"Believe in Me. I told you, Believe."

At Saint Barthélémy School, depending on whether you are a student, a teacher, or staff member, July and August have two different aspects. If you belong to the first two categories (student or teacher), you can enjoy a nice vacation; however if you belong to the other category, you must continue working hard to plan the school year which begins the first week of September.

This is a very special time, and one that challenges our faith. Planning the school year not only involves writing the curriculum but also interviewing and recruiting new teachers or other staff members, as well as preparing the new budget. It is a lot of work that is also an act of faith. It’s the time that we must kneel and pray most intently to ask our Lord, our Provider, to send us the means to meet the budget’s requirements and to put the right people on our path.

Providing a good education to more than a thousand children with limited resources is no easy task. This is only possible with the direct intervention of the Lord. He has always done it in the past, therefore, this year will be no exception. The social and economic situation in Haiti is getting worse these days and everybody is affected, especially the poor members of our community, whose children cannot attend school. Our mission at Saint Barthélémy is to make sure that these children have a quality education as well as the more fortunate ones.

We want to thank you, our great supporters, for the way you keep the work alive by providing scholarships to our students. The good news is, as the school year is about to begin, we have already registered more than seventy new students. The challenge we face is the need to increase the salary of our teachers and other staff, as the cost of living is increasing rapidly in our country. Furthermore, there is repair and maintenance sorely needed in our school facility and classrooms.

We’re encouraging you to be an Ambassador of Saint Barthélémy by spreading the word to your friends, and by motivating a relative to sponsor a child, the hope and future of Haiti. May the Lord continue to bless you.

In His Name,

Father Bruno

Father Bruno with marching band maestro, Richley Pierre. The band won 2nd prize in a music competition. Congrats!

Sponsor a student for less than $1 a day!

Education is the key to Haiti’s future. For just $300 year, you can provide education, health care, and a nutritious lunch each school day to a child in desperate need. Visit our website to set up easy installments of $25/month or a single payment of $300. In the blink of an eye, you can make a difference that will last a lifetime.

The 12th graders' end-of-year party with Rheto News, a magazine they created.

Meet Dr. Louima

Since October of 2018, Clinique Espérance et Vie has been under the skilled direction of Bendson Louima, physician and general surgeon. Aside from his role as Medical Direc- tor of CEV, he also serves as the Assistant Head of General Surgery at Sarcé Coeur Hospital in northern Haiti, and Professor of General Surgery at both the State University of Haiti in Limonade and University Hospital Justinian in Cap-Haitien.

Despite these many accomplishments, Louima, like most Haitians, comes from humble beginnings. He is one of 10 children born to a family of modest means in Mombétte, a rural section of Port-de-Paix in northwest Haiti. He was fortunate enough to attend school and continue on to university, an accomplishment less than 1% of high school graduates have an opportunity to do. Not only is he the only doctor in his family, he’s the only one in his hometown of roughly 28,000 people.

Louima studied medicine at University Notre Dame de Haiti in Port-au-Prince before specializing in general surgery at University Hospital Justinian in Cap-Haitien and graduating in 2009. Along the way, he completed additional training in Belgium, France, and the United States.

On a fortuitous day In November 2008, long-time friend Dr. Harold Durand Fils, brought Louima to Terrier Rouge where he was introduced to Father Jean Monique Bruno. At that time, Father Bruno was hosting an American volunteer team led by Dr. Berry Rice, founder of Clinique Espérance et Vie. Louima was fortunate enough to witness the inauguration of the Clinique in 2008 and its opening in February 2009. Since that day, Dr. Louima has become part of the Clinique family, both as a consultant and physician on duty. His friendship with Dr. Rice has also been a special collaboration. They were together during the earthquake on January 12, 2010, a day that will never be forgotten in Haiti. Driven by what they witnessed in the aftermath of the earthquake, between 2011-2012 he and Dr. Rice designed the plans to add a second story to the Clinique with the vision of expanding the services offered to include maternity care, gynecology, pediatrics, emergency care, ophthal- mology, dental service, general medicine, physiotherapy, general surgery, and orthopedic services.

After Dr. Rice’s retirement in 2013, Dr. Louima held the position of Medical Director of the Clinic from 2014-2015 before leaving to gain greater surgical experience at University Hospital Justinian. The Clinique was never far from his heart, however, and he returned in October of last year with the same steadfast vision - to give the community of Terrier Rouge healthcare that will serve as the gold standard for all of northeast Haiti. With Dr. Louima at the helm, the Clinique is seeing the fruition of the dreams he shared with Dr. Berry Rice a decade ago. We feel blessed to have such a dedicated visionary as Dr. Louima Louima at the helm of Clinique Espérance et Vie and look forward to many more years of serving the community of Terrier Rouge!