Two Weyburn residents spend most of the year in Haiti working with Haiti Arise, a non-profit organisation, working with Haitians to improve the lives of Haitians.

"Haiti Arise does many things. It's Haitian founded. We help people get to school. We help children get to school. We have a technical school. We have shops where people do various trades. We have a Children's Village where we rescue children and try to put them into homes with Christian mums and dads," Pastor Wade Fitzpatrick, Team Host with Haiti Arise.

Wade is married to Marilyn who partners with him in this work.

"This is a church based organisation and originally started as a church plant. The founders saw the need for helping people develop trades, to give medical care and to educate children and so it has expanded through those avenues over the years," said Marilyn.

Wade also said they have an effective clinic on the Haiti Arise Facility and a goat farm. They hand out micro loans and also dig water wells.

Haiti suffered Hurricane Matthew in 2016, a category five Hurricane, which is reported to destroy around 200,000 homes and shelters.
Haiti Arise went to work to help as many of the people of the region as possible, who had already been made homeless by the Earthquake in 2010. They constructed shelters that cost around CAD$2000.

"They are a home that we created in response to the hurricane. They are 12 by 16. They are a one room house. They are cement block on the bottom framed out on the top and covered in tin, with a tin roof on. We can put one up in about a day and a half," said Wade.

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A completed one room house for a Haitian Family photo, courtesy of Wade and Marilyn Fitzpatrick.

The Fitzpatrick's head back to Haiti next week and are looking forward to it.

"We're going back a little earlier this year. A medical team wanted to come and so we agreed to meet them there. We are going back in two weeks. We have a very busy fall. Usually, we have more specific focused teams come in the fall but this year we have both focused teams and general teams so we will be running from the time we get there till we come back for Christmas," explained Wade.

"We are looking at starting a foundation for another home at our children's village. The need is great, we have a waiting list of kids very much at risk that needs to be rescued and put in homes with families. Also, we are looking at starting foundations for a permanent church," said Marilyn.

The church building in the community is currently made out of ply wood and they are looking to construct one out of concrete.

Marilyn said how the children are almost always extremely malnourished that brings with it other physical illness.

Marilyn continued to explain how there are child slaves in Haiti and Haiti Arise is trying to free children from slavery too.

" One in ten children is given away into slavery situations, and so we are also looking to rescue these children out of these terrible situations," she said.

"So far we've rescued ten out of very destructive situations and long term we hope to build many buildings we can put mums and dads and highly at risk children into which is our long term plan," added Wade.

Wade and Marilyn originally moved to Weyburn in 1989 where Wade was the Lead Pastor of Weyburn Free Methodist Church. They raised their two sons Alex and Scott, in Weyburn. The Family moved to Moose Jaw in 2004. The Wade and Marilyn moved back to Weyburn in 2014.

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Ministry teams working with Haitians on a construction project, photo courtesy of Wade and Marilyn Fitzpatrick.