PENTECOST 2010
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Around the Diocese Upper SC ministries in Haiti receive 2010 UTO grant For the second consecutive year Upper South Carolina’s ministries in Cange and environs on Haiti’s Central Plateau have received a United Thank Offering (UTO) grant from the Episcopal Church Women. This year’s grant of approximately $70,000 is earmarked for the vocational school Upper South Carolina is currently building at Cange. Last year’s award of more than $60,000 went to the ongoing restoration and enhancement of the aging water system that is the foundation of all the life-giving ministries under way at Cange. The 2010 funding will advance the vocational school project—the first floor of the facility is already in place—by providing classrooms where Haitian women will receive training in the production of Nourimil and Nourimanba, two super-nutritional products now being used to combat the ever present problem of malnutrition in Haiti. The training will ultimately create jobs for the women, who will also receive training in home economics and instruction in correct nutrition and hygiene.
Artisans’ Center quilt wins recognition in international 2011 “Dream Rocket” competition. By Jackie Williams The Artisans’ Center at Cange, an outgrowth of our 30+ years of diocesan ministry on Haiti’s Central Plateau that offers employment to local seamstresses and artists, has been recognized for its recent submission to the global “Dream Rocket” project. The project is sponsoring an international competition whose goal is to create a massive quilt that will wrap around a replica of NASA’s historic Saturn V Rocket standing in front of the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Entrants were asked to submit a 2’ x 2’ quilt square representative of their dream for a better future. The Artisans’ Center contribution depicts a simple Haitian scene —a little house, palm tree, animals—and expresses the dream “as a longing just for a normal life, away from the squalor and rubble of earthquake-ruined Port au Prince. All we ask is a simple home, a bit of shade, a pig, a donkey....” The entry will be displayed at many sites, virtual and otherwise, including on facebook (www.facebook.com/pages/The-Dream-Rocket/114636921363). The Dream Rocket quilt in its entirety will be unveiled in May 2011, in commemoration of President John F. Kennedy’s May 25, 1961, pledge to “land a man on the moon and returning him safely to earth.” Christ Church parishioner Ms. Jackie Williams now makes her home in Cange, where she manages the Artisans’ Center.
Midlands congregations raise more than $20,000 for Cange By Mary-Gray Rauscher and Eleanor Whitehead With less than two months between its first meeting and the actual event, the committee to plan a benefit for Cange, Haiti, established two goals and a four-part challenge. The goals: to raise awareness of the critical needs in Cange, where Upper South Carolina has been in ministry for more than 30 years, and to raise $5,000, or if possible $10,000, for the diocesan Bread and Water Campaign for Cange. And the challenge: Think boldly ~ Pray boldly ~ Work hard ~ It will happen.
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A group of eleven members from churches in the Midlands Convocation set about thinking and praying boldly and working hard. Enthusiasm spread, and essentials quickly fell into place. Donations to cover the expenses of the event were received immediately. Churches offered their facilities and the assistance of members. Andrella Brunson, kitchen coordinator at Trinity Cathedral, offered her services in food preparation with a team of helpers. Carrie Graves, director of the Trinity Bookstore, offered to set up and staff a display of Haiti-related books and other items for sale. Robin Smith, of Art By Robin, designed the poster and other publicity materials and gave additional assistance. Harry Morse, M.D., who has led medical work trips to Cange since 1983, and Earl Burch, chairperson of the Bread and Water Campaign, agreed to dash to Columbia between professional obligations to speak at the benefit, sharing up-to-the-minute photos and information about the circumstances and urgent needs at the village of Cange. Specifics of the plan emerged. The committee would host a Wine and Cheese Benefit at St. Martin’s-in-the-Fields, Columbia, on May 16, with the theme of “All Life Requires Water.” Right away two committee members offered to obtain the wine. Another donated funds for live music and secured the Roger Pemberton Trio to play. Others offered to provide food. Paul Palmer, photographer and graphic designer, donated his services to take photos of the event. (See them at http://ptpalmer.com/lightroom/2010_05_16_bw_wt/.) A team of workers from St. Martin’s and St. Michael and All Angels’ volunteered to set up and clean up the parish house, and others joined them. The committee continued to think boldly and to pray boldly, and to work hard. Then from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. on Sunday, May 16, it happened. Guests celebrated past accomplishments of the work in Cange. The speakers reviewed the dire status of the aging water project and described the critical need for clean water. Hearts were touched. A spirit of generosity was evident. Bishop-elect Andrew Waldo addressed the crowd and closed his remarks with a prayer of thanksgiving and a blessing. By press time, the total that had been generated for the Bread and Water Campaign was $20,514.33. Gifts continue to arrive. Members of the committee wish to thank all who made the benefit for Cange a success, with appreciation to all who attended and supported the event. Mss. Mary-Gray Rauscher and Eleanor Whitehead co-chaired the Benefit for Cange.
York Place celebrates Founders Day, welcomes bishop-elect By Phyllis Webb What does a bishopelect do before his consecration? He gets to know his diocese and anticipates taking on his role as bishop. Founders Day at York Place, Sunday, May 2, helped him with both. Founders Day celebrates a ministry that God Bishop-elect Waldo and Mary Waldo pose with the Rev. Michael G. Hub, chair of the York Place Board of Trustees, at Founders Day. has richly blessed. It honors York Place’s founding in 1850 as a home for widows and orphans in Charleston. In 1910 the Orphans’ Mission moved to its current location in York. It remained an orphanage until 1969 and now is a residential treatment center for boys and girls with emotional disabilities. York Place serves not only children but also their families. This Founders Day not only celebrated the alumni, children, and staff of York Place, but welcomed the Rev. W. Andrew Waldo, our bishop-elect, and his wife Mary, as well. Participants in the day were blessed to have him as celebrant for the Holy Eucharist. He was able to see the children, hear them play bells during communion, and do their spiritual dance. A very special guest was a 92-year-old woman who is an alumna of the orphanage.