By Anne Marie Amacher
BETTENDORF — Four priorities have been set for 2013 and beyond for the parish twinning project between St. John Vianney Parish in Bettendorf and Our Lady of the Rosary Parish in Jean Denis, Haiti.
Those priorities are to build a new school, two satellite churches, a new main church, and to establish micro financing programs, said Mike Laas, a member of The Haitian Connection project. He and other members presented a yearly progress report to St. John Vianney Parish after the 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. Masses on April 7.
The existing school building in Jean Denis was poorly built in the 1970s and is falling apart. The classrooms have no windows. The Haitian Connection’s goal is to build a single-story school with the potential to add a second floor in the distant future, if needed. Estimated cost for the building and equipment is $200,000-$250,000. That includes razing the old school and building the new one higher up to avoid flooding.
To read the rest of this article, subscribe to The Catholic Messenger’s e-edition.
