'Whole Generation Has Helped, Now Into 2nd Generation'

Father Dick Wildeman started the Haiti committee at Jasper’s Holy Family Parish in 1986 after he became aware of the Parish Twinning program in Nashville, Tenn. He gathered parishioners to form a Haiti committee, and they were twinned with Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish in Dupity, Haiti.  

Dupity is in a very remote, mountainous area of northern Haiti, described as "backward and abandoned" with a population of 16,000 - 3,000 being Catholic. The church is the center of life on the mountain. There is little/no electricity, no fresh water, no jobs/industry; and many families do subsistence farming, living on a day-to-day basis. Cholera outbreaks occur several times a year. Hunger is epidemic when there is crop failure from too much or too little rain. The church rectory and health clinic get electricity from a small generator. 

Throughout the years, Holy Family Parish has helped in various ways, including  penny blitzes and aluminum can collections at Holy Family School; a special monthly collection at church; special Lenten projects; 5K fundraisers for projects such as “Jeep for Dupity” (to purchase a vehicle for the parish); “Roofs for Dupity” (to replace straw roofs with metal roofs on the church and school); tuition assistance; school lunches and staff compensation; and they have hosted several Haiti pastors who came to visit Holy Family Parish. 

St. Celestine Parish in Celestine and St. Raphael Parish in Dubios assist Holy Family with the efforts. In the midst of their own church projects and needs, they have not wavered in their support for their Haitian friends. Today, a second generation of parishioners from those churches continue to support the Haiti parish with resources for food, health and education.   

“Life is extremely difficult in Dupity,” said Jan Stentfenagel, Holy Family parishioner and lifelong member of the Haiti committee. “We are humbled in our work because the people and pastor there tell us that without us they would not survive. They thank us by praying for us.

“None of them have enough to eat,” Stentfenagel added, “yet they have a St. Vincent de Paul group that cares for and feeds the elderly and disabled people. They have a SVDP…. How is that possible?!”