A MINISTER has urged people to get behind a campaign to build a school and an orphanage in his devastated home country of Haiti.
Methodist Minister Marcus Torchon watched in disbelief as his home town of Port-au-Prince crumbled after the an earthquake - which read 7.0 on the Richter Scale - on January 12.
After days of worry, he finally got news from his family that his mother’s house had been brought to the ground but that his family were alive and well.
Despite all of his family escaping injury or death in the quake, like more than one million people in the Haitian capital they were left devastated by the natural disaster. Since the quake, the relief effort has been helped by international aid agencies and generous donations from sympathetic people across the globe.
However Rev Torchon, of Neston, hopes to make a difference on a local level by helping to build a primary school and an orphanage in the village of Lévêque, in the north west of Port-au-Prince.
About 90 of the 135 original schoolchildren are currently being taught in the Lévêque Methodist Church while work gets under way to rebuild the school.
The new school, built by Haitian charity Agape, will have eight classrooms, toilet facilities, a staff rest-room, a staff dormitory, a kitchen, a dining hall, a canteen storage room and a cistern.
Rev Torchon told the Leader: “There were 135 children at the school but to date only 90 have returned to school. The Lévêque School housed six teaching staff and 130 pupils of whom 90 have reported to classes since the earthquake, the other 40 have not been accounted for. Since Easter, classroom activities have resumed, with seven classrooms meeting in the church chapel and two classrooms under an almond tree.”
Rev Torchon said that so far he has helped to raise about £15,000 for the appeal.
He said: “They are building as we speak and they have started the foundations and put up some of the structure but the work will stop soon as they don’t have any money.
“It is important that the work on the school, and an orphanage we are also building, continues.”
When the school is built, plans are in place for a supplemented food programme and further education on tsunamis, earthquakes, hurricanes and the environment.
A total of around £112,000 is needed to complete the school and even more to begin work on an orphanage.
He added: “My family are helping with the effort and everyone is really pulling together. I am just about to ship a 20ft container of goods to help too.
“It is important that people remember the people of Haiti - look at their needs and help in the best way that they can.”
To contribute to the aid effort send a cheque made out to ‘Wirral Methodist Church Fundraising Activity’ to 55 Dawpool Drive, Bromorough, CH62 6DG. Or call 0151 334 1772.