County Residents Aided Haiti Before Earthquake

COURT HOUSE — A number of local residents have been involved in aiding Haiti before last week’s earthquake.
Cape May County has a village of homes bearing its name in Bord de Mer, Haiti. It is located some distance from Port-au-Prince on Haiti’s North Atlantic Coast and may have survived the temblor with minimal damage. The village began as a social justice project Our Lady of the Angels Roman Catholic Church in Court House.
Initially, 13 concrete block homes were constructed to replace homes made of dirt, sticks and tin. A number of local organizations participated in fund raising projects for the village including Cape Express Soccer, Wildwood Catholic High School students, Friends Meeting House in Seaville, students and staff of Bishop McHugh Catholic High School, Cape May Rotary Club, County Technical School, Avalon residents, Cape May National Golf Club, Cape May City Elementary School and Star of the Sea School.
County residents raised enough funding last year for 333 students to attend school in Bord der Mer. Food for the Poor supplied 26 goats, 12 cows and one bull.
Bob Mullock, owner of Cape May’s Chalfonte Hotel and Cape May National Golf Club has made several trips to Cape May Village in Bord de Mer. He said the one of the greatest needs in Haiti has been a lack of infrastructure such as water and sewer lines.
He said huts and homes have been constructed very close together in Haiti. Mullock said it is very difficult for Haiti’s government to complete infrastructure projects because of the resistance of residents to having their homes torn down or moved.
“They have the opportunity now because so many of the buildings are damaged,” he said.
In many parts of Haiti there are open ditches of sewage and a problems getting fresh water, said Mullock.
Haitians are good at constructing homes and new construction provides jobs, he said. He said homes were built in Cape May County Village for $5,000 each.
Mullock, who has also visited Somalia, said Haiti was the most impoverished place he has visited. He described Haiti as densely populated with no basic services.
He recalls visiting a one-room schoolhouse where he delivered pens, pencils and crayons donated by Wildwood Catholic High School. Mullock said the teacher gave each child one crayon instead of an entire box and saved the rest.
“If you’re dealing with some countries and calling them third world, this is the fourth world,” he said. “If anything good comes from the earthquake it is that there is a window of opportunity to put in the infrastructure that they can put in otherwise…”
Mullock took six large duffel bags from Wildwood Catholic High School filled with clothes, shoes and school supplies to Haiti. After boarding a small plane, the pilot told him the duffel bags were too heavy for the plane and they would have to be left behind and sent along later by bus.
At the time, Mullock believed he would never see the bags again because the contents were so valuable. Day after day Mullock and a priest would meet the incoming bus and find no duffel bags.
The day before Mullock was to leave Haiti, the six duffel bags arrived.
He called Port-au-Prince “a tough city,” where everyone is poor and struggling.
“I found the people to be wonderful and respectful and very religious,” said Mullock.
Among the problems plaguing Haiti is deforestation causing mudslides after heavy rain. The rainfall also causes open ditches of sewage to overflow in the streets which residents are walking through, said Mullock.
He said he is aware how much effort churches from all over the United States have put into aiding Haiti. Mullock said Haiti is close enough to the U.S. to be able to take shoes, clothing and equipment by ship.