Page 20 - 37-Fall 2013

Building a

Beautiful Dream

Shirley Tseng & Fay Chou | Translated by Colin Legerton

his is an incredible building. it will become days after the earthquake. “So many schools
a landmark in Haiti,” mused Overseas collapsed in Haiti. Too many public schools
TEngineering and Construction Co. (OECC) were in need of help, and St. Anne’s schools
Deputy General Manager David Chang as he are private. At first, we were struggling to
gazed at the five-story building standing tall decide which schools to rebuild. But we really
atop the hillside on the outskirts of Port-au- hoped that the schools we would rebuild could
Prince—one of the buildings that Tzu Chi rebuilt nurture talented people. If we had chosen to
for the Sisters of St. Anne, part of an educational rebuild a public school, we would have no
complex built to withstand 8.0-magnitude way of knowing whether the school would
earthquakes. With a total area of 91,924 square make the best use of the structure we would
feet, the complex of steel-framed buildings is provide. Canada Tzu Chi volunteers went to
Haiti’s largest in total area. visit St. Anne’s headquarters in Montreal so
that we could know more about them, and
In the earthquake of January 12, 2010, more these volunteers came to understand that the
than three hundred thousand were killed and Sisters of St. Anne attach great importance to
as many buildings were destroyed. As Tzu Chi education in all the places where they operate
volunteers quickly set out to provide immediate schools, including Canada, Haiti, and Africa.
relief, they also sought opportunities for long- After careful consideration, we finally decided
term rebuilding projects. Volunteer James Chen to rebuild St. Anne’s schools.”
was one of those tasked with the search, so he
set out bright and early each morning to visit Because Collège Marie-Anne is such a
schools and clinics all around the Port-au-Prince valued school in Haiti, the government provided
area, seeking ones that Tzu Chi could rebuild. temporary classrooms after the earthquake so
that the school’s fifteen hundred students could
William Keh, then-CEO of Tzu Chi, had led continue to learn. When Tzu Chi volunteers first
the first volunteer team into Haiti just nine expressed their intent to rebuild Collège Marie-

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