Published: 2008-07-24
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- There is no argument that Haiti is the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere, with more than 90 percent of the Caribbean country's nearly 9 million inhabitants living in abject poverty and an unemployment rate of about 70 percent. Hundreds of millions of dollars in aid is funneled into Haiti each year collectively from the United Nations, governments around the globe, nonprofit organizations, disaster relief agencies and religious groups, and the country has become a favorite project for Catholics in both the U.S. and Canada. Yet the citizens of this predominately Catholic country continue to suffer as they have for most of its history, which can be tracked to 1492, when it was discovered by Christopher Columbus. Despite what on the surface looks like a devastating lost cause, thousands of dedicated North American Catholics who passionately devote their time, money and energy to their Haiti projects see even the slightest gain in that country as a victory. "We are making a dent and the people involved with our programs do see progress," said Theresa Patterson, executive director of the Parish Twinning Program of the Americas, based in Nashville, Tenn. "It's slow and people understand that. It's certainly enough to make you want to continue." The twinning program oversees 345 parishes from the U.S. and Canada that have adopted churches in Haiti.
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