Table of Contents
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Welcome To
St. Mary's Parish
263 Hamilton Street
Southbridge MA
01550-1876
(508) 764-3226
Fraternite des
Juenes
The Fraternite des Juenes was started as a
mission by the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, a religious order of
priests, based out of Lowell, MA that has been working in Haiti for
many years. It was founded to house and educate young boys
orphaned and abandoned in the streets of Les Cayes. There is
no equivalent for girls in Les Cayes, because the need is not the
same. Most of these boys are either orphaned or abandoned by
their families who cannot afford to provide for them; girls and
their ability at domestic and household chores are more easily
placed in other settings outside their natural home.
In January, 2000, a group from our parish led by Fr. Ken
Cardinale, our Associate Pastor then, made our first parish visit
and worked on the walls in preparation for painting. At the
same time, a corrugated metal roof on the building was replaced with
a cement roof.
The following is an effort to give a visual tour of this special
place that is home to our extended family of the boys at FJ.
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| The front area and entrance to FJ.
The public street is the right beyond a wall with a gate for
security. |
The dining area for the boys,
which is housed separately from the rest of the
quarters. Above this room is a private room for the
director and his family. |
The latrine at the back of the
house. FJ is just beyond on the right side of the photo;
this wall is for the study room. |
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| A view of the area where their
showers, laundry and kitchen are located. |
A closer view of the cooking area
which is in the right corner of the picture at the left. |
A close up of the showers, the
laundry area is beyond. |
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| A view of the chapel before we
start. |
The main hallway. To the
right is the dormitory, ahead is the chapel, and to the left
is the parlor and study room. |
A closer view of the
chapel. Beyond the window (which was originally a door)
is the public street. |
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| A view of the parlor before we
started. |
The same room after we had
completed our effort. |
Another view of the sitting room
where we visit the boys. |
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| While waiting for the paint to
arrive, we use the study room to teach some songs in Spanish. |
The boys enjoyed learning the
pronunciation and singing the melodies! |
A view of the completed study
room looking toward the back of the house. |
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A before (left) and after (right)
view of the same corner of their dormitory. No wonder
they were dancing when we were done! |
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| A view of the front corner of the
dormitory that is nearest the street. |
Another view once the furniture
is in place and the beds neatly made for our visit. |
An inspection of our completed
work also showing the lockers for their clothing and personal
items. |
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