Consider Joining CT Walks For Haiti This Spring

On April 14, the third annual Connecticut Walks for Haiti event, with Fox CT’s Joe Fury as this year's emcee.

One of the five participating charities is Outreach to Haiti, which includes in Middletown who has for over 15 years supported artists of Haiti exclusively and all profits from the store go back to Haiti.  

Kyn Tolson, the Outreach Programs Administrator, who for years worked at the Middletown office, has been to Haiti many times. She introduced me to Chuck Dietsch, who made international news because during the 2010 earthquake was crushed in a building for two days. He came to my parish in Middletown after the earthquake to update us about the catastrophe in Haiti. One of his biggest concerns was all the children’s needs, especially education.

Kyn also recruited me to meet Dr. Jude Banatte, who has been in Haiti for 11 years. He talked about the emergency efforts that followed the earthquake and that continue today. He was at the capital’s Hospital St. Francois de Sales, which was destroyed in the disaster, but he and others set up operations in the ruins. They tended to the injured, tried to salvage medical equipment and supplies, and worked to get the hospital running again.

We need your help to raise money for the people in Haiti. Every dollar that can be raised is well appreciated. Donor forms for walkers are available at , off Middletown's Main Street, which is open every Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 pm.  You can also visit CT Walks For Haiti at ctwalksforhaiti.org to download the form. 

Goals for the April 14 CT Walks For Haiti:

• Haitian Humanitarian Network is in the process of building a second general-purpose building to house visiting medial personnel and to run health education sessions. They would like to include another cistern to catch water off the roof of the new building. This water would be used as a source of water for the villagers.
  It would require $5,000 to build the cistern and have a means to distribute the water. Villagers walk three miles round trip down the mountainside to get water at a spring in Carpentier. They pass out buckets (covered and with a spigot) to make water safer to use during the course of the day. These buckets would be filled at the cistern when it is operational.
• Medical Aid to Haiti seeks $7,600 to fund a nurse’s salary (five days a week) and medications for a new permanent clinic, located in Lillivois. The clinic is connected to a school that has about 500 students.
• Outreach to Haiti / seeks $4,000 to give a university scholarship to two students in their Education Program who have successfully completed their secondary grade courses and passed all national tests. Since the Education Program admits students based on need and merit, these students would not be able to attend university without full time tuition support. The cost runs from about $2,000 to $3,500 a year per student.
• Partners In Health seeks $3,500 to help fund PIH’s adolescent and adult literacy program in Haiti’s Central Plateau. The program furnishes basic supplies and equipment such as desks and books to Haitian literacy centers and supplies modest salary stipends to the literacy instructors and other program supervisors to enable them to perform their jobs ands make a living.

It is a very fun event! Parking will be at St. Peter Claver Church at 47 Pleasant St., West Hartford. 10:30 a.m. is registration, crafts, music, food, T-shirts, and silent auction where you can win Boston Red Sox Tickets!! Noon to 2 p.m. is the 2.5 mile walk through West Hartford Center and Blue Back Square to enjoy food, crafts and music!

Visit: 2011 CT Walks For Haiti to see last year’s videos and pictures. Also, you can follow them on Facebook!