Orevwa Ayiti, Cheri!

Tuesday evening there was a at party at Kay Ste. Anne to say, "mesi, orevwa," (thank you and good bye) to me.  The children sang and they danced.  It was so touching.  They presented me with a booklet of drawings that children had made with notes on the back of the pages from many of the workers.  At the party, I laughed with the children and cried as I said my farewells.  I miss them a great deal. 

 Using money that people had given me for Haiti, I was able to put new mats down for the children to play on and bought a tent like play house and some new puzzles and other toys for the playroom I had set up many months ago.  Thank you to all who gave me money for the children of Haiti.  Thank you too for all of you who were encouraging and supported me with your prayers and compassion.

  There was a volunteer from the states who painted a mural in the chapel during the last week or so that I was there.  There had been some earthquake damage in the chapel by the hospital where the volunteers and others gather for liturgy each morning.  The mural speaks to me of hope and transformation which continues to take place in Haiti.  Sometimes it is hard to get a good sense of what it changing in Haiti on the larger scale, but in the lives of individual children, and in the Father Wasson Angels of Light program as a whole I must say I have seen much hope and positive changes during the fourteen months that I was there.  If nothing else, I know that the time I spent in Haiti, the contact I had with the people of Haiti, the experiences I had have certainly transformed me and I am grateful   

    
When I told people in Haiti, I was leaving they typically asked me when I was coming back.  I told them I would not be returning, and then said, maybe someday, "si Dye vle."  This seemed to satisfy most, as if God wants is a common comment among the people of Haiti who have so much trust in the will of God.

On Thursday afternoon, I flew Portauprince to Miami, and then my flight to Philadelphia was delayed.  I arrived in Philly very early Friday morning. 

I heard from an American women who is volunteering as a nurse with the FWAL program.  Even though the children had a good-bye party for me and knew for quite some time that I was leaving, and even though I explained to some of them that I was going so far away that I would take two airplanes to get there, when they saw the nurse and one of the driver's for the program, the children asked the driver if he would go and get me and bring me back to St. Anne.  Just thinking about that, causes me to want to laugh and cry at the same time.  

Please continue to keep the people of Haiti in your prayers.  Please pray for me too, as I reenter into the so called "first world," and also begin a major transition of transferring from my current religious congregation, the Sisters of the Holy Redeemer to the Marianites of Holy Cross.  After a long discernment process, I truly have a sense of peace that this is what God is inviting me to at this point in my life, but farewells and transitions are rarely easy.  

 Thank you again, to everyone who was supportive to me in any way during my time in Haiti.  I am grateful to for all of the people in Haiti, who taught me so very much. I am not sure how regularly I will update this, if at all since I am no longer in Haiti.  Thank you for reading it. May you experience God's presence on your life's journey wherever it leads you.  Many Blessings!  Take care. 
Love and Prayers,
Kathleen