CHARITY fundraiser and Troon Pastor Richard Woods has spoken of his joy after the £100,000 project he has worked four years to create threw open its door in the Caribbean country of Haiti.

But he was also caught up in some of the turbulence in the country, in which the President is under investigation for corruption.

He said: “The part we work in Ounaminthe has no electricity, fuel prices are much higher as they were getting fuel from Venezuela but it has collapsed.

“There’s great anger against the President. We arrived in the country’s second city Cap-Haitien immediately into the beginnings of a riot, stones thrown at cars, people running away. I was OK being a Belfast boy I’m not unaccustomed to stones being thrown. There’s increasing tension in Ouanaminthe, we were due to fly out of Cap Haitien and were unable to do that owing to safety. We left a day early to go to Dominican Republic and flew back there.”

However, Seagate Church pastor Richard, who helps run the charity Mission International, took great delight in seeing the school he had had helped set up during a four-year campaign.

He said: “This is the first time we saw the school open, we have just over 50 children registered. The big focus for now and months ahead is on finances which are poor. The 50 children coming are paying school fees.”

However, he wants the people of Troon to help more to allow more kids to be educated.

“The people of the town have been generous. But we want them to sponsor the school not a child. If they gave £10 a month that could send two children to school a year. We would like 75 or 100 people paying £10 a month and that would mean 200 or 250 children in the school.

“That would be a massive impact on that community. We want to help children who can’t pay. The big reason we want was to see school open and be with our friends In Haiti at a difficult time. The school looks amazing and we had money to buy computers and bought the school a generator as there is no electricity, all classrooms have benches and safe play areas. It was great to be there and hear the kids’ voices, to hear them run around and learning in class. Nothing in Haiti will change without education. We hope one day to build another school in Cap Haitien, the second city so this is an ongoing project.

“We wanted to see the kids in the school and the people of Haiti who feel they are forgotten. Life is incredibly difficult for them so to have people come in the midst of that crisis is important.”