10/24/2015- Memorial Service for Sister Myrtha Manigat

A memorial service was held for Myrtha Manigat, the founder of Ecole Agape, on October 24, 2015 in New York. Myrtha was born in Port-au-Prince where for a time she was an elementary school teacher but later became interested in nursing and attended the Uninversity of Sherbrooke in Canada. She became a registered nurse and worked until retirement at the University Hospital in Brooklyn, New York. She was a devout Catholic who was known as Sister Myrtha after she had joined the order, Sisters of the Myriam Family of the Prairies in Saskatchewan, Canada.

After her retirement she moved back to Lilavois, Haiti which is a very populated area just outside of Port-au-Prince. She opened an orphanage for girls and a started a school, Ecole Agape, for her girls and hundreds of other poor children in the area that could not afford the public school which was not free. The girls of the orphanage became her children. Many continue her mission to keep the school and a newly started preschool at her home open for needy children. Many others, who also got their start at Ecole Agape, have grown up with an education and careers that now allows them to support their families.

A few years ago Myrtha had to move back with her family in New York for medical care but she continued until her death to be involved in the operations of her school. Her legacy, Ecole Agage, remains open and hopefully with the help of her family and dedicated supporters such as Friends of Ecole Agape the poor children of Lilavois will have a school of their own for many years to come.