Marriage Is Her Mission

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 11, 2012
» LEXINGTON HERALD-LEADER » KENTUCKY.COM/NEIGHBORS » SECTION B
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LIFE
+ NEIGHBORS
PHOTOS BY KATYA CENGEL
In September, couples made their way to an outdoor wedding ceremony on the campus of Northwest Haiti Christian Mission in Haiti. Their gowns came from Ruth’s Bridal of Lexington.
Lecturer
from UK
a witness
to history
in Egypt
She was an observer
of recent elections
TOM
EBLEN
HERALD-LEADER
COLUMNIST
As University of Kentucky
diplomacy students follow
Egypt’s attempt to transition
from dictatorship to
democracy, they can get some
behind-the-scenes perspective
from one of their teachers.
Stacy Closson, below,
a visiting lecturer at
UK’s Patterson School of
Diplomacy and International
Commerce, spent eight
days in Egypt last month
as an official observer
during recently completed
parliamentary elections.
An academic with years of
international field
experience,
Closson
found the
experience
fascinating,
inspiring and,
at one point,
frightening.
She left with a
better understanding of the
Middle East’s new political
complexities — and why her
fellow Americans should pay
attention.
“Even after 30-plus years
of dictatorship under (Hosni)
Mubarak, people don’t lose
their taste for freedom,”
Closson said. “They seem
very excited about the future
prospects for their country.”
Closson is a Truman
National Security fellow who
worked six years for the U.S.
Defense Department. She was
among 33 observers from the
National Democratic Institute
who watched the second of
three rounds of parliamentary
voting Dec. 14 and 15.
Other observers were
there from two more U.S.based organizations, the
International Republican
Institute and the Carter
Center. (Despite their names,
the National Democratic
Institute and the International
See EBLEN, B2
MARRIAGE
IS HER
MISSION
Store owner makes Haitian brides feel like a million dollars
By Katya Cengel
Special to The Herald-Leader
SAINT-LOUIS-DU-NORD,
Haiti — Draped over hospital
beds and hanging from IV
poles are wedding gowns
from collections with names
almost as sumptuous as their
beadwork: Elegante, Bliss and
Dreams.
It isn’t exactly the ideal
showcase for her dresses,
but bridal store owner Diane
Cornelius regards the scene
with a smile.
“Welcome to Ruth’s Bridal
Shop in Haiti,” she says.
The real Ruth’s Bridal is in
Lexington, where Cornelius,
45, lives with her husband,
Joe, and their four children.
But for the past 2½ years she
has been bringing dresses
to Haiti, one of the poorest countries in the Western
Hemisphere. She plans to go
again in July.
Before she made her first
trip in March 2009. she says.
“I would only go to a thirdworld country if there was a
resort on the beach.”
Two years after an
earthquake devastated its
capital of Port-au-Prince —
the anniversary is Thursday
— Haiti isn’t exactly a
tourist destination. But
where others see devastation
and destitution, and where
Cornelius once feared she
would find only voodoo and
filth, she now sees something
else — hope.
That’s not to say there isn’t
hardship. One of the brides
Cornelius outfits for the first
of two weddings held during
her most recent September
trip scrapes caked mud from
her ankles, the result of a
long ride on unpaved roads.
Another bride is stunningly
beautiful but smells as if she
has not been able to bathe for
days.
Cornelius dresses them
Diane Cornelius, owner of Ruth’s Bridal in Lexington, performed lastminute alterations on Loiusi Jean Paul’s dress before a wedding in Haiti
last fall. Jean Paul, who is 48 and marrying her longtime partner, said
through a translator: “Now they are going to call me Madame because I’m
married and I’m going to have more respect.” Cornelius has made six trips
to Haiti, bringing bridal dresses to those who can’t afford them.
See BRIDES, B3
FOR MORE INFO
To learn more about Diane Cornelius
and her Haiti outreach, go to
Ruthsbridalshop.com or call (859)
266-0754.
Brides outfitted by Cornelius waited for their big moment in air-conditioned comfort in the medical clinic where Cornelius dressed them.
FAYETTE
COUNTY
Time to apply
for utility
assistance
The Community Action
Council is taking applications for crisis assistance
through the federal LowIncome Home Energy Assistance Program.
Eligibility for energy
assistance is determined by
household size, income and
other factors depending on
the program.
In addition to LIHEAP,
the council operates several
energy assistance programs
and requirements vary by
program. Anyone in need of
help should take important
documents such as proof of
income and utility bills and
disconnect notices to one of
the council’s centers. Proof
of income is needed for the
previous month for anyone
in the household age 18 or
older.
Applications can be taken
at any of these Community
Action Council locations:
913 Georgetown Street,
Lexington, (859) 233-4600.
3439 Buckhorn Drive,
Suite 100, Lexington, (859)
273-6395.
520 Toner Street, Lexington, (859) 554-4350.
1902 Cambridge Drive,
Lexington, (859) 246-1192.
1169 Winburn Drive,
Lexington, (859) 294-5249.
18 Clinic Drive, Paris,
(859) 987-5277.
217 Old Lair Road, Cynthiana, (859) 234-2121.
149 Scrubgrass Road,
Carlisle, (859) 289-7172.
1113 Main Street, Millersburg, (859) 484-3860.
Win a family reunion
The Home Instead Senior
Care network is sponsoring
a contest designed to keep
memories alive for those
caring for a loved one with
Alzheimer’s disease or other
dementia.
The “I Will Remember
You Family Reunion Giveaway” asks caregivers to
submit a story in either
written or video format
about their experience caring for a patient with the
disease.
The contest’s grand prize
winner will have the opportunity to experience a family
reunion. Funded by Home
Instead Inc., the franchisor
of the Home Instead Senior
Care network, the reunion
See FAYETTE, B3
Life + Neighbors Editor Sally Scherer » Phone (859) 231-3303 » News Assistant Dorothea Wingo » Phone (859) 231-3258 » Email hlcommunity@herald-leader.com » Fax (859) 231-3224
LIFE + NEIGHBORS
LEXINGTON HERALD-LEADER | KENTUCKY.COM
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 11, 2012
B3
BOURBON COUNTY
Cat-care group to meet at library
A community meeting of Feline Lifelines will be at 6:30
p.m. Tuesday in the community room at the public library,
701 High Street, Paris.
This group is dedicated to caring for cats by reducing the growing population of unwanted animals, finding
homes for stray animals and helping senior citizens who
want to keep their animals but have limited resources for
providing food, litter, transportation to a vet for medical
needs, etc. Among other things, the group will develop a
program to trap, neuter and release feral animals living in
colonies.
Feline Lifelines plans to work with other like-minded
organizations, such as local veterinarians, PAWS, Happy
Tails, Low Cost Neuter/Spay and Rescue, and Spay our
Strays in Georgetown.
JESSAMINE COUNTY
Camera workshop this afternoon
PHOTOS BY KATYA CENGEL
Diane Cornelius fitted Paulette Fetil in a gown before a mass wedding in Saint-Louis-du-Nord. Fetil is 24 and from the nearby island
of Tortuga. She and groom Wilson Petit, 23, have been together several years and have two children but couldn’t marry before
because of the expense. Northwest Haiti Christian Mission takes care of the expenses and getting everyone to the altar on time.
BRIDES | In Haiti, women earn
more respect after marriage
Learn how to operate your digital camera at the Digital
Camera Workshop, 1:15 p.m. Wednesday at the Wilmore
Senior Community Center at Wesley Village, 1125 Lexington Road. For information, call Alan at (859) 858-3865,
Ext. 238.
Disease-management program to be offered free
The Chronic Disease Self-Management Program, Hope
To Cope, helps those with diabetes, high blood pressure,
arthritis, heart disease, asthma, depression, back problems,
and COPD develop the skills needed to take control of their
health problems and live a happier and healthier life. The
first installment of the six-session program will be offered
9:30 a.m. to noon Jan. 23 at Nicholasville United Methodist Church, 303 West Maple Street. To find out more about
this free program and to register, contact Yolonda Clay at
bridges2hope@yahoo.com or (859) 885-4481.
From Page B1
and seven other women in a medical
clinic on the grounds of Northwest
Haiti Christian Mission because the
clinic is one of the few places with air
conditioning.
In Saint-Louis-du-Nord, where the
non-profit mission is based, there are
no paved roads and little electricity or
running water. When Haitian pastor
Jean Claude Jean Baptiste started
holding mass weddings here in 2005, he
had only two wedding dresses shared
by a dozen brides during ceremonies.
The mission’s U.S. headquarters
are in Zionsville, Ind., and one of
its longtime supporters attends the
same Lexington church as Cornelius,
Southland Christian. In 2008 he asked
Cornelius if she would be willing to
bring to Haiti wedding gowns she no
longer could selli.
“I think what really got me was that
I think I decided that it’s not OK with
me that these women don’t have the
same experience because of geography
or finances, whatever the reason might
be,” says Cornelius. “I knew that I
could do something about this.”
And in Haiti she discovered
marriages are more than wedding
registries and bridal showers. They are
a step on the path toward a better life.
In a place where church is often
the only social structure, couples who
are married are “accepted into their
communities and into this culture in
a way that they never were before,”
says Northwest director Janeil Owen.
A woman who was not allowed to
sing with the church choir, once married, will be able to participate fully.
A middle-age woman who has never
been addressed by a formal title, once
married, will be called Madame. And
a young woman whose prospective inlaws shunned her, once married, will be
treated with respect.
Weddings and funerals are two of
the most important events in Haitian
society, and families will go into debt to
pull them off properly, says Owen.
While Cornelius takes care of the
dresses and decorations, Magdala
Petion Remy and Jean Baptiste, both
of whom are associated with the mis-
LEX-CARE
Mom seeks help with electric bill
In Haiti, a marriage license costs about $15, the equivalent of about two weeks’ wages.
sion, take care of everything else, from
applying for marriage licenses (one
costs $15, about two weeks’ wages in
Haiti) to making sure the couples show.
Some of the intended know Remy;
others are recommended by their
pastors.
Cornelius estimates each trip costs
her and her husband, who accompanies
her whenever possible, several thousand
dollars, and she solicits donations
from customers, colleagues and the
community. She is in the process of
establishing a non-profit and, on her
most recent trip, expanded her mission
to include supplying one woman with
three dresses so she could start a dress
rental business.
Although she was raised in the
bridal business, following after her
mother and grandmother, Cornelius
delivers the saccharin of the industry
with a strong dose of reality. Joe is her
second husband, and when they talk
to couples before the ceremonies they
advise them to be patient and work
through their difficulties.
While visiting the community of La
Presqu’ile on a previous trip, Cornelius
met a woman who expressed her desire
to be married. On her most recent trip
Cornelius returned to the fishing village
where this woman, Louisilia Magiste,
lives. Located on the northwestern tip
of Haiti, the community consists of 150
people who live in thatch homes that
lack electricity, running water and any
form of real furniture. Inside Magiste’s
home it is dark and hot, and the only
place to stand is in the center where
the slanted roofs meet.
On her own, Magiste, 37, would not
be able to afford to marry the father
of her five children in the way her
community expects. But with Cornelius
lending the dress and footing the bill
for wedding rings, marriage licenses
and a reception, Magiste and two other
women, a bride of 18 and a 50-year-old
mother of seven, are able to marry.
“When you are not married it’s like
you are someone with a bad sign on you
that says, ‘Hey, this person is an outcast
from society,’” Magiste said through a
translator. “But when you are married,
then the sign is removed, and everybody
sees you as a complete person.”
It is the need for something we
take for granted that still surprises
Cornelius, even after six trips to Haiti
and 121 brides.
“I never imagined something like
this could change someone’s life,” she
said. “Even if just for one day, (the
bride) feels important.”
Katya Cengel, a former reporter at The CourierJournal in Louisville, is a free-lance writer.
FAYETTE | Water
utility awards
grants to fire
departments
to select the grand prize winner will occur
from March 28 through June 30.
The grand prize winner will be publicly
revealed in November, following the family
reunion event.
For contest details, visit Rememberforalzheimers.com. For information about
Alzheimer’s disease including a blog and
resources, visit Helpforalzheimersfamilies.
com.
From Page B1
Kentucky American Water has awarded
more than $5,000 in grants to 10 Kentucky firefighter organizations through the
company’s first-ever Firefighting Support
Grant Program, established this year. The
program provides financial assistance to
uniformed, professional and volunteer fire
departments serving communities in the
company’s service territories.
The company considered grant applications requesting funds for personal protective gear, communications equipment,
firefighting tools, water-handling equipment, training and other materials used to
support community fire protection. Most
grants awarded were $500.
Departments and their respective projects receiving funds are:
Ŷ Lexington fire department to replace
25 Personal Protective Equipment hoods
that are damaged or out of service.
will include activities to help family members create and capture special memories
together such as a scrapbooking and
shadow box station, a memory booth to
capture videos, photos or written thoughts,
and assistance from a professional family
historian to create a family memory anthology.
Attendance of the family member with
Alzheimer’s disease will be left to the discretion of the grand prize winner. If the individual with Alzheimer’s does not attend,
the Home Instead Senior Care network
will arrange for a local office to provide the
family member with in-home care services
during reunion activities.
Entries must be submitted by 11:59 p.m.
Jan. 31. Three finalists will be notified by
a judge’s panel by Feb. 15. Online voting
Lexington fire department gets grant
Susan Ross, a social worker with TK Targeted Assessment Program, is working with a single mother who
needs $604.20 to pay her electric bill. The woman and
her child are living with four adults in a one-bedroom
apartment. The mother used her name to get electric
service, and the bill must be paid before she can move.
The young mother worked as a housekeeper at a
bed-and-breakfast until she became pregnant. She now
receives assistance from KTAP and has, for more than a
year, volunteered 20 hours a week at the Bluegrass Technical Center.
She has graduated from high school and wants to
become a certified nursing assistant, but she knows she
needs to stabilize her housing situation before she can
take the required courses.
Once the bill is paid, she will be able to move and begin putting her long-range plan into action. She has been
approved for income-based housing.
You can help: Send tax-deductible contributions to
Lex-Care Inc., P.O. Box 1328, Lexington, Ky. 40588. Contact Lex-Care at (859) 699-9859 or Lexcare.org.
WOODFORD COUNTY
Library to present African folktales
The Woodford County Library will present African
folktales at 2 p.m. Jan. 29 at Midway College. The stage
event will feature traditional tales that have been passed
from generation to generation by word of mouth. The
African landscape will be brought to life with a variety of
animal characters, costumes and audience participation.
Free tickets for this program, which is made possible
by the Lottie M. White Children’s Program Series, can
be picked up at the Midway or Versailles libraries. The
production is presented by Bright Star Theater Company
of Asheville, N.C.
Huntertown Elementary wins attendance award
Huntertown Elementary School in Versailles won the
Woodford County school district’s Super Attendance Flag
for the fourth month in a row. Huntertown’s average daily
attendance for December was 96.64 percent, which will allow it to fly the attendance flag throughout January. Woodford County Middle School has been awarded the Most
Improved Attendance Flag, with a 1.17 percent increase in
attendance from November.
Ŷ Jessamine County Fire District,
Nicholasville, to buy a new training-model
automated external defibrillator for responder training.
Ŷ Nicholasville Fire Department to assist in buying ChannelLock No. 87 personal
rescue tools.
Ŷ Monterey Fire Department, Owenton,
to replace water hoses and address other
needs identified by the Long-Term Planning
Advisory Committee.
Ŷ Owen County Volunteer Fire Department, Owenton, to replace a folding attic
ladder and self-contained breathing apparatus masks, as well as address other
needs identified by the Long-Term Planning
Advisory Committee.
Ŷ Owen County Life Squad, Owenton,
to buy additional EMT Turnout gear, extrication pants and coats.
Ŷ Owenton Volunteer Fire Department,
Owenton, to buy additional fire prevention educational materials to replace those
distributed to schools each year.
Ŷ Bourbon County Fire Rescue, Paris, to
identify and mark fire hydrants in Bourbon
County to assist firefighters in locating hydrants that are difficult to identify in rural
areas and at night.
Ŷ Clintonville Volunteer Fire Department, Paris, to assist in buying Personal
Protective Equipment custom-fit to new
recruit specifications.
Ŷ Hutchison Station Fire Department,
Paris, to go toward a grass/brush fire
trailer for fires in areas that are not accessible to large engines and tankers.
Smoking-cessation class to be offered
Central Baptist Hospital this week
begins “Ready When You Are” smoking
cessation classes, which will be on consecutive Thursdays through March 1 at Central
Baptist HealthwoRx Fitness & Wellness
Center in Lexington Green.
This eight-week program, scheduled
from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., uses techniques developed by the American Lung Association
and is based on the underlying premise that
smoking is a learned habit.
Classes are limited to 10, so pre-registration is required. Call (859) 260-6419 to
enroll or for information.
Girl Scouts get to sample cookies
Girl Scout cookie sales officially began
Jan. 1, and Girls Scouts can get their first
taste of the cookies in the Bluegrass region
at the Cookie Carnival , 6-7:30 p.m. Jan.
13 in the University of Kentucky Student
Ballroom.
Girl Scouts can play games, win prizes
and — most important — enjoy a giant
buffet line of cookie samples to get familiar
with this year’s flavors.