Media Article

Banagher Nun survives Haiti Earthquake

Taken from the Midland Tribune, 21st January 2010

A Banagher nun was one of the survivors of the enormous and tragic earthquake which struck the Haitian city of Port-au-Prince last week.

Sister Helen Ryder is from the La Sainte Union convent in Banagher and she has worked in Haiti for over 20 years.

Sr Helen is based in a school in Port-au-Prince, where she teaches. She is one of three La Sainte Union nuns engaged in charity work in the Caribbean country, the other two being from Athlone and Dublin. As well as teaching, the nuns also look after the poor and provide services in centres set up to help those in need.

When the news of the earthquake broke last Wednesday the Banagher convent wasn't initially able to make contact with the three nuns but eventually they were told that all three sisters were safe and well.

Sr Mary in the Banagher convent said Sr Helen was home last summer and they are very worried about her now. 'We have no details at all,' she said, 'but just that they are safe.'
Sr Helen doesn't have any relatives left in the Banagher area. Her parents were teachers in the Banagher locality.

Prior to this earthquake hitting, Sr Helen worked on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince surrounded by makeshift houses in shanty towns constructed by those too poor to afford good standard housing. She was also surrounded by sweatshop factories where innumerable women worked long hours making cheap clothing for the US market.
She was based close to the airport which is presently seeing one of the largest humanitarian relief operations in recent history.

Damien Moran, who is a teacher from Banagher, said he stayed with Sister Helen from January to April 2001 and she set him up with various voluntary initiatives. 'Since then,' he said, 'she has remained a good friend and my key link to news on Haiti and the people I got to know.

'Her work in Haiti is concentrated on being present to the everyday concerns and needs of the community which she is a member of, tutoring in various subjects to aid the educational progress of those who want to develop their skills and gain unemployment while also co-operating with Irish charities and business people interested in aiding a wide variety of projects that benefit the disadvantaged.'

He said the LSU help run a kindergarten and primary school in Port-au-Prince for disadvantaged children in a parish of 30,000 people, opposite the warehouses of the US Food for the Poor agency.

Last August Sister Helen spoke during Mass in Banagher about her work in Haiti. She said the minimum wage in Haiti, for those lucky enough to be employed, is €2.50 per day.
The LSU sisters in Banagher will gladly accept any donations for the people of Haiti and they will be sent directly to Sr Helen Ryder. You may telephone Mary Kenny in LSU Banagher at (057) 91 51319.

Sr Helen receives Personnel Funding from Misean Cara.
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