LATIN AMERICA
HAITI: A new school in honor of Pope John Paul IIFather Jean Luc BOURDEAU is the founder and the director of the new Institution Jean Paul II at Ouanaminthe, Haiti. In a message on opening day at the school, Fr. Jean Luc thanked the provincial of Haiti, Fr. Gasner JOINT and his administration for having taken the “courageous and noble decision to open a quality school in a time of worldwide financial crisis in Haiti that suffers the highest rate of illiteracy in Latin America and the Caribbean.”
He also expressed gratitude to the many benefactors who have made possible a computer lab with 25 computers, a network, and software for the management of the school. There is also a new sound system that facilitates daily prayer and meditation for the children.
They have begun with about 200 students, most of whom come from Port-au-Prince, the city so terribly ravaged last January 12 by a strong earthquake that killed at least 250,000 and injured another 300,000.
The school is operating for the moment in the parish hall of Notre Dame de l’Assomption in Ouanaminthe. They hope to build 12 classrooms in the near future.
