NORWICH, Ct. (WFSB) - Haitian Health Foundation (HHF), a Norwich based group, had partnered this Conn. locals to improve the health and well being in Jérémie, Haiti.
Portland High School graduate looking forward to Miss USA pageant
WALT GOGOLYA, Press Staff
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Photo courtesy of missconnecticutusa.com
PORTLAND Regina Turner s career ambition is to become a dentist. Right now, however, she has a different title Miss Connecticut USA.
Turner, 21, a native of Old Saybrook and graduate of Portland High School, was recently crowned Miss Connecticut and will soon compete for the title of Miss USA.
It was the goals outlined in the pageant brochure that convinced the striking brunette to enter the competition her first ever. Contrary to the beliefs of some, being Miss Connecticut isn t about evening gowns and tiaras, Turner said. Rather, the goal of the Miss Connecticut USA pageant is to offer a venue where young women can grow personally in poise, confidence, goal-setting, public speaking and communication skills, physical fitness, and self-discipline. The pageant is meant to provide a positive alternative to the many des
In the two weeks since Haitian President Jovenel Moïse was assassinated and his wife seriously injured in a brazen attack at his home, Haitians in eastern Connecticut are angry, frustrated and sad about the turmoil in their homeland.
The Rev. Emmanuel Fenelus, of St. Mary’s Church in the Greeneville section of Norwich, said he came to Connecticut two years ago from his native Haiti. Here, Fenelus said, he can sleep at night.
“Every day, I can sleep peacefully, and I don’t have to worry when I walk in the street and think about what I will eat,” Fenelus said. “I am not in my mind at peace, because I think about my country, my friends, my families.”
Published July 07. 2021 5:31PM By
Given the region’s significant population of immigrants from Haiti, particularly in the Norwich community, and the area’s special ties with that country, the troubling events being witnessed there strike closer to home than do many other international events.
The assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse, and the vacuum in leadership it creates, raises the possibility this destitute country could sink further into abject poverty and toward greater lawlessness.
This will only add to the challenges of local nonprofit and religious groups that work to help the people of Haiti, but it will not detract from their resolve. For nearly three decades, the Norwich-based Haitian Health Foundation has been providing health services to Haitians in the Jérémie community.