Haiti earthquake: Northeast Philadelphia priest works to help after recent disaster

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PETIT-TROU-DE-NIPPES, Haiti (WPVI) – Even with a language barrier, he translates the suffering of a Haitian woman as she describes the rubble she sees after a 7.2-magnitude earthquake hit her village on August 14.

Photo of grief and videos of people running through the muddy, flooded streets are among the photos sent to the non-profit organization Hands Together, which has been working in Haiti since 1986 with a Philadelphia native at its head.

Father Tom Hagan moved to Haiti in 1997 to work full time helping people in one of the world’s poorest countries.

“In the area where I work, people eat mud. That’s all they have,” Hagan said.

It’s a far cry from where he grew up.

“I grew up in the Northeast (Philadelphia) and went to a high school called Father Judge,” he said with a smile.

While traveling to different parts of the United States to raise money for “Hands Together”, Father Hagan was away from Haiti when the recent earthquake struck.

He’s trying to get back there now with memories of the 2010 earthquake, which he experienced himself, still on his mind.

“I still wake up at night sometimes thinking about it,” he said.

This time, the earthquake damaged a different area.

“Most of them were simple dwellings that collapsed,” Hagan said. “The problem is that it’s the same area that hurricanes always hit.”

It’s an area he knows well through his work with Hands Together. Hagan describes how he was stopped by gunmen and gangs terrorizing people across the country when they do something as simple as bring a convoy of supplies to a remote area.

Hands Together trains and employs Haitians, supervises water well drilling projects and funds more than a dozen schools.

“We now have 15 schools and we are the only free schools in the country,” Hagan said.

He often does his job alongside Hands Together CEO Douglas Campbell. Lafayette College alumni implemented a service project that inspired Hagan to create Hands Together decades ago.

“I would say our roots are very deep there (in Haiti),” Campbell said.

This is why Campbell and Hagan knew that the response to the latest earthquake had to be quick.

“After the first earthquake (in 2010), we were able to help people right away, within minutes,” Hagan said.

With the recent earthquake making national headlines, Hagan wants to remind everyone that Haiti still needs help. Many still have not recovered from the earthquake in 11 years.

Hands Together has won the support of people and parishes across the country, including his hometown of Philadelphia.

“There are good, good people in Philadelphia,” he said.

Hands Together is helping the people of Haiti recover from disaster by providing everything from basics to extras that can help rebuild. This includes what the organization calls “small grants” of $250.

“You give the woman at home $250…you’ll know what to do with it,” Campbell said, adding that the organization helps people buy building materials for their homes and provides food kits.

For the priest of Northeast Philadelphia, it is his cross that he carries – and he brings help to Haiti.

“The main thing is to empower them as well,” Hagan said.

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