by The Rev. Anne West
Blue Ridge School, with the full support of our Headmaster Trip Darrin, has embarked on an exciting mission opportunity. We plan to build a long-lasting partner relationship with an Episcopal school called St. Pierre in the mountains of the Republic of Haiti.
Our first group of students and faculty made the trek to Haiti over Thanksgiving break. Math teacher Mr. Evan Graber, The Rev. Anne West, Elliot Appelman ’17, Paul Du ’19, Keane Emmans-McGill ’19, Taku Endo ’18, Adam Maisano ’19 and Harry Xue ’19 left from Richmond on Friday, November 18, for the journey.
The sole purpose of this first journey was to determine the lay of the land and to begin building a friendship with our new partners. We did not build anything but friendship and a true appreciation for the good people of Haiti.
We played soccer with children at the School. We also played music and sang with the people of Cherident, where we stayed in a very comfortable retreat house.
The journey to the School is not an easy trip. It is two hours in a jeep and almost that long on foot (or mule in my case). While we were there, we had the opportunity to share with the teachers at St. Pierre what life is like for our boys here at Blue Ridge. It was a very proud moment for Mr. Graber and myself to hear our boys talk about how important being a “Baron Brother” is to them and just how blessed they felt to be on this journey.
St. Pierre has many needs. Faculty are underpaid. In fact, sometimes there is no money to pay them at all. The roof on the School is in very bad shape and leaks at the first sign of rain. And the boys noticed that there were only three useable chalkboards, no teacher desks and not enough seating for the students not to mention the lack of any school supplies such as paper, pencils, etc.
Over the next few months as we prepare the next group to travel to Haiti, we will also consider how we might be able to meet some of these dire needs.
We are grateful to The Rev. Roger Bowen, who coordinates these partnerships in the states, and to Pere’ Frederic, our wonderful host Episcopal Priest in Haiti.
The travelers will be offering a presentation during assembly the week we return from Christmas break. In the meantime, here are a few pictures that may help to capture the journey and budding partnership.
