Rolins Turnhout
3
ERDA 03 NOVEMBER 2010 In 1994, I. Crozet was wri3ng a book on Fr. Pierre Tritz and ERDA called L’espoir a Manille, but he did not have enough funds to publish the book. He requested for the assistance of the Director of BREPOLS, a major publishing house in Belgium and Paris, M. Michel Rolin, who readily agreed to help finance it. When the book was launched in Paris, Michel Rolin met Fr. Tritz, who typically took the opportunity to ask him if he was willing to work for the Philippines. His answer was, of course, “No.” But six months later, when Michel Rolin re3red aVer 35 years of service in BREPOLS, he remembered Fr. Tritz’s invita3on. AVer much prayer and reflec3on, he decided to accept the invita3on and to take up the challenge. He didn’t know much about fundraising work, so he consulted his Benedic3ne friends who had collaborated with him in BREPOL’s publica3on of the Bible. That was the start of what this year will be 16 years of helping ERDA. Asked why he decided to do it, Michel Rolin said simply that he wanted “to do Meet the couple behind ERDA Belgique MICHEL AND EDITH ROLIN IN THEIR VILLA IN TURNHOUT, BELGIUM HARRY, THEIR PET DOG THE ROLINS’ HORSES: ECLAIR (LIGHTNING) & FLAMME (FLAME) FEEDING THE HORSES THE ROLINS OF TURNHOUT
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Transcript of Rolins Turnhout
ERDA 03 NOVEMBER 2010
In1994,I.Crozetwaswri3ngabookon
Fr.PierreTritzandERDAcalledL’espoir
aManille,buthedidnothaveenough
fundstopublishthebook.He
requestedfortheassistanceofthe
DirectorofBREPOLS,amajorpublishing
houseinBelgiumandParis,M.Michel
Rolin,whoreadilyagreedtohelp
financeit.Whenthebookwas
launchedinParis,MichelRolinmetFr.
Tritz,whotypicallytookthe
opportunitytoaskhimifhewaswilling
toworkforthePhilippines.Hisanswer
was,ofcourse,“No.”
Butsixmonthslater,whenMichelRolin
re3redaVer35yearsofservicein
BREPOLS,herememberedFr.Tritz’s
invita3on.AVermuchprayerand
reflec3on,hedecidedtoacceptthe
invita3onandtotakeupthechallenge.
Hedidn’tknowmuchaboutfundraising
work,soheconsultedhisBenedic3ne
friendswhohadcollaboratedwithhim
inBREPOL’spublica3onoftheBible.
Thatwasthestartofwhatthisyearwill
be16yearsofhelpingERDA.
Askedwhyhedecidedtodoit,Michel
Rolinsaidsimplythathewanted“todo
MeetthecouplebehindERDABelgique
MICHELANDEDITHROLININTHEIRVILLAINTURNHOUT,BELGIUM
HARRY, THEIR PET DOGTHE ROLINS’ HORSES: ECLAIR
(LIGHTNING) & FLAMME (FLAME) FEEDING THE HORSES
THE ROLINS OF TURNHOUT
TOPMOSTPHOTO:MICHELANDEDITHROLININTHEIRCOZYLIVINGROOM.ABOVERIGHT:HUSBANDANDWIFEATTHEBEGUINAGEINHOOGSTRATEN.ABOVERIGHT:ERDAEXECUTIVEDIRECTOR,DOLORCARDENO,ANDBOARDCHAIRMAN,FR.JOHNNYGO,MEETWITHTHEERDABENEFACTORSINTURNHOUTINOCTOBER2007.LEFT:EDITHROLINPOSESFORAPICTUREATTHEBEGUINAGE.
somethinggood.”Theseventhoftenchildren,MichelRolin
hasneverconsidereditimportanttoberich.Forhim,itis
moreimportanttohelpothers,especiallythoseinneed.
Thefirstyearsweredifficult.Hespentalotof3memee3ng
withpeople,speakingtothemaboutERDA,andconvincing
themtosendhelptothePhilippinestosupportFr.Tritz’s
importantworkofeduca3ngstreetchildren.Thankstohis
hardworkanddetermina3on,aswellasthesupportofhis
wifeEdith,whoservedashissecretary,theyhaveremained
ERDA’sbiggestbenefactorsalltheseyears.Theirnetworkof
rela3vesandfriendshavebeensendingthousandsof
childrenbacktoschoolfornearlytwodecadesnow.
Abouttenyearsago,MichelRolinsufferedadebilita3ng
strokethatleVhisrightsideparalyzed.Tohiswifeand
children’sdismay,hecouldnotatthe3meevenremember
hischildren’snames.Thedoctorswerenotop3mis3c,but
truetocharacter,MichelRolinwasdeterminedandwith
Edithathisside,heworkedveryhardathisrecovery.Hehas
sincethenhealedsoremarkablythathisdoctorsconcede
thatithasbeensomekindofmiracle.ButitwasalsoMIchel
Rolin’swillcombinedwithprayersandEdith’ssupport,the
verysameformulathatmadehimsucceedinhelpingFr.Tritz.
Meanwhile,EdithhadtotaketheleadinworkingforERDA.
Whenthecouplewasaskedwhytheydidnotstopwhenthey
hadeveryreasontoduringthat3meofdifficulty,EdithRolin
verysimplysaidthatherhusbandwantedtocon3nue,and
sheherselfenjoyeddoingthework.
Theyconveytheirregretatnotbeingabletovisitthe
Philippinesanymore;theyhavesuchfondmemoriesfrom
theirthreepreviousvisits!Astheypreparetopassonthis
worktotheirchildren,HuguesandDominique,theycon3nue
tonursetheirdream:Thattherewouldbenomorepoor
childreninthePhilippines!
Theirworkandtheirwordsrevealacommitmenttothe
childrenofERDAandthemissionofFr.Tritz.Ingra3tude,
letusprayforthemandeverysingleoneofERDA’sdonorsin
Belgium,thattheLord,Whocanneverbeoutdonein
generosity,blessthemforthevaluableassistancetheyhave
beenprovidingthechildrenofERDAalltheseyears.
Top: Michel Rolin relaxes in his favorite armchair.
Right: Edith Rolin smiles amidst autumn leaves.
Left: Their pet dog Harry dozes in the living room.
