Sergeant Mark Gallagher Memorial Vocational School to open this fall
Posted May 27, 2014 08:49:21 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
MONCTON, N.B. – The Haitian school built in memory of a New Brunswick RCMP officer who died in the country’s massive earthquake in 2010 is set to open this fall.
The Sergeant Mark Gallagher Memorial Vocational School was built from $1.2 million raised by New Brunswick Mounties and countless other individuals and organizations.
Gallagher was a media relations officer in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. The Bathurst, NB native had just joined a United Nations peacekeeping mission in Haiti when the earthquake struck.
Codiac RCMP Inspector Dave Vautour said working in the Western Hemisphere’s poorest country has been difficult, but rewarding.
“With widespread corruption and poverty and crime rampant, security is a huge issue. But, we’ve managed to get through all that and we have a beautiful school.”
He said the school will focus on teaching young adults things like carpentry, masonry and agriculture.
“If there’s still no economy and there’s still no jobs it’s really not going to help them as much as if we could create a school where they could learn special skills.”
Vautour said funding is still required for expenses related to finishings, furniture and a scholarship program, but the school is scheduled to open with about 125 students when the next Haitian school year begins in October.
