IND works with alumna to help Haiti
In an effort to help the people of Haiti, IND is communicating with alumna Kathryn “KC” Bersch ’98 who lives and works outside Port-au-Prince. KC, pictured below, is the director of education at Wings of Hope, a home for severely handicapped, formerly abandoned children.
Wings of Hope is part of the St. Joseph Community, which includes the St. Joseph’s Home for Boys in Port-au-Prince, Wings of Hope in Fermathe, and Trinity House in Jacmel. KC has dedicated her life to caring for the children of Wings of Hope, beginning her outreach mission in 2004.
Coincidentally, KC had recently written IND about her mission. She sent an e-mail to IND Vice Principal Mrs. Diana Franz on November 13, 2009. She described working with a Mercy High School graduate, Karen Buchheister, who volunteered at Wings of Hope with KC over the summer.
“As an IND alumna, this is a work that I am happy to share with Mercy,” explained KC. “Rivalries are fun and innocent, but when it comes down to real life, both Mercy and IND have a grand history of forming young girls into women with strong resolve to affect the world.”
KC Bersch '98 (right) with Mercy Class of 2007 alumna Karen Buchheister in summer 2009
KC’s thoughts are much more poignant now that Haiti is forever changed by this devastating earthquake. Read her entire e-mail about working with Karen below.
Currently IND is collecting monetary donations to send to Wings of Hope with plans for a clothing collection in late spring and summer.
A fundraiser for Wings of Hope and Catholic Relief Services will be held Sunday, January 24 from 3-8 p.m. at the Fado Irish Pub in Annapolis. For more information, call 443.928.7811.
Donations for St. Joseph Community, which includes Wings for Hope, may be sent to Hearts with Haiti, 11503 Springfield Pike, Cincinnati, Ohio 45246. For more information, go to www.heartswithhaiti.org.
Read recent news articles about KC:
Towson Times, January 17, 2010
The Catholic Review, January 21, 2010
To: IND
From: KC Bersch '98
November 13, 2009
I graduated from IND in 1998. I recently felt compelled to write this. It is very hard for me to participate in alumnae activities being so far away, but the students and memories of my time in high school are never far from my thoughts. I wrote this for the students, and hope you will be able to share it in any way you feel fit. Thanks.
As I sit here on my mountaintop home in Haiti, the sun just setting and a cool breeze blowing over me, I reflect on the past activities of the summer of 2009. A reoccurring thought comes me, something I never in my whole life believed I would find myself saying, "I worked with a Mercy girl, and I liked it!!" Wait, girls, don’t turn the paper over. Continue to read the most beautiful of stories.
I live and work at a home for severely disabled children in Haiti, who have been abandoned and cast out by their families and society. Where once they were left to die, these children are lovingly brought into a family that affirms them, values them, and teaches them that “with God, all things are possible” in their lives. It is a simple life, in many ways a poor life, but a life full of joy and wonder. I am privileged and humbled to say that my love for the people of Haiti began as a junior at IND. The leadership and faculty of IND not only allowed me to voyage to Haiti but encouraged me. Some people say that you either love Haiti or hate it, there is no in between. As I reflect on the beginnings of my life in Haiti, I realize that my time at IND could very well have closed the door. The principal’s office could have declared that taking a week off of school to visit a third world country was not only unacceptable but dangerous. The staff could have dissuaded me, and my fellow students could have ignored me. The exact opposite happened. The doors were wide open for me to go; the religion department was especially good to me. I recall that there was a spirit of faith that believed in such crazy ideals like servant leadership, giving up your life for others, seeing the face of Christ in your enemies, and walking the battle lines of poverty to make change.
It is this very spirit of tenacity and gentleness that I found in Karen Buchheister, Mercy High School alumna Class of 2007, who spent a summer of volunteer work at Wings of Hope. Karen came to Wings with a project in hand, a type of touch therapy that deals mainly with sensory stimulation and massage. Karen was given a caseload of difficult children, who could hardly walk, talk, or respond, but she willingly took them on. Karen worked with these children with such tenderness and compassion in a country foreign to her and in a language she did not know, her very hands being transformed into the hands of God. One could not help but be touched and changed. Her work with them has been etched into their spirit and I am sure Karen will never be the same!
As an IND alumna, this is a work that I am happy to share with Mercy. Rivalries are fun and innocent, but when it comes down to real life, both Mercy and IND have a grand history of forming young girls into women with strong resolve to affect the world. From the Caribbean to our very back yards in Baltimore, we IND and Mercy girls do not see with the same eyes as the rest of the world. We have been called to greatness. As you walk through the halls on your way to class, remember this: By the very fact that you attend IND or Mercy, from the heart of Our Lord to your very destiny, YOU have been called to greatness. My story, Karen’s story is your story, as well.
-KC Bersch ’98
“I have believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.”
Psalm 27: 13
