SPOKANE-- Saint John’s Cathedral in Spokane is working to build an elementary school in Haiti.
Last year members of the church visited the site of the school, which was in need of repair, now they are worried it was another casualty of the earthquake.
Members of Saint John's are trying to figure out how to best help victims of the earthquake, but at this point too much is unknown.
The images of despair coming out of Haiti are horrific.
The earthquake has suspended all the ongoing relief efforts within the country following recent hurricanes and floods.
One of those efforts is a school 30 miles outside of Port-Au-Prince.
It is funded by Saint John’s Episcopal Cathedral in Spokane.
As of Wednesday night, members don’t know if the school is still standing or if anyone survived.
The Dean of Saint John’s Cathedral, Bill Ellis says even the people in the diocese of Haiti do not know the extent of the damage to their own facilities or the causalities of the Episcopalians to their own people.
88 students from preschool to fourth grade attended the school.
Last may was the last time Dean Ellis saw the school.
He says at the time, there wasn’t much more than an 800 square foot room made of un-enforced concrete with only two blackboards.
He says there was nothing in that building that could have withstood the force of an earthquake.
It’s a school parents in the village say was desperately needed to educate their children, so Saint John’s was working to build a sturdy structure.
Right now all Dean Ellis knows is the Episcopal Cathedral in Port-Au-Prince was leveled.
He says this tragedy won’t stop their commitment to build the school. It is just going to take a lot longer to get it done.
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