CRS Speaker To Come to Manhattan and Discuss Haiti on March 29

Dr. Jude Marie Banatte, head of programming for Catholic Relief Services (CRS), is coming to Manhattan on Tuesday, March 29, 2011, at 4:00 p.m. in the Alumni Room of O’Malley Library to present Strengthening Haiti ~ After the Earthquake. CRS is the official international humanitarian agency of the U.S. Catholic community.

Immediately after last year’s devastating earthquake, Banatte and a CRS team from the Les Cayes office in the southern part of Haiti loaded their trucks with emergency supplies and navigated the treacherous rubble-strewn roads to the epicenter of the quake and Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince. As soon as Banatte and his team arrived in Port-au-Prince, they went to Hospital St. Francois de Sales, the city’s main medical facility, to recover medical supplies and get the hospital running again.

Banatte has worked for CRS for 11 years serving in southern Haiti, managing large scale agricultural and health development projects. He considers himself fortunate not to have lost immediate family members and to have the opportunity to contribute to rebuilding his country.

For more information or to schedule a classroom visit, contact Lois Harr in campus ministry and social action, by phone at ext. 7142 or e-mail lois.harr@manhattan.edu.