CRIMSON SHIELD
THE ONLINE MAGAZINE OF BROTHER MARTIN HIGH SCHOOL
October 2011
Published Monthly September through May
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Le Petit Frere


Brother Bertrand Petit-Frere, S.C.
Brother Bertrand Petit-Frere, S.C.

Brother Bertrand Petit-Frere, S.C., lives at the City Park Avenue residence while attending UNO.

  • He is supported by the New Orleans Province as part of its solidarity with the Haitian province following the devastating earthquake of January 2010.
  • Brother Bertrand began his U.S. schooling by attending the Intensive English Learning Program on the Lakefront campus. When he passed the Michigan Test, he was accepted as a regular student.
  • He hopes to earn his degree in Interdisciplinary Studies in 2012 and return to Haiti to teach.

Brother Bertrand first met a brother while in primary school in Melagua, Haiti.

  • Raised by his grandmother after his parents died while he was young, he attended a primary school owned by the Montreal Province of the Brothers of the Sacred Heart.
  • Young Bertrand liked the one Canadian brother who worked at the school, Brother Camille Lebel, S.C. "I was very young. So I didn't speak to him about becoming a brother."

A seed was planted that flowered into a religious vocation many years later.

  • In 2000, at age 26, he met a sister and spoke to her about becoming a brother.
  • "She invited me to go to a vocation camp run by another community. After the camp, I said I wanted to be a Brother of the Sacred Heart. She told me where to go for information."
  • The Haitian council admitted him as a postulant in 2001. He made his perpetual vows in 2009 after attending a preparation program at the Brothers of the Sacred Heart Motherhouse in Rome.
  • "I was destined to be a brother. After all, my last name, Petit-Frere, means 'little brother.'"
  • His novitiate class included eleven, of whom only two remain. The other brother may replace Brother Bertrand in New Orleans when he completes his studies.

Brother Bertrand at UNO

Brother Bertrand was stationed in Port Salut in southeast Haiti when the earthquake struck.

  • He felt the shaking, but the house had no serious damage. However, the college he attended had to be rebuilt.
  • When the provincial called to tell him he had been selected to study in New Orleans, he says, "I was very happy because I wanted to finish my studies, but in Haiti, sometimes you were here, sometimes you were there."
  • The transition to life in New Orleans has gone well. "I can adapt myself anywhere I am. But I don't think I have some big difficulty. I can't say there is a problem. I feel comfortable. The brothers like me. They accept me as I am."

At home and in school, he spoke both of Haiti's official languages, French and Creole. This "Creole" is primarily derived from French with a mixture of English and Spanish.

  • He studied English in secondary school. However, learning it well enough to succeed in college courses was a challenge.
  • He enjoys studying languages as well as sociology and anthropology. He hopes to teach English when he returns to Haiti.
  • His most difficult course at UNO was a required math class. "I don't really like math." He must complete one more math class to fulfill graduation requirements.

He has taken two breaks since he came to New Orleans.

  • He returned to Haiti during the Christmas vacation.
  • After summer school, he spent a week in New York City visiting his godmother, who has lived in Brooklyn for more than 30 years.
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