At the annual assembly of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), our Provincial Leader Sister Charmaine Krohe presented a lunchtime session on the province's experience of entering into partnership with an NGO in Haiti. She also discussed partnership as a model for mission in the 21st century when most congregations, like ours, can no longer put ‘boots on the ground’ in underserved areas.
SSND is working with Beyond Borders, an organization that has been working in Haiti for more than 20 years and has Haitian professionals working on the ground there. The site of the partnership is the island of Lagonav, off the west coast of Haiti, which is home to more than 80,000 people, many of whom are living on less than $1.25 a day.
The focus of the partnership work includes:
- Prevention of child domestic servitude (restaveks), as it is estimated that somewhere around 200,000-300,000 children remain in domestic servitude on mainland Haiti, many of them from Lagonav;
- Support for under-resources schools and teacher training
- Livelihood and income development for families in economic crisis ( animal husbandry, growing food, etc)
- Prevention of violence against women and girls
Partnership activities are carried out by professionally trained and experienced Haitian staff of Beyond Borders. SSND sisters visit the island regularly to review programming and to meet the people whom this partnership serves. One also serves on the Board of Directors of Beyond Borders.
In addition to the set amount the provinces contributes annually to the partnership in Haiti, the SSND Haiti partnership committee, which gives oversight to the partnership, has also elected to help support - through grants - rainwater catchment systems for families on Lagonav, as well as a four-phase teacher training initiative led by Sister Sharon Slear, who is Notre Dame of Maryland University's Interim Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs.
The province is learning a great deal from Beyond Borders about best practices and strategies for sustainable development in a fragile country like Haiti. Although they are not a faith-based organization, the values we share are recognizably rooted in the Gospel, as well as our Catholic Social Teaching Tradition. Beyond Borders is very engaged by the charism and spirituality of Catholic women religious and we, too, are inspired and challenged by their commitment to the daunting work and their deep respect for the Haitian people.
To read more information about our work in Haiti click here. To learn more about Beyond Borders click here.
