic. 

Her one year old daughter, while seemingly asleep in her arms, was, to my eye, lifeless.
The child was dead, and this poor mother could not accept it.

This is the kind of thing that happens when roads are blocked with violence, when hatred rules the streets, when mothers are afraid to risk the roads with their sick children.

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World Day of the Sick, February 11

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World Day of the Sick, February 11

February 11, World Day of the Sick, was first instituted in May 1992 by Pope John Paul II. At our St. Luke Hospital, we celebrate this holiday every year. This day is an opportunity to pay special attention to the condition of the sick, and, more generally, to give us the opportunity to show how much those who suffer are valued in our eyes.

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In Remembrance of Jephte Lorin, a St. Luke Student

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In Remembrance of Jephte Lorin, a St. Luke Student

Jephte Lorin was born on March 15, 1996. In 2016, he was part of the first class, called the Quintessence, to graduation from the Academy for Peace and Justice, the largest school of the St. Luke Foundation. Lorin first entered the school in 2012 when he was beginning his 3rd year of secondary education (in Haiti, secondary school comprised of 7th through 12th grades). He spent four beautiful years amongst our students.

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The Fermenting of Wines and Revolutions, Fr. Rick Addresses the Political Situation in Haiti

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The Fermenting of Wines and Revolutions, Fr. Rick Addresses the Political Situation in Haiti

Social and political tensions in Haiti have reached their flash points over the past number of months, and we have been living, with more intensity these days, what seems like the dangerous and cynical unraveling of a nation. 

The spiral of violence and destruction is both tragic and maddening.

The simply stated reason for all of this is that the cost of living has become impossible, 

in a country where it was already hard enough to stay alive.

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St. Joan Margaret, a Special Needs School

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St. Joan Margaret, a Special Needs School

Shortly after the earthquake in 2010, Madame Judith, the school’s director, helped start St. Joan Margaret school for the blind, deaf, and developmentally delayed. She had previously worked with another special needs school that sadly fell during the earthquake. With the limited resources following that earth shaking event, the school started out in a shipping container. Thanks to our wonderful partner, The Rava Foundation in Italy, we were able to build a beautiful school with nine classrooms for children in pre-kindergarten to 6th grade. St. Joan Margaret now provides primary education for over 190 children, 80 of whom have hearing disabilities, and 12 of whom have vision impairment.

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Fr. Rick Reflects on the 9th Anniversary of the Earthquake

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Fr. Rick Reflects on the 9th Anniversary of the Earthquake

When Haiti was devastated by the infamous earthquake of 2010, the world had not seen a comparable disaster since the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. It was also one of the first disasters in the age of the cell phone and instant messaging. The size of the disaster, and the ease of instant communication worldwide, sparked immediate and universal awareness, concern and mobilization to help the suffering.

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USAID Meeting at St. Luke Hospital

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USAID Meeting at St. Luke Hospital

Through the American Schools and Hospitals Abroad (“ASHA”) grant that St. Luke received in 2014, we were able to build a conference and education center at St. Luke Hospital. The meeting took place in our conference room and organizations such as Restavek Freedom, the Caris Foundation, Mission of Hope, Samaritan’s Purse, Christianville, and Catholic Relief Services were represented at the discussion. St. Luke was honored to host this meeting, and hopes that the discussion and collaboration will continue.

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