The St. Joseph Home for Boys, an orphanage for young boys found abandoned on the streets of Port-au-Prince, was destroyed by the Jan. 12 earthquake in Haiti. Boys from the orphanage were in the Toledo area for a week in early October and performed as part of the Resurrection Dance Theater of Haiti. All boys survived the disaster. (Photo courtesy of Sylvania Franciscan Sisters)

Sylvania Franciscan Sisters Fidelis Rubbo and Josephine Dybza work with Haitian residents in Pestel, a village about 100 miles west of Port-au-Prince, the epicenter of the devastating earthquake.

Sr. Rubbo said they felt tremors for about eight seconds a little after 5 p.m., but there was no major damage where she lives. Ironically, the two sisters were planning to go to Port-au-Prince that day, but had not yet left when the earthquake struck. Because the earthquake disrupted communication services, it was not until later that night that sisters in Sylvania got word that their two community members in Haiti were safe.

“We had been told our two sisters were going to Port-au-Prince on Tuesday,” said Sister Diana Lynn Eckel, congregational minister for the Sylvania Franciscans. “We became concerned when we saw the evening news about the earthquake. It wasn’t until about 10 p.m. that we got an e-mail from Sr. Fidelis saying they were safe and staying at the Rectory in Pestel with an area priest.”

Sr. Rubbo called Sylvania by telephone the evening of Jan. 13 to give an update about two orphanages in Port-au-Prince that have connections to the Toledo area. The St. Joseph’s Home for Boys, an orphanage for young boys found abandoned on the streets of Port-au-Prince, and Wings of Hope, a home for mentally and physically challenged children and young adults, both were severely damaged in the earthquake.

Sr. Rubbo said, fortunately, all the boys escaped unharmed. Only one administrator was hurt when he had to jump from the collapsed roof of one of the buildings.

Boys from the St. Joseph orphanage were in the Toledo area for a week in early October and performed as part of the Resurrection Dance Theater of Haiti. They performed at the Lourdes College Franciscan Center and other locations in the area and are part of a twinning program with Toledo Little Flower.

Sr. Rubbo and Sr. Dybza work with Haitians around the small town of Pestel, providing medical care and health education to residents in 14 villages in the surrounding area. When Sr. Rubbo first went there 10 years ago there was no organized medical care in the area. They now have two clinics open in the area and a registered nurse, an LPN and an assistant visit all of the villages to examine residents. A few times a year, doctors come to the area to see patients. Those with serious needs must go to Port-au-Prince for care.