Haiti Historical Summary

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In 1987, when Father Richard Frechette was collaborating with Nuestros Pequenos Hermanos y Hermanas in Honduras and Mexico, he was asked to expand the work for homeless and abandoned children to the Republic of Haiti. After several exploratory visits, he established what grew to be an orphanage and school for 900 children, and a 100-bed pediatric hospital. The orphanage, whose educational program is run by the Salesian Sisters, is located in Kenscoff and is named St. Helene Home, a name chosen by the benefactor who purchased a former estate for Nuestros Pequenos Hermanos v Hermanas. The hospital, an abandoned hotel in Petionville, is called St. Damien Hospital for Children. After six years in Haiti, Father Frechette studied medicine in New York and became a licensed physician in 1998, practicing medicine ever since in the slums of Port-au-Prince in collaboration with the Missionaries of Charity. Numerous Passionists, lay volunteers, and benefactors from the United States have supported this venture.

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