Much has happened this past week.
The lay woman who had been volunteering here for two months,
returned to Canada. She is already
greatly missed by the children, and the sisters, myself included.
On Friday morning twin babies arrived at the orphanage as
planned. Their mother had died, I
believe while giving birth to them; from what I was told, most likely her death
would not have occurred if the hospital had not lost electricity. The father of the children has several other
children, including one with a significant developmental disability and so had
decided that it would be best for his youngest babies to reside here with
us. The twins, like all of the children
here, will maintain contact with their family.
They are beautiful. It has been
very touching to see how the other children welcomed them and seem to love them. If you saw them, I am sure you would love
them too!
When I was in Haiti before, Haiti did not participate in day
light savings time. I did hear that they
started after I left. We did set the
clocks back yesterday which caused a little confusion regarding when we were
supposed to leave for mass. On Saturday
electricians were here and now there are two energy efficient lights in the
play therapy room. For this I am very
grateful especially since it is now getting dark out when I am doing my last
therapy groups most days.
Yesterday was All Souls Day, an important day in the
Catholic Church and in Haiti for remembering and praying for those who have
died. The priests and brothers of Holy
Cross invited all of the Holy Cross family in Haiti as well as sisters from
another congregation to a special mass that was held at their high school here
in Cap Haitian. The entire mass, as well
as the Morning Prayer that preceded it, with the exception of two sung mass
parts and one communion hymn was in French.
The liturgy was followed by a procession to the nearby cemetery where we
prayed and placed a few wreaths of flowers.
Since the Marianites pray every day for our sisters who have died,
typically reading their name, year of death and place of burial on the
anniversary of death, I knew that a Marianite had died in Haiti and was buried
in Cap Haitian. I was very grateful when
one of the Holy Cross sisters showed me her tomb. Seeing the initials MSC after her name,
helped me to feel connected and somehow further confirmed for me that I am
where I am supposed to be. I may be the
only Marianite currently living in Haiti, but I am certainly not the first. The cemetery contains Sisters of Holy Cross,
Priests and Brothers of Holy Cross, a Marianite of Holy Cross as well as sisters
from one other congregation. It is truly a
cemetery for the family of Holy Cross, which I think, greatly pleases Fr.
Moreau, our founder. Following the
procession, we were all invited to a gathering; it is always great to connect
with other members of the Holy Cross family, and as a bonus( among other things)
there was delicious fresh pineapple to eat.
We had almost no rain the first month that I was here and needed it. Now we have had some rain for the past few
nights and it has been raining on an off all day today. In fact, it is raining quite
heavily as I write this. We are grateful for the rain because things were getting pretty dry and some of the older children recently planted a garden. It is a bit cooler than usual as well; a much welcomed break from the recent heat and humidity.
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