Shamrocks and other surprises

On Tuesday the school schedule resumed (following Easter break) and the third trimester of the school year began.  It was a busy week at Leocadie Convent because many of the Holy Cross priests spent a couple of days here for a meeting. 

  

I try to keep my camera in my bag and pull it out when I find myself waiting for something (like a ride) or just have a few minutes free.  When I take a moment to walk around outside with my camera in hand I am often amazed at what I find.  

This week I discovered that there are shamrocks in Haiti!  

I chased a very active hummingbird, hoping to get an active shot. I did not exactly succeed, but, eventually, even a hyper hummingbird needs to rest. 

One evening when I stayed at the sisters' school in the city, while I was working at my desk, I could hear birds singing.  When I was ready for a little break I took some pictures from the porch.  Even in an urban area, one can find natural beauty.  

I was pleased to see this bird in a schoolyard one afternoon recently.  Today, when I opened the pictures on my laptop I was surprised to realize that it was in the process of dining when I snapped the photos.  

I found myself wondering why these birds were sitting on the fence. 

I think they were just too chicken to get down!   

Now, I am wondering who (of my family, community members and friends) is rolling his/her eyes and who is laughing?  

Have a great week.  Many blessings!  

  

Bon fèt Pak! Happy Easter!

An Easter Haiku 

Life springs forth from death 

Celebrate resurrection

Hope will never die!

Here are a few images of Easter morning all taken in the yard at Leocadie Convent.

The midnight Easter Vigil at our parish last night was truly a joyous celebration.  There is something deeply beautiful about the Easter Vigil ritual of lighting candles; the darkness of the room was transformed by the light of the small candle each one held in his or her hands.  Two young women received the sacrament of baptism and an older gentleman received his first communion.  The spirit of the people gathered was positively energizing.  The mass started a little later than its 10:00pm scheduled time and ended at 1:45 in the morning.  I appreciate that many people here seem to be present in the moment and don't appear to have a nagging desire to hurry things along; I still have a lot to learn in this regard especially during long liturgies.  I am very grateful that I attended.

Here is a (not great quality) picture I took with my phone before the liturgy started last night.  

May you experience much joy this Easter season and always.  Many blessings! 

      

Pondering Paschal Patterns

It is once again that time when the church recalls the crucifixion of Jesus and then celebrates his resurrection.  The pattern of death and resurrection is everywhere.  I see it in the tree that I really thought may have died just a couple of weeks ago, that is now beginning to flower again.  And I see it in the Shaving Brush tree that had those beautiful blooming magenta flowers last week and now stands naked, except if you look closely you will see that small new leaves are beginning to appear. Nature so beautifully proclaims the paschal pattern. 

There are many different dimensions to this pattern; both death and resurrection come in many very varied forms.     

Some deaths and resurrections seem natural like the cycle of seasons or the peaceful surrendering to the eternal after a long life. 

Some deaths are crucifixions. The crucifixion of Jesus was violent and unjust.  I don't really believe that God wills such deaths instead when they happen God turns them into resurrections.  Torturing and violently killing a person can't be in the plan of any God that I believe in.  Jesus came to teach us to love one another.  He turned previous assumptions upon their head; he challenged the status quo.  He befriended the outcasts of his time and put love before the law. God probably knew that such a death was a possible or even probable because Jesus' message would challenge people and frighten those in power who had much to lose if the first would really become the last and the last first.  His death was lawful and sanctioned by the government of this time.  If God had directly intervened to stop it our free will would have been compromised. I believe that God allowed the crucifixion of Jesus (did not will it) but God did not allow death to have the final word. 

There is so much violence in the world.  This is not God's will but God will try to use whatever happens to bring about good.  When I read of young people marching for peace and stricter gun laws in the wake of school shootings, I see this pattern of change for the good occurring, as a result of unjust, violent loss of lives (God did not will the shooters to kill or want those young people to die at this time, but God will use tragedy to transform and empower people to change.)     

Sometimes what might seem like a natural death may be more of quiet crucifixion.  I think this happens often in Haiti. A death may be from an illness, but it may be an illness that would easily have been treated or perhaps completely prevented in other places.  People may die because of a storm but it is poverty caused by systemic injustices that denied them the possibility of obtaining adequate shelter that would have easily protected them from that storm. 

The paschal pattern in our own lives takes many forms.  We let go of habits that are harmful to ourselves, hurtful to those we love, selfish, or damage the earth.  We recognize the error of our ways, make amends for our wrongdoings, become aware that our behavior may be negatively affecting society or the earth itself and we choose to change.  These are the small dyings we are called to and so we become new people, resurrected in a sense in our ordinary daily lives over and over again.  We all have had times of loss and grief or have been victims of something whether accidentally or due to an injustice of one kind or another.  When we go through the grieving process or suffer from pain and then after time, as a result, we find that we have become more compassionate, less judgemental or start to live out of a deeper perspective about what is truly important in life then too, we have experienced our own dyings and risings.

What is true for individuals is also true for structures, and societies.  Much of the unnecessary pain and suffering in the world is caused or allowed to happen as a result of systemic injustice, which values some lives more than others. It is a few people who have most of the power, prestige, possessions, and privilege who benefit from the current societal structures.  They are the ones who would be most threatened by the real message of Jesus and probably find a way to silence or kill him today, (or perhaps dramatically distort his message to justify global structural injustices that benefit them.)  It is these systems that need to be radically transformed.   The current structures that were created to benefit the few, must be  allowed to die and then be resurrected built with love, equality, peace, mercy, and justice for all people and in a fashion that is sustainable for the earth. 

 Thank you for taking the time to read my ponderings; writing them out helps me to try to make sense of my recent thoughts and reflections.
           
Since schools were closed this week, I was able to spend more time at the orphanage allowing the children to come to the play therapy room not so much for formal therapy but simply to play.  I offered a creative activity for the oldest children too.  It was enjoyable.  It amazes me when I realize how the children have grown so much since I first met them. It is a privilege to recognize the Paschal patterns in their lives and celebrate their own risings from the pains of previous sufferings they have experienced. 

May you experience many blessings and celebrate resurrection during these holy days! 

The end of the second trimester

The academic calendar here is organized into trimesters.  The second trimester started in early January and finished this week.  It seemed to have gone by so very quickly and seemed to be shorter than the first trimester.  Now, I am working on finishing my grades for the 213 high school students enrolled in the conversational English classes that I am teaching at the sisters' school in the city.  While I would like to write a more creative and interesting update this week, grades need to be my priority at the moment.  I am aware that this is a boring blog entry.    It is more like a little note to let my regular readers who are accustomed to my writing weekly know that all is well; I've just been a bit busier than usual, but all is well.  

Have a good week.  Many blessings! Take care.    

  

Signs of Hope!

Last Thursday for International Women's Day there was a program for the students at the all-girls high school where I teach English classes.  The girls all gathered in the auditorium for an educational program. I talked with some of the girls afterward; they seemed to have found it to be empowering and informative.  The sign outside the auditorium says, in Creole, "Violence Against Women, We must talk."   As difficult as the images in the middle of the sign are to look at, it is a sign of hope.  It gives me hope that at least at this school young women are being educated about this reality and encouraged to talk about it.  Of course, I sincerely hope that someone is also educating the young men about such issues as well.

This afternoon, when I went for a quick walk, I saw the older of the two boys I had met two weeks ago, (the ones living on the street.)  He smiled as I walked along the sidewalk towards him.  He told me that he is in the program I had referred him to.  The younger boy was not with him, but he reported that the younger child is in the program too, and had stayed there this afternoon.  He told me that they give them food and they can sleep there.  I was relieved to see him, to chat with him and to learn that they are safe.   His smile was for me another sign of hope.


Thank you for taking the time to read this weekly update.  Many blessings!

Timoun nan lari a; Children on the street

 The other morning when I had a break in between English conversation classes that I teach at the sisters' school in the city, I went for a short walk along the boulevard where the sea is on one side of the road and restaurants are on the other.  While I was walking two school-aged children (who do not actually attend school), approached me.  They asked me for Pesos, the currency in the Dominican Republic.  I explained that I did not have any pesos and we continued to chat.  They told me they were living on the street.  I asked where they had slept and they both pointed to the same street corner.  I believed them and felt heartbroken that children so young would be homeless and not even with a caring adult.  It occurred to me that even though I spent many years working with people experiencing homelessness in the United States, and even though I have been living in Cap-Haitian for three and a half years now, I had no idea where to refer them for services.  Although I am normally reluctant to give money to people, I gave them the very small amount of goudes I had in my pocket, enough to buy one boiled egg or a banana.  I felt helpless having no idea what to do for them. 

I continued on my walk feeling empathy for them and disappointed in myself for not knowing how to help them.  Most of my professional experience has been with people experiencing homelessness of one kind or another.  When I initially came to Haiti the first time, in the aftermath of the Earthquake, it was with a sense of call that I personally and we as religious were called to go wherever the needs are the greatest.  Here I am, in a country where there is a lot of and sometimes extreme poverty, and on that morning, I was teaching conversational English to some of the most privileged teenage girls in Cap-Haitian and I was completely clueless about resources for people experiencing homelessness.  How had this happened?   

There are many orphanages in Haiti, but that does not mean that they will take children off of the street.  The orphanage where I work for example only takes children whose mothers have died but who have some extended family who can care for them during Christmas and summer vacations and only accepts new children who are younger than these boys are.  Governmental child protective services that are supposed to ensure that minors are adequately cared for in the US, don't really exist here in the same way. 
               
When I was walking back toward the school where I teach, they came to me again.  The conversation continued.   I learned that they had come from a town a bit of distance away and that they were 8 and 11 years old.  Much too young to be on their own!  They followed me until I got to the gate of the school where I teach English classes.  The whole time I was wondering what I could do to offer at least a little more assistance.  I told them to wait and that I would try to find out where they could go for help.  I went into the convent and called the sister who is in charge of the orphanage where I work and asked if she knew of a program for children who are living on the street.  She told me of a community that has such a program and in which section of the city it is located.  I looked on the internet for the phone number and tried calling a couple of times but got no answer.

They boys had waited for me.  I told them what neighborhood and the name of the congregation who supposedly has a program for children living on the streets. I explained that I had tried to call but had not gotten an answer and that I hoped this would be helpful.   I gave them a small amount of money in case they wanted they could take a tap-tap there and I encouraged them to head towards that neighborhood and to ask people where the program is located.   They told me that they would come back to see me tomorrow, I told them that I would not be there tomorrow, but would be back next week. 

I don't know if I will ever see them again, if they were able to find the program or even if they tried, and if they did if the program was able to help them or if they would be willing to stay.  In retrospect, I doubt that I handled the situation as well as I ideally could have.  I do know that my encounter with them took my mind off of myself, raised many questions for me and  is challenging me to consider how I can better (as is stated in the Marianite Mission Statment) "stand with those who are excluded." 


Have a good week.  Many blessings!     

             

Kat Kat (four cards) Paper Recycling

A couple of years ago, on my day off I started taking pictures in the yard here, which inspired me to take photographs elsewhere as well. Realizing I had a lot of the pictures and not often knowing what I can give to family, community members and friends as gifts considering my limited budget and the reality that most of my family and friends in the US generally have everything they need, I started making cards with my pictures.  When in the US, I buy the blank cards from one the "big box" craft stores.  Recently I found myself wondering, especially since paper is not recycled here, if it would be possible to literally make the cards, by recycling paper by hand that would otherwise just be burned with all of the other burnable household rubbish.  

There are directions on the internet for just about everything these days, including how to recycle paper.  I mentioned my idea to the other American sister in the house; she had actually done this herself several years ago and even had the screen frame that is needed to form the new pieces of paper. She lent me them and a craft book about making paper.  

The process involves ripping up the old papers, soaking them, pounding them into a pulp, putting the pulp in water, stirring the water, catching the pulp in a screen frame, removing excess water, waiting for it start to dry, carefully taking the new paper from the screen and then waiting for it to dry completely. 

The process was a bit more involved than I would have expected when the idea first came into my mind.  It quickly went from being a challenge to see if it were possible to be an experience of metaphor.   The process spoke to me of true conversion, being made anew, transformation, reformation, the Paschal Mystery.  The old paper was destroyed, beyond recognition so that something new could be created.  What a perfect project for the season of Lent!  Actually, changing the old paper into new paper was relatively easy compared with processes of the changes involved in normal human development, moving from one phase of life to another.  Transforming paper is much easier than embracing the transformative call to change from my selfish perspectives to a become a more loving and just person.  How I wish transforming the currently unjust structures and systems in our world could be as easy as changing old paper into new paper!  

It may not really be practical for me to make all of the cards by hand that I like to give to family, community members, and friends.  I certainly like the idea of recycling as opposed to purchasing supplies from "big box" stores.  I spent much of Sunday working on this little project and I created a total of four cards, kat kat, (the Creole word for both the number "four" and for the word "card" is "kat.")  The first card will serve as a thank you note to the sister who lent me the screen and book that were used in the creation of these cards.  

Thank you to everyone who reads this and to all who are supportive and encouraging of me and of my work here in Haiti.  Mèsi anpil!    

  

  
        

Lenten Listening

Since we are now in the first full week, I thought it would be good to write something about Lent. After some reflection, I don't actually have anything new to say about the liturgical season at the moment. Currently, in my personal and spiritual life, I am sensing an invitation to listen, which at times requires that I say a little less. In that spirit, this week's update is brief. 

 Actually, if the old saying is correct,  then my update is not brief at all since a picture is worth a thousand words.  Here are photos of some new chicks and of a goofy guinea hen on top of the doghouse door in our backyard.   
   

     

All is well here. 
I hope that you are having a good week.  Many blessings!  Take care. 

Vizit Papa M (My Dad's Visit)

On Saturday afternoon, my dad arrived in Haiti.  It was the first time that a family member has come to visit.  I was happy that he came.  It was a pleasure to show him around the orphanage, two of the schools where I work, the grounds of San Souci Palace, the Citadelle, and a bit of downtown Cap-Haitian.  He enjoyed meeting the sisters and survived two two-hour long masses in languages that he does not understand (although I must confess we left as the announcements were beginning towards the end of Ash Wednesday mass this morning.)  I was grateful that I was able to spend time with him.  His presence caused me to remember what things looked like here when I saw them for the first time.  He commented on the beauty of Haiti several times, seemed to enjoy people he met, and got a glimpse of some of the challenges people face here as well.  He left this afternoon, arrived safely in the US and is in the car heading home as I write this.  Hopefully, his visit was as good of an experience for him as it was for me. Thanks, Dad! 

Here are a few new pictures of (or taken near)San Souci and the Citadelle, so you too can get a glimpse of the beauty of Haiti.   

Today is both Valentine's Day and Ash Wednesday.  Some people have commented on the strangeness of celebrating these two holidays on the very same day.  On the surface, they may seem quite different, but really both are all about love.  Certainly, there are many forms of love worth celebrating.  I wish each of you a Happy St. Valentine's Day and a blessed beginning of Lent.  May love lead each of us into and through this Holy season.   


     

A busy but beautiful Sunday

On Sunday morning the newest children at the orphanage were baptized during a liturgy held in the orphanage chapel.  It was a joyous celebration.  I was happy to be able to attend. 

I did not stay for the party that followed but returned to the convent where I live for Sunday dinner.  The dining room was filled because a group of young women who are discerning the possibility of entering the Sisters of Holy Cross had spent the weekend here; they departed soon after the meal.  I was happy to have met them. 

After dinner and washing dishes, with the help of technology, I was able to participate in a  regional community meeting with some of the sisters in New Orleans.  It was good to connect and hear their voices.  Fortunately, they were flexible (thank you!) so that the most essential elements of the meeting could be discussed early allowing me to participate in another important event that day. 

I walked very quickly but did not run to the church knowing I was technically late but aware that it was unlikely that everyone would be fully ready to leave on time.  After a brief prayer in the churchyard, along with a group of children, one of the sisters I live with and a few other women from the parish I boarded a chartered tap-tap.  The parish priest and a couple from the parish followed soon after in a separate vehicle.  As we road through the streets of Cap-Haitian, the children sang, practicing the songs they intended to sing during the visit.  One of the songs they sang it their theme song for their group which is called Timoun Misyonè  (Missionary Children.)   

We arrived at the Azil, where there are homes for adults and children with disabilities, for children who have been orphaned or abandoned as well as a home for individuals living with HIV.  Many of the people seemed so happy to have visitors.  Our groups spent most of our time visiting the children who have significant disabilities.  At times our children sang, but most of the time we just interacted with the people we were visiting.  The image of one particular girl who is unable to walk or talk whose bright smile radiated with joy stays with me. The children of our parish seemed to have a good experience and interacted very well with the people they met. It was a new experience for them.   The Missionaries of the Poor who administer the Azil seem to be very compassionate and kind to the people they serve.  They are truly caring for people who are among the poorest and most vulnerable in our world.  The priests and brothers all speak English; I enjoyed chatting with them.  Although he is learning Creole, I was actually asked to translate for one of the priests when he was communicating with the children from our parish.  He thanked them and invited them to come visit again.   I hope that I will have the opportunity to visit again, too. 


One afternoon last week, after working at the school in the city, I went for a walk and took a few pictures by the sea in downtown Cap-Haitian. 

When I came across this shell I was intrigued by the spiral shape.  The shell seemed beautiful to me, although it was wedged in between a couple of rocks and it was obviously broken. I reflected on the image and on my thoughts about it.   If we can not recognize the beauty that often exists within brokenness then very little will be beautiful to us.  If beauty is synonymous with wholeness and perfection than our sense of beauty is limited at best and superficial at worst.   

May you recognize the beauty that surrounds you this week.  Take care. 
Many blessings!