Melrose Resident and Boston Rescue Mission Marathon Partnership Benefits Haitian Town

The Boston Rescue Mission’s 2011 Boston Marathon team is running today’s 115th installment of one of the most storied road race in the world to improve the lives of children in a Haitian town—which happens to be the hometown of a Melrosian. The team is seeking $15,000 in order to rebuild facilities and provide after school activities for children in grades K-8 in the municipality of L’Asile in southwest Haiti.

The project builds on the success of a similar initiative last year.

On January 12, 2010 a devastating earthquake shook the southern portion of Haiti. Centered near the town of Leogane, some 16 miles west of the island nation’s capital of Port-au-Prince, the temblor registered a 7.0 on the Richter scale and caused widespread devastation throughout the country.

Already the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, according to the CIA’s website, the massive quake poured salt on the wounds of a nation that was desperately trying to reverse the effects of decades of government misrule and corruption.

It is thought that some 80 percent of Haitians currently exist below the poverty line, while a staggering 54 percent live in abject poverty.

Nearly a year and a half later, while there has been an outpouring of support from the international community, and billions of dollars pledged in relief, the results have been slow to appear on the ground in Haiti. 

Nowhere is this more apparent than in the small town of L’Asile.

Located in the Anse-a-Veau Arrondissement in the Nippes Department of Haiti, the town of some 30 thousand inhabitants is 200 miles west of Port-au-Prince and around 185 miles from the epicenter of the 2010 earthquake.

The disaster destroyed some 200 homes in the rural village, further exasperating what was already a difficult situation. 

When funds do eventually reach Haiti, it is doubtful much will trickle down to a small village like L’Asile, instead being earmarked for the major urban areas in and around Port-au-Prince, situated closer to the quake’s epicenter.

“They have received nothing,” said Melrose resident Wildie Ceccherini of the people of L’Asile. “They haven’t received a thing as far as aid or relief from the international community.”

Giving back to home

For Ceccherini, the plight of L’Asile is very close to her heart. Ceccherini, who owns Boston Hair Designs near Downtown Crossing, grew up in the tiny town with her family, where the only source of water was an ancient hand pump that delivered contaminated water from a source close to the surface. To get clean water, the residents of L’Asile had to walk to neighboring villages, something that often took hours.

When she heard about the devastating earthquake, Ceccherini immediately knew that the poor inhabitants of her hometown would need help.

“With much of the international community focusing on short-term relief, I dreamed of a longer term solution—the construction of a modern well to bring clean, life-giving water to L’Asile,” Ceccherini said in a press release issued by the Boston Rescue Mission. “I went to work building a network of supporters through my hair salon and connecting with Boston Rescue Mission President and CEO John Samaan.”

Samaan has been involved with non-profit organizations at various levels for over 25 years. He has been cited for his leadership by President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore, Los Angeles mayor Tom Bradley, Boston Mayor Tom Menino, the Boston City Council, the Massachusetts State Senate and the House of Representatives. Samaan received the Boston Celtics Hero Award during the 2007-08 season.

“He’s a man with a big heart,” Ceccherini said of Samaan, whose Boston Rescue Mission is located next door to her salon. “He’s the best of the best. When I told him the situation, he said: ‘I’m going to do whatever I can.’ He started training (for the 2010 Boston Marathon) right away.”

Building on success of wells, funding targets schools

While the rebuilding of L’Asile consumed much of the energies of its inhabitants, Samaan, Ceccherini and the 2010 BRM Boston Marathon team raised over $10,000 to construct four modern wells in L’Asile, providing clean, life-giving water for the community and those nearby.

According to Ceccherini, the wells have restored water to most of the schools in the area.

“Building on last year’s success, we are continuing our work of improving living conditions in L’Asile by working to rebuild and expand school facilities and after school programs as the local school,” said Samaan in the BRM release. “Over two-thirds of the $15 thousand goal has been pledged already.”

Proceeds in excess of the target goal will be allocated to the BRM’s work in greater Boston.

Ceccherini says the construction of facilities for children would have a major impact on the quality of life in the community.

“This year we’re trying to set up after school programs and activities,” she said. “The Children get out of school at 1:30 and have nothing to do. They don’t even have a soccer ball.”

With the landslide presidential victory of popular Haitian musician Michel Martelly last month, there is some reason for optimism—if perhaps tempered by lessons learned from a grim succession of corrupt and ineffectual leaders—as far as Ceccherini is concerned. While the 50-year-old political novice faces significant challenges to reverse mounting joblessness and the stalled earthquake recovery, the people have faith in him. A minor accomplishment in and of itself given the nation’s volatile political climate.

“He does make promises,” Ceccherini said of Martelly’s campaign promises to speed the country’s earthquake recovery. “Most people like him; they believe in him, and hopefully he will be able to work with the Haitian people.”

For more information about the Boston Rescue Mission’s efforts on behalf of L’Asile or its other charity efforts in the Boston area, please visit the Mission’s website.