By Dan Spalding
News Now Warsaw
WARSAW — Lindsay Anderson Fillippe had a whirlwind weekend.
The Chapman Lake native who runs a Christian school in Haiti, had been home for a few months, unable to return to Haiti due to violence that had erupted in Port-au-Prince last year and led to the ouster a political leader as gangs took control across the capital city.
But on Saturday, hours after helping oversee a trail trek fundraiser for the school in Winona Lake, she jumped on a plane to the island nation in time to see her latest group of students graduate.
Best of all, the weekend fundraiser, with the support of a $10,000 matching grant, was able to generate $20,000 for the school.
Much like the trail trek, life in Haiti — and progress with the school — have faced obstacles.
The school, HSM — short for “Heart Soul Mind Strength” — opened seven years ago.
“These past two years, despite Haiti being very crazy, we were super blessed to launch a campaign to build a school,” she said Friday while in Warsaw.
Despite ongoing turmoil in the poverty-stricken country, school leaders finished construction of a new facility with 12 classrooms — big enough to serve 175 students.
Soon after opening last year, the school closed because of a violent uprising in Port Au Prince that paralyzed much of the country for months.
Voice of America reported there were nearly 5,000 homicides in Haiti last year, more than double in 2022, a United Nations report said.
Earlier this year, there was an effort to establish a transitional presidential council as well as an effort to appoint an interim prime minister.
At the same time, a Kenyan peacekeeping coalition arrived, but Anderson Fillipe said she believed gangs remained in control.
HSMS is located in Jérémie on the western edge of Haiti’s southwest peninsula.
Anderson Fillippe was eager to return in time to participate in the graduation and did it just hours before the ceremony.
While she understands how bad the conditions are, she also tends to set aside concern about the violence, saying the worst of that remains in Port-au-Prince.
“It has been like this for three years,” she said.
Earlier this year, her concerns were heightened temporarily after learning that two missionaries from the United States who were well-established inside the country, were killed.
While it caused a moment of pause, Anderson Fillippe’s intentions remained undaunted.
“I would always like to think that since I’ve been there so long, everybody knows me, but you can’t please everyone. Even Jesus had people who hated him,” she said.
The school was shut during the height of chaos in January and February and classes were then extended afterward to make up for lost time, she said.
