Edzaire Paul, director of general education for Methodist Church of Haiti (EMH), recalled the words of former Global Ministries president, Bishop Bruce Ough, to the EMH president, Rev. Gesner Paul, in the early days after the earthquake: "UMCOR may not be the first to arrive in Haiti since the earthquake, but we will be the last to leave."
Hailing EMH's partnership with United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR), Edzaire Paul continued, "UMCOR engagement to rebuild New College Bird's destroyed buildings was instrumental at a moment when the [Haitian] people were depressed in the face of so many needs. With UMCOR's help, NCB continues to be a school of reference for Haiti. A Haitian proverb says: "Nou mize nan wout, men nou pote bon nouvel" ("We were a little bit slow in the road, but we brought good news").
On September 5, 2016, representatives of the EMH) and UMCOR celebrated the dedication of a new secondary school building at historic New College Bird (NCB). The new building replaces one of three NCB school buildings that were destroyed by the devastating earthquake of 2010 in Haiti.
NCB, located in Port-au-Prince, the Haitian capital, is today considered the premier Methodist school in Haiti. Enrollment for the 2016 – 2017 academic year, which began in September, is 950 students. When all of the reconstruction is completed, New College Bird will have capacity to serve 1,750 students.
UMCOR has funded the majority of rebuilding costs for New College Bird's two secondary school buildings and will help fund the replacement of the primary school building with a library. EMH has provided the desks, chairs, and other educational equipment for the new facilities. And, at the dedication ceremony, a representative of the NCB alumni group said former students will help furnish the newly completed classrooms, which will serve grades seven through nine.
In 1816, when a ship's captain gained permission from Alexandre Pétion, the second president of Haiti, for the Wesleyan Mission Society in England to send the first Methodist missionaries to Haiti, no one could have predicted that education would become a central part of Methodism's legacy in Haiti. That legacy began with the arrival the following year of the first two missionaries, John Brown and James Catts, who briefly ran a school in Port-au-Prince.
New College Bird is named for Methodist missionary Mark Baker Bird, who served in Haiti from 1839 – 1879. Bird consolidated the foundation for the present-day Methodist school system, which educates 18,000 students in 105 primary and 10 secondary schools across the country.
James L. Gulley, Global Ministries and UMCOR coordinator for Haiti.
One of six churchwide Special Sundays with offerings of The United Methodist Church, UMCOR Sunday calls United Methodists to share the goodness of life with those who hurt. Your gifts to UMCOR Sunday lay the foundation for the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) to share God's love with communities everywhere. The special offering underwrites UMCOR's "costs of doing business." This helps UMCOR to keep the promise that 100 percent of any gift to a specific UMCOR project will go toward that project, not administrative costs.
When you give generously on UMCOR Sunday, you make a difference in the lives of people who hurt. Give now.
