Projects - Kayimit Chapel

Kayimit Chapel

Kayimit Chapel is located near the intersection of the Gros Monre to Port-de-Paix road and the turn-off to head to Pendus. The original chapel there had a concrete floor and concrete walls and a tin roof, but it was old and very small in size -- about 18' by 30'.

Money was sent to build a new chapel on the same site as the old one in early 2004. The new chapel is beautiful -- and spacious! It is about 30' by 70' with concrete floors, walls and a new tin roof. There is a glass cross built into top over the entry into the front of the chapel. This chapel is named "Our Lady of the Rosary.” Inside, there are four complete rosaries painted around the top of the walls that completely encircle the worship space. Dr Jim Bayley and his wife Eileen sent a statute of "Our Lady of the Rosary" with us on our May 2004.

It was a very good thing this chapel was renovated when it was. On our December 2004 trip, our group flew from Port-au-Prince to Port-de-Paix and was going to drive to Pendus. There had been a lot of rain at that time making the Pendus River impassable, the river to Gros Morne impassable and the Twa Riviere impassable. This meant we were cut off from going north, east and south. It was too late in the day (and too muddy) to make it back to Port-de-Paix so we had to spend the night inside this new chapel. We simply turned the pews around facing each other to make a wooden bed. Several of the local women brought us sheets and pillows we could use to sleep on and to cover ourselves. There is no electricity or running water and only a small outhouse.

Martial is the sacristan at Kayimit. He has presented our later groups with songs he has written thanking St. Mary for helping their chapel and community. He also showed us a small, three-room school he has built on his personal property with the salvaged material from the old Kayimit Chapel. The ingenuity of the Haitian people is incredible.

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