St. Pierre Claver Catholic Church has stood at the heart of Dory, a rural community in Maniche, in southern Haiti for more than 67 years. It's where I was baptized, where my family worshipped, and where our community has gathered for Mass, weddings, funerals, and every major moment of life for as long as anyone can remember.
On August 14, 2021, a magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck southern Haiti. St. Pierre Claver was badly damaged, and it has remained unusable ever since. For over four years, the people of Dory have been worshipped God in an unsecured tent. When it's raining, they don't have any place to worship or to celebrate any other services.
Rebuilding this Church isn't just about repairing a structure, it's about giving our community back a place to gather, grieve, celebrate, and hold onto their Faith. And also, this Church by being the biggest building in our community, we used it as a shelter to house people. I remember in 1989, I was a young boy, there was a terrible hurricane that struck the southern region of Haiti, people came all over place looking for shelter in that Church and I was one of them.
The people of Dory are poor, but they are very Hospitalier. We're raising Funds to rebuild St Pierre Claver Church so Dory' Churchgoers can worship safely again. The estimate cost of this reconstruction is approximately $ 700,000. Every donation large or small will bring us closer to that goal.
Thank you for standing with the people of Dory in this difficult moment. See pictures down. God bless you.
St. Pierre Claver Church Before
St. Pierre Claver Now
