It began in 2010, when Ken and Mary Watkinson sat watching the evening news in their Sherman Avenue home. The coverage was of the aftermath of the devastating earthquake that leveled Haiti — already the most impoverished nation in the Western Hemisphere. The images, of the bodies of the deceased being shoveled into dumpsters, were horrifying.

“I have to go,” Mary, a hospice nurse, told Ken, the retired owner of Watkinson’s Automotive.

“Have you lost your mind?” was Ken’s response.

As fate would have it, soon after, Mary noticed an announcement that an organizational meeting for a relief trip to Haiti would be held at the Rhode Island Veterans home in Bristol. For about $1,600 (not including the cost of vaccines and medicines to protect her from the plethora of diseases endemic in Haiti), Mary spent a week treating patients, sleeping on the ground, using latrines, and living in a compound under 24-hour security.

It was a little different than the all-inclusive vacations in the Dominican Republic that is the experience of most Americans who visit Hispaniola.

Mary came home and told Ken all about her week. So the next year, he decided to join her. “I saw the poverty and it made me cry,” said Ken. “I saw children eating mud cookies; kids in shorts with no shirts or shoes; mostly all hungry, begging for food.”

Ken often becomes teary just talking about the kids.” One woman told me she didn’t know I was such a crybaby,” he laughs. “I do get emotional.” 

Mary and Ken connected with Marie Gabriel, a Haitian-American who founded a charity called Haiti’s Child, which operates in the village of LaMothe. Each year they take part in a medical mission trip, holding a week-long clinic which, for the people of LaMothe, is their only access to medical services, medications, and supplies for the entire year.

Mary coordinates the medical supplies for the trip, orders all the meds from Operation Blessings in Oklahoma, and coordinates doctors and medical staff. She also puts together goodie bags of toiletries, and, new this year, birthing bags for new mothers that include handmade washcloths for mother and baby, and a knit cap, socks, and receiving blanket for each baby.

Several years ago, Haiti’s Child opened a school — The Institution Mixte Vision de L’avenir (School of Hope for the Future). It almost ended before it began, when someone stole all the school supplies shortly before opening. Happily, a donor stepped forward, and the school opened its doors, to their first pre-kindergarden class.

“Someone, it seems, always steps forward,” said Ken, who has many stories of friends and associates turning up with checks for Haiti’s Child, at just the right moment. 

With every graduating year a new grade is added; the school currently serves 220 children up to Grade 6. In addition to a curriculum that includes reading and writing French and English, math, history, art, music, health, and religion, students are fed a nutritious meal and snack, daily vitamins, clean well water and sanitary facilities. “The annual kindergarten graduation is a huge community event,” said Mary. “They’ll get 400 people!”

A very wet season last year delayed efforts to finish the roof on the school — a job that is still several thousand dollars short of goal. For  this, and the ongoing needs of the community, Haiti’s Child must constantly raise money. Recent fundraisers have included a spaghetti supper which was held at Fall River’s Calvary Temple, where the Watkinsons attend services; a Bristol yard sale; and a dinner dance. Ongoing fundraisers include the sale of goat milk soap, Haitian Coffee, and Totes4Hope. Each item sold represents two weeks of food for one child.

Their biggest fundraiser is coming up Sept. 1. “Raise the Roof” is the Bristol Rotary Club’s third annual comedy night, and their goal is to raise $15,000. Comedian Mike Murray will put on a PG-rated performance, and each $50 ticket gets you a buffet dinner, a drink, a lot of laughs, and the joy of doing a little something to help a very needy community.

To purchase tickets for the Sept. 1 comedy fundraiser, email Lisa James at giveback@eastbaydist.com.

If you are interested in joining the Watkinsons on a medical mission trip, you can contact Mary at villafraca1@live.com for more information.

“The dogs in America live and eat better than the people of Haiti," said Ken. "Things are getting better, but it’s always one step forward, two steps back.” 

“You can’t go to Haiti and not come back changed,” said Mary.