Catholic nuns from Canada and Haiti visited Taiwan yesterday to pay tribute to a Buddhist foundation that has helped with the rebuilding of areas in Haiti destroyed by a massive earthquake in 2010.
“It’s just so refreshing to work with a group that truly cares about other people,” said Rita Larivee of Canada’s Congregation of the Sisters of Saint Anne.
“It was so easy for people to come once, but they did not come back,” Larivee said, adding that, unlike the Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation, a lot of volunteers did not keep their promises to return to Haiti to help out.
Larivee’s organization, which has been operating in Haiti for about 60 years, began cooperating with Tzu Chi to reconstruct three local schools this year, two years after the devastating earthquake that cost as many as 300,000 lives and destroyed thousands of homes.
On Jan. 21, the two religious organizations held a groundbreaking ceremony at College Marie-Anne in Port-au-Prince.
Despite coming from different religious backgrounds, the sister said that she had encountered no barriers since they both shared a common mission — to ensure that Haitian children receive an education.
“We share the same values and we are committed to the same people that need help,” said Lucille Goulet, another sister from the congregation.
“It is not an easy job,” Haitian Ambassador to Taiwan Mario Chouloute said in a speech about the situation his country is facing.
He thanked the two groups for their continuous efforts to provide a better life for Haitians.
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