Soon on my way to Bondeau

I'm packed and almost ready to go!  As usual, I've packed too much.  American Airlines allows one bag...I have two.  50lbs is the weight limit.  I'm over by 5 lbs or so.  I'm thankful for many reasons that my daughter, Marci, will travel with me.  She'll take some of my excess.  She'll also help with getting the Presbytery and Children's Home in order.  Her main focus on this trip is to begin the Children's Sponsorship.  She'll write a bio on each child along with photos.  We'll soon get the info out and you may sponsor a child for only $50.00 a month.  More on this later.

Sorry that I'll miss Bishop Frade's visit to St. Gregory's for Confirmation.  It's always such a joyous time when he visits.  Internet isn't always available in Bondeau but as soon as I can, I'll see the photos posted on St. Gregory's website.  Bishop Frade will also be visiting Ste. Marie Madeleine Parish later in the month.  He's going to Haiti for the consecration of a new Suffragan Bishop, Oge Bouvoir.  After the ceremony in Port au Prince, Bishop Frade will travel with David Gury and Pere Kesner Gracia to Bondeau.  I'm looking forward to hosting him in the new Presbytery.

I want to thank you all again for your kind generosity.  Our Lenten Appeal for the Feeding Program was a success!  Also, many of you responded with lovely new and almost new clothes for children.  St. Gregory's always comes through when there is a need for poor people.  We are a parish that lives the gospel message and we are blessed!

Next blog will be from Haiti.

All in a day's ministry

This week I took Holy Communion to two elderly women who live on the mountain south of the parish.  The mountain walk is about twenty to thirty minutes on a rocky path that is used by people, donkeys, goats, and horses.  Stepping carefully over rocks and around animal poop, I arrived to find the two women in the midst of their daily chores.  They are sisters, never married, and have no children.  They were thrilled with my visit and offered their only chair for me to sit, while they squatted on a rock on the ground.  I set the table for communion on a white corporal that I placed on a tattered woven straw tray that is used to separate millet from its husk.  I look around, taking particular notice to their broken stick and straw house.  Everything on the house is broken…the door, the roof, and the walls.  One strong storm and the house will be down!  Elderly here usually depend on their children to look after them, or a niece or nephew, but these two sisters have nobody.  As I make my way down the mountain trail and across another trail on the way to my next visit, my mind is racing with thoughts on large families, small families, no family.  When I arrive at the home of my next visit, I am greeted by a group of children who lead me to their grandmother.  She is content, sitting on a chair outside her house, which is made of sticks but looks very strong and sturdy.  I set a communion table on a low stone wall that forms the “galri” of her house.  Her grandchildren gather round and we all receive communion.  Her wrinkled face radiates joy!  And I tell her she is beautiful. 

Feeding Program at Ste. Marie Madeleine

     It's so much fun to help serve the school lunch.  Cooks begin early in the morning, crushing spices with their pestle and morter.  By the time I have coffee, the meal is well underway.  Three faithful women cook huge quanties of rice and beans, cooking sauce separately that will later be poured over the rice mixture.  It takes hours to prepare food for over 200 children in an outdoor kitchen.  When lunch is ready, Jabon and Guy carry the largest pots I've ever seen to the porch of the school.  A sturdy table is there that is central to the serving.  Lumenn comes with the aluminum bowls and spoons.  Muriel carries two big pots that will be filled with soap and water for cleaning bowls and spoons, which she washes and rinses as each class is served. Lumenn sits on a low chair with a pot of rice and beans on the floor in front of her.  She scoops from the pot to fill the aluminum bowls.  The first classes are the preschool and kindergarten.  Jabon and Guy serve the younger children in the classroom.  I'm first in line to help.  The young ones make a big mess but eat all the food in their bowls.  The older children, beginning with first grade, form neat lines and with the guidance of the school director, come to the serving table for their meal.  I love to see that the younger children come to the table smiling, talking, and visibly eager to have their lunch.  The older ones kind of swager like typical teenagers.  I note that all the kids are mannerly, saying thank you when handed their food, and are orderly, staying in line waiting their turn.
I know that many have had no food before coming to school, and many will have nothing till tomorrow's lunch.
     After the last student is served and the bowls and spoons are returned, Lumenn, Muriel, Guy, and Jabon carry everything back to the Friendship House yard, where it is all cleaned and organized for tomorrow's lunch.
    

Lunch at Ste. Marie Madeleine School

Moment of Grace

February 21, 2012  Moment of Grace

Early morning, sunrise.  Pere Kesner stepped out of his room onto the veranda.  I was already there looking out at the beautiful morning.  Let’s say Morning Prayer together.  We gather our prayer books and bibles, English and Kreyol, and the English/French Book of Common Prayer.  It’s quiet.  The noisy activity of the day hasn’t yet begun.  We pray together, sometimes in English, sometimes in French.  We read from the Kreyol Bib La.  We sing together hymns in the French Hymnal.  A bird in the tree joins in.  A close moment of grace.  God is present.

Simplicity

February 20, 2012  Simplicity

While walking this morning to visit a family, I passed by five women doing the family laundry.  Basins of all sizes were scattered on the ground under a big shade tree.  The water source, an area with showers and faucets, was just a few steps away.  Piles of clothes surrounded each woman, as she sorted.  They scrubbed, rinsed, and scrubbed some more until the clothes were clean.  The women seemed to be enjoying their work; nobody looked stressed, in spite of their difficult life.  The women talked and laughed among themselves as they worked, probably catching up on the village news.  What I saw in the short time I visited was a real women’s camaraderie where each woman shared the same challenges of daily living.  Although life here is very difficult without electricity, running water, safe housing, and food scarcity, I see simplicity of life that allows time to enjoy one another.

After Carnival

February 17, 2012                           After Carnival

Carnival at Ste. Marie Madeleine is over.  School is closed, teachers have gone to their hometowns for family celebrations.  There is a quietness about the area that I haven’t yet experienced.  I’m enjoying quiet time and especially am enjoying one on one time with Gastina.  We’re working on language; she is helping me with Creole and French and I’m helping her with English.  She is such a precocious child for 10 years old!  I suppose it’s a result of the hard life she has had in her ten short years.  She is also learning simple computer skills by playing computer games and writing, using Word.  Today Anna joined her in playing computer games, and then Christian joined in.  The three played very well together, no problems.  I watch them play and share one mini laptop and call to mind that these three children are the poorest of the poor.  Gastina had severe malnutrition when I met her shortly after the earthquake, two years ago.  Anna and her family lived in a blue plastic tarp tent until Ste. Marie Madeleine Church and South Florida Haiti Project gave them a home to live in.  Twelve year old Christian and his family moved into the Nouvo Bidaw Houses.  His mother, seeking a better life for him, had given him to a family in Port au Prince.  Christian was very unhappy and was returned to his mother.  He now attends our school and will live in the Children’s Home.  South Florida Haiti Project has made a huge difference in the lives of Gastina, Anna, and Christian.  Leisure time following Carnival has been blessed time, giving me what I need just at the moment I need it.