Time

My days have been busy and full.   In January I am going to start taking one day off every week, which I will spend off of the orphanage grounds.    

On Sunday we had a meeting for the families of the children.  All of the children in this program have a relative or someone who keeps in touch with them and who they visit during school vacations.  Nearly all of the children’s mothers have died, but many have fathers, others have an aunt, uncle, or even an older sibling.  In at least a couple of situations the contact person is a non-blood relative who “adopted” the child; in one case it is the person who found the child, as a baby abandoned in a garbage pile.  About half of the “parents” came.  They were given information about the upcoming school vacation, and I talked briefly updating them about the therapy groups and psycho-education.  Then those who came visited their children.  It was wonderful to see the children smile when they saw their parent and sad to see the faces of some of the children for whom nobody came.  Next week most of the children will be going “home” for the school vacation.  We will send them with their clothing, toiletries and other basic necessities which they may not have in their family homes and they will return in early January before school resumes. 

Yesterday was the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.  The closest parish church celebrated their feast day and I attended the liturgy.  It was actually my first time in that particular church since we generally go elsewhere for liturgy. When I arrived with another sister, she showed me where I should sit, I did question her, but since she is more familiar with the parish I took her advice.  She did not sit with me.  Before the mass started I realized I was sitting essentially behind the altar.  There must have been nearly 20 priests co-presiding at the mass, and I found after the entrance procession that I was sitting in between the priests and the choir.  I would have probably stood out a little as the only blah(white person/ foreigner) even if I had been sitting in the back of the church, but felt self-conscious and somewhat uncomfortable sitting where I have been told to sit and would have been much more comfortable sitting or even standing with the people.  The liturgy was beautiful; there was certainly a joyful spirit among the people who gathered.  Most of the mass was in Creole; I was happy because I could understand most of it.  Some of the priests have formed a band called Hosanna, and towards the end of the mass they played a couple of songs; they are very talented musicians.  The church building was simple and in desperate need of repairs; there is one section of the church with a roof that has holes in it and looks like it could fall at any time; people are not supposed to sit there I am told, but they did because the other section of the church with the better roof was overflowing with people.  The mass, which had been scheduled to start at 9:00 ended before 1:00 pm.  I realize how conscious I am of time and admire how for many people in this culture whatever they are doing is typically the focus and not how long it takes, what time it is, or what comes next.  The mass was followed by a delicious meal which we were invited to attend. 

I pray for the grace to be always focused on whatever it is I am doing and to be present in each moment recognizing the gifts and beauty each moment brings and not counting the minutes until the next activity.  Although I love what I am doing here, it has at times had somewhat challenging moments and as I have been working seven days a week, I do find myself at times looking forward to my upcoming home visit.