Remembering Sarah Hackett

It is with great sadness we share that Sarah Hackett, our longtime friend and partner, passed away in late December at age 96. Her decades of work at St. Boniface Hospital and in the Fond des Blancs community have made a deep and lasting impact on the people we serve.   

Sarah was born and spent much of her life in the community of Annisquam in Gloucester, Massachusetts. Sarah first visited Haiti in 1992 and fell deeply in love with the country and its people. After retiring from her career the following year, Sarah decided to fulfill her lifelong dream of supporting the underserved. She quickly returned to Haiti and set to work volunteering as an administrator at St. Boniface Hospital. For the next 28 years, Sarah lived and worked part-time in Fond des Blancs. In addition to her work at SBH, Sarah helped the community launch many impactful programs focusing on health, education, women’s empowerment, and economic sustainability. Organizations she helped found include:

• Haiti Projects: A multi-faceted organization founded in 1994 to provide women with opportunities for income generation and education, as well as to provide family planning services.
• Rasanbleman Travayè Peyizan (RATRAP): Founded in 1995 together with Fond des Blancs community leader Briel Léveillé, RATRAP helped support land and farming initiatives in Fond des Blancs.
• Greening Haiti Fund: Founded in 2017 to improve agricultural opportunity and self-sufficiency by reversing deforestation and soil depletion in Fond des Blancs, bringing the work Sarah began with RATRAP full circle.

Sarah was a singular individual and a true force of nature. She will be deeply missed by all of us at HEI/SBH and in the Fond des Blancs community, where her memory and her indelible impact will live on.