I am  in Rhode Island grateful to be able to spend time with family.  At the moment Haiti feels worlds away, yet my mind wanders back there from time to time.  When I think of the number of relatives, I have and spent time with during these past several days, and I juxtapose that with thoughts of the children at the orphanage especially those who went to spent the holiday with a worker since their families were too far away and could not come for them, I feel amazingly grateful for what I have and sad for those who either lack the means to visit their extended family or don't have family connections.  It is wonderful to be here at Christmas time, and also at moments somehow challenging to  be surrounded by relative abundance.  I hope that you had a blessed Christmas and that your New Year will be filled with joy, and peace.

I just came across this on-line about educating children in Haiti in Haitian Creole.  These are the ideas that make sense to me as an educator and a social worker.  I wish I could find the same information presented as well as it is here in either Haitian Creole or in French so that I could share it with my co-workers and community members in Haiti.  Enjoy!       http://www.pri.org/stories/2014-12-22/village-school-haiti-started-national-movement-teach-kids-language-they-speak 

Bon ane!  Happy New Year!  

   

Updates, Citadel and Merry Christmas!

On Friday the last  child left the orphanage for the Christmas holiday.  There were some whose only family members lived too far away or for whatever reason could not go "home."  Arrangements were made for these children to stay with someone, such as an orphanage worker who already knows the child well.  It got very quiet towards the end of the week.

Also, in my previous entry I had mentioned that there were training for all of the workers and the sisters taking place last week.  Well, I was partially wrong; the training were for the workers but not for the sisters.  The interesting thing about assumptions I make based on my previous experiences is that sometimes I don't really even realize at first that I am making an assumption.  

On Saturday, I a Holy Cross sister who works at the high school and two young lay women from Canada, went with a large group of high school girls went to the Citadel.  It was a great trip.  We walked for about three full hours, up the mountain, taking breaks along the way.  The views were spectacular as you can see.  Although when I first boarded the large yellow former american school bus, I felt a bit overwhelmed by the noise level, I must say, I truly enjoyed walking the journey up and down the mountain with some very delightful young women.  The history is fascinating; here is a link to learn more:  http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/180

  On Sunday I flew from O'Kap to Miami and from Miami to New Orleans.  It has been good to spend a couple of days in New Orleans connecting with the sisters, and friends.  Soon I will be connecting with family and friends in Rhode Island, si Dye vle.  I am grateful to, that the sisters took care of fulfilling my wish list of play therapy supplies  that I had emailed several weeks ago.  Thank you!  Mesi Anpil!   I truly am grateful to be able to spend some time in the US, even though the sudden change in culture, schedule and environment cause me to feel mildly disoriented and  slightly disorganized.

While walking down the mountain on Saturday I cam across a large poinsettia plant in full bloom right on schedule for the holiday!

I wish each of you a joyous Christmas filled with peace!  Many Blessings!

        

Lekòl, Maladi, Fèt Nwèl, Orevwa timoun, Politik

Lekòl

Last week the children finished their exams at school.  Even very young children have exams in Haiti; the school system here uses very different methods and is based on a philosophy that seems almost contradictory to what I was taught under-grad as an elementary and special education major at Rhode Island College in the 1990s. 

Maladi

Several of the children have gotten sick lately.  At first we were told it was the measles, but now we have been informed that it was not the measles after all, which is a good thing.  When we believed that several children were coming down with the measles, I looked up information on various seemingly trustworthy medical websites to educate myself about the measles.  I found myself reflecting on disease and vaccinations, and who is offered vaccinations in our world and who is not.  When preparing to come to Haiti, the travel specialist suggested I get a booster to protect against measles, mumps and rubella, just in case the antibodies from earlier vaccinations were no longer active.  My life and health is no more valuable in the eyes of God than a child born into poverty in a country where poverty is the norm. Some people in our world are offered more protection against disease than others as if some lives are of greater value and in general certain factors influence a person’s chances of being offered vaccinations and proper health care in general such as nationality, education level, social status, and race.  Learning of how dangerous measles can be I am very grateful that it is not the illness our children have and that there are vaccinations available; hopefully in the not too distant future these vaccines will be given to all children on our planet regardless of where they are born, and how much money their families have and then when children anywhere become sick it will not be because of the measles or any other serious illness for which there are safe and effective vaccinations.

 Fèt Nwèl   

Yesterday we had a Christmas party for all of the children and employees.  While preparing for the party on Saturday a young woman from Canada and I were given the recipe (in French) and the task for making rum punch, a Haitian specialty, which our employees enjoyed; although I did find it rather funny that this was the task of the newest blahs(foreigners/white people)  in the lakou (yard/property.)  The celebration started with a lively liturgy in our little chapel; I liked the way the priest interacted with the children and at least the homily was in Creole this time.  The mass was followed by a wonderful fèt that included music, dancing, great Haitian food, ice cream and gifts.  The children and employees really seemed to enjoy themselves.  Although the intermittent rain was inconvenient, we did not allow it to detract from the great fun.  I even tasted the rum punch and it was not bad at all!

Orevwa timoun

Most of the children left today to spend school vacation and celebrate Christmas and New Year’s Day, which is also Independence Day with relatives.  Most of the children were happy to see their relative come through the gate of the orphanage.  Some came long distances, but not one family member arrived at our gate in a car. It is suddenly quiet around here, I miss the children already. This week there will be some educational sessions for all staff and sisters who work with the children.  Early next week, I will be leaving for a visit with my community and then my family.  

Politik

There is a lot happening in Haiti politically these days with the recent resignation of the prime minister.  Sometimes we talk about what is happening at the dinner table, but in general to know what is going on I read articles on the internet, because despite some modest improvements, I still understand English better than Creole.   I will attach a link to one article, for your convenience, although it sometimes helps to read a few to get different perspectives.  Despite the political chaos in the country we are very safe here in our yard and in this neighborhood which on the outskirts of Cap Haitian.  I hope and pray that the recent resignation of the prime minister will somehow help the situation.  

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/haiti/article4477734.html

May this third week of Advent be a time of joy for each of you.  Thanks for taking the time to read this blog.  Many blessings!  

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.          

Thanksgiving!

I hope you had a happy Thanksgiving! 

Thanksgiving is not a Haitian holiday, although I must say giving thanks seems so inherent in this culture.  There are many church songs that are all about thanking God and most of the time at least one such song is sung at liturgy, often even at daily mass.  We, the sisters working here at the orphanage, received thanksgiving food from Agape flights, which is a nonprofit airline that provides mail service to us and other missionaries for a very reasonable fee.   Every Thursday one of the sisters goes to the nearby airport and checks to see if any packages arrived for us.  This year they had volunteers and donors provide Thanksgiving food for Americans missioned in Haiti.  They gave us turkey and a box that included a canned cranberry sauce, a box of stove stop stuffing, canned yams and marshmallows, Jiffy pie crust mix, a can of pumpkin, a can of condensed milk, and even can of whipped cream.  I would not have expected to celebrate thanksgiving here, but was very happy that we were able to celebrate!  A sister who lives in another convent cooked the turkey and stuffing for us.  I prepared the rest and added some fresh carrots that were in the convent refrigerator to the menu.  Normally, and especially for a holiday like thanksgiving, in the United States, I prefer to make most dishes from scratch rather than use canned and boxed (processed) foods.  Here in Haiti, I was actually grateful for the boxes because at least for me, there are extra steps involved in food preparation that make using the easy stuff feel like cooking from scratch.  Extra steps include trying to get as many of the ants out of the pie crust mix as possible, looking up the word for rolling pin in the Haitian Creole/English Dictionary (“woulo” in case you are wondering,) walking across the lakou (yard) to search the main orphanage kitchen for a woulo, asking a worker to teach me how to light the gas oven; and those are just a few examples.  There is definitely something humbling about needing assistance with very ordinary things, like a different style can opener than I had ever used and also realizing that I lack some basic skills that most women in this culture have probably perfected.

 

Since Thursday was not a holiday here, we followed the regular schedule but decided to wait to eat until all of the sisters were home, which since two had class that night, we ate at about 7:30 pm.  I had prepared a thanksgiving prayer.  I offered to prepare the prayer, so that for once it would be entirely in Haitian Creole; because I find it difficult to really pray in French since I don’t really know French.  It was a good day and I realize I have so very much to be thankful for.  The gratitude that I encounter frequently in the Haitian culture, as well as the realization of how through no merit of my own, I have been fortunate to have been gifted with family, friends, opportunities, experiences and luxuries that many others though no less deserving because the  injustice inherent in our global society cannot access.  

Please keep one of our children who is currently suffering from measles in your prayers.  Thank you!  

May this Advent season be filled with many blessings and peace for each of you as we wait in hopeful expectation.

Adventerous Application Process for Premis De Sejour

In order to legally reside in Haiti for more than three months at a time, non-Haitians are required to obtain what is called a Premis de Sejour; I think that means a permit of the day, but that is just an educated guess since I don’t really know French.  Prior to coming, I gathered what I thought I would need for the permit.  There is a Haitian Sister of Holy Cross who has assisted many sisters with this process.    She submitted my papers and the papers of a young lay woman from Canada who is volunteering at the high school in Cap Haitian which is also sponsored by the Sisters of Holy Cross.  One of the things I knew I needed was passport photos so I had them taken in New Orleans before I left.  I do not remember reading that I would need six photos, so I only had two printed.  Once in Haiti, I was informed that I needed six, and had the picture taken at a photography shop here in O’Kap.  Last week I called the sister who was assisting me with the process to check the status and learned that I would need to go to Portauprince to sign a paper, although in reality it was more than a simple signature that was required.  On Sunday the lay volunteer and I rode with a chauffeur who was going to the capital to transport the postulants from the capital to O’Kap on Monday.  The trip took over four hours.  We arrived in plenty of time for Sunday dinner at the convent with the sisters in Portauprince.

 

On Monday morning we went to the immigration/emigration office in the city.  Riding through the city, I saw familiar sites and noticed significant changes as it has been well over three years now since I had been in down town Pourtauprince.  The National Palace has been completely demolished; I had  heard this, but to see an empty space where a massive but broken building had stood the last time I’d passed, is very different than simply reading the news on a website.  When we passed certain spots, that were only vaguely familiar, I recalled that large tent communities had once been there.

. 

We arrived shortly after 8:00 am.  While the other areas of the building seemed already crowded with people, there was nobody waiting in front of us when we arrived in the air conditioned Premis de Sejour room.  I was feeling a little nervous about the paper work because I knew it would all be in French.  I had heard stories of people who work in government offices, speaking French to people who don’t understand French and pretending not to know Creole.  While I don’t doubt there is at least historically some truth to those kinds of stories, thank God, this was not my experience.   Actually the woman who helped us knows English, and after a several minutes of the sister and I conversing in Creole and then the sister writing the French spelling of words on the back of an envelope for me to copy unto the application, the kind worker decided that it would be acceptable for me to write in English on my application.  I was glad that she was so helpful and patient.  My only complaint is that she asked me my color hair, and when I responded, “red, wouj, rouge”  (If my answer had been acceptable, I could have even written red in French, since I know the capital of Louisiana,) I was informed that my hair is not “red;” it is “brown.”  While I have always thought myself a red head, I quickly decided that in this context, this was not worth arguing about and wrote “brown” on the paper, in English.  When we got to the next question, I quickly said and wrote that my eyes are hazel (in English) before anyone had time to inform me otherwise.   The only problem was that my birth certificate had not been translated into French.  We were told that we needed to have an official translation done which a specific agency can do for (what I think is an excessive) fee.  I don’t understand why the birth certificate would need an expensive official translation; or really why if someone in the office knows English, and I can write my hair and eye color on the application in English, my birth certificate would need to be translated at all.  The young woman who is volunteering at the high school’s, birth certificate is acceptable because hers is  bi-lingual since she was born in Canada, however her certificate of health was not acceptable because it was written on prescription paper as opposed to a formal official letter; before her permit can be processed, she needs to go to a doctor here who will give her a certificate of health written in the proper format.  My doctor in the US happens to be Haitian American and wrote my certificate of health in the proper format and even in French (one less thing to have translated) and it was perfectly acceptable; thank God.  Before we left, we had to have our pictures taken, (even though we had each already submitted six pass port type photos) and we were finger printed. I think we were fortunate that they allowed us to have the pictures and finger prints taken even though neither us had submitted all of the proper documentation; otherwise, we would have had to make another trip. The office got busier as more people came in while we were there.  Still, it was not anywhere near as busy as the open room just outside the office; I am not sure exactly what happens there but given that the building said Immigration and Emigration I can imagine.  As we made our way through the crowd, I wondered, for every American and Canadian citizen applying for a Permis de Sejour to stay longer than three months in Haiti, how many hundred Haitian citizens are trying to get papers to go to either America or Canada?  I suddenly acquired a deep appreciation for the fact that I happen to have a birth certificate which indicates that I was born in the United States.

   

Later that morning we left the city with the Holy Cross postulants who had been in the capital all week for a formation program and two other sisters.  Soon after we left the city limits there was a “blokis” caused by a “manifestasyon,” which means a traffic jam caused by a protest.  One of the sisters called a young person to the window when we were completely stopped and asked what was going on and he explained that the manifestasyon was for “dlo” and “kouran.”  People had organized this to try to get the attention of the government because they do not have access to “water and electricity.”  In various places people had parked large trucks to block the roads, in some places there were also rocks, and at one point we saw a couple of burning tires.  The traffic was very slow moving to get around the obstacles; then we were able to travel sometimes a bit faster for a brief time until we came to the traffic caused by the next set of road blocks.  This went on for quite a while.  At one point we pulled to the side of the road to wait a while, simply because it felt safer to do so.  It took more than twice as long to return to O’Kap than it did not get to Port-Au-Prince the previous day.  I am very thankful that we arrived safely and grateful that at least here at the orphanage and convent we have dlo and kouran.  

 

Happy Thanksgiving!    

Angle

Sometime a couple of the older children ask me to help them with their English homework.  At times some of the lessons seem too advanced for their current level of comprehension.  There was a child who did not know the words “his,” “why,” or “what,” who had a passage to read about a historic Haitian figure and the reading included the words “guerrilla warfare” and “fervently,” which I struggled to explain the meanings for in Haitian Creole even though I know the Creole words for “his, why and what.”   Another time I assisted a child with a passage that explained how the rain creates streams and rivers that flow into the ocean; I ended up explaining the passage to her in Creole and it seemed like a light bulb went off in her head, and she appeared excited and I don’t think it was so much because she had learned the English but because she had learned a concept that perhaps had never before been explained to her in her first language.  It does seem that many of the passages were written about subjects that are somehow connected to Haitian culture and life, and that may be interesting to many children.  I did find it puzzling that on an exercise designed to help students practice placing either “a” or “an” before a noun, that the any English teacher would include the technical word for a female dog.

Some of the children have expressed an interest in learning English.  On occasion, I have offered very informal classes for whoever wants to come from the house of the older children.  I decided to try to make it fun.  We've done things like introduce ourselves, sang and did the motions for “head shoulders, knees and toes,” walked while saying things like “I am walking, we are walking” took turns jumping while saying “you are jumping” “she is jumping“ “he jumped.” etc.  (I have read that exercise and movement have been proven to help with the learning process; I include this just in case my readers think that I don’t like to sit still.)   Sometimes the children just want to ask me “how do you say….(whatever?)”  Kids seem to really enjoy looking at the bi-lingual picture dictionary I have, which was a text we used when I studied in Creole in Miami, although it was written with English learners in mind. 

On occasion children ask me to translate something.  Most of the time I am glad to do this for them and typically it is easy to do, with occasional exceptions.  There was a little plastic bag of drinking water, which is commonly sold in this country, (although I personally avoid drinking from them,) and on the bag in English it said “feel the ozone” in blue letters.  A child asked for an explanation.  While I know that ozone is a gas and am aware that depletion of the ozone layer is problematic environmentally, I felt clueless and unable to understand, never mind articulate in Haitian Creole the meaning of the phrase and thought to myself maybe it simply sounded good to someone who has studied English and needed a slogan.  If you have a better explanation, please make use of the comments section of this post; I am curious.  Sometimes the older children will ask me to translate the words on a t-shirt they noticed a stranger wearing while they were on the way home from school.  (T-shirts that Americans discard often end up here; the people wearing them frequently do not know what they say.)  On one occasion I’d felt that I could only try to explain the meaning, if I also explained that it was inappropriate and why; it was either that or pretend that the t-shirt actually referred to a (not an) female dog.  

Zarenyen Krab and other updates

When I updated the blog on Monday evening of last week, we were all feeling grateful for the rain, but then it continued through the night and wee-hours of the morning. On Tuesday we were inundated with rain and it continued to fall sometimes quite heavily but with occasional breaks in between storms for much of that day.  The primary schools were already closed for teacher training last week, but then the secondary schools closed on Tuesday and remained so for the rest of the week to give people a chance to deal with the flooding that occurred in many homes and nearby streets.  We were all safe here, neither of the children’s houses nor the convent flooded, but many people in the nearby city, were not so fortunate.  We even heard that a couple of people died due to flooding.  Please keep the people of Cap Haitian and other areas of Haiti that experienced heavy rains, especially those who lost homes or loved ones in your prayers.    

There was so much rain in front of the door to the room I use for therapy on Tuesday morning, that I decided that it would not be wise to bring the children through such a deep puddle.  In between rainstorms, I did enter the room to straighten up a bit.  After I walked through the door, I turned around and noticed a tarantula sitting on the floor barely a couple of inches from the door frame I had just walked through. For a moment I regretted that I left my rain boots in a closet in New Orleans.  My wet feet were feeling a bit vulnerable in my sandals.    I considered getting the mop I had in the playroom and pushing the spider into the water, but I did not like that idea because I did not know if tarantulas can swim and did not want encounter it in the water once I left the room.   An older child, who apparently had noticed me heading towards the playroom, splashed her way through the puddle even as I told her not too; she entered as I was explaining to her that there is a big spider by the door.  She seemed frightened, initially.  While I was still discerning how I should respond, considering that it is dangerous and wanting it gone, but wondering if there might be adverse ecological effects if everyone murdered scary spiders, she pushed it out with the mop.  That day, I learned that tarantulas do float and sort of swim too.  Seemingly unharmed, it made its way across the water to the nearby small cement foundation, by this time several of the oldest children had gathered on the other side of the puddle.  One of the older boys killed it.  The Haitian Creole world for tarantula is “zarenyen krab,” which literally translates to “spider crab;” I find this interesting because in Rhode Island, there is a crab that resembles a spider, which is called a spider crab.  Personally, I would much rather encounter the crab that resembles a spider than the spider that walks like a crab! 

Last week, I wrote that I was happy to have electricity in the playroom and I was.  The electricity system we have here is somewhat complicated; although I am confident that I would be quite capable of understanding how it all works, if only there were someone who could explain it to me in my primary language.  The electricity in the playroom was on in the morning, I think because the workers in the nearby house for the younger children iron the children’s clothes at that time; and it is turned on again at 6pm.  The problem with that was that once the sun starts going down, at around 4:30, when I start my last group, the room starts to get dark.  I am grateful that my Haitian cell phone came with a handy built-in flashlight, but still this is not the best way to conduct therapeutic groups with young children.  I asked one of the sisters about the possibility of increasing the hours that electricity is available in the playroom by having it hooked up to the inverter and what the cost would be.  Thank you to those who gave me money for Haiti; a portion of it was used to pay electricians to hook up the building to the inverter.  Now most of the time there is electricity in the play therapy room.  The rooms in that building now also have working electric outlets!  Mesi anpil!  (Thank you very much!) 

If you are reading this regularly, you know that a couple of weeks ago a few sisters and a group of children and I attended a wedding. We heard this week that the bride recently gave birth to twins, one of the babies died.  Please keep the family in your prayers.  Thank you.

For the second time since I arrived we had a liturgy here for the children on Saturday evening. This time much to my surprise (and disappointment,) even the homily was in French.  One mass part and one song were in Haitian Creole; I felt happy when the one song we did sing was one that I like and  learned from attending the Haitian Creole mass in New Orleans.  Since the high school age children did not have to be transported into the city because schools were closed, a couple of mornings last week, instead of going to the cathedral for daily mass we went to another church in the opposite direction, and I am glad that that liturgy is conducted primarily in Haitian Creole, the language of the people, which is spoken by everyone.  I still do not always understand everything in Creole, but certainly much more than I do in French.  I do not understand why so many masses here, including liturgies for children would be mostly in French (the language I understand has traditionally associated with government, education, and the wealthier and more educated classes.)

I have had very good internet for nearly a month.  Today I went to pay for the next month and felt very confused by the options available as I continue to struggle with understanding large numbers in Creole and then to get a sense of how much money something would be in American dollars, very challenging for me in a noisy telephone store where the clerks are so close together and the individual waiting on me seems annoyed when I ask her to speak slowly (most of the time most people are amazingly patient with me.)  I can only hope that my klè will work as well during the coming weeks as it has recently.  We shall see.  I did get behind with responding to emails last week, when the children did not have school and therefore even my mornings were busy.  Hopefully I will catch up this week.  Thank you for all who have emailed or messaged me; I am very appreciative even if I have not responded.  Many blessings!    

Twins, All Souls Day and Rain

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.  

       

lanmè, Nòs, epi lot bagay

The Sea 

On Wednesday morning, instead of our usual community meeting all of the sisters and the lay woman who is volunteering with us went to the sea.  It only took about an hour to get there even though it was on the other side of a mountain.  Apparently one of the sisters knows the owner of this place by the sea and on weekdays, when it is typically not in use, the sisters are allowed to use it during the day.  It was quite beautiful, private and peaceful.  The water was the perfect temperature for swimming.  We all had a great time and we returned to the orphanage in plenty of time for our regular after school schedule with the children; which for me on Wednesday means five, half-hour long therapy groups with the youngest children followed by being available for a half of an hour to assist any of the older with English homework.

A Wedding

On Saturday a few of the sisters, the volunteer, an employee and a group of children attended the wedding of the son of one of the women who works at the orphanage.  The wedding was at a Baptist church, although it was not actually in the church itself.  Because the bride was visibly pregnant, the pastor of the church would not allow the ceremony to take place in the church.  Instead, all those in attendance crowded into a small, dark and very warm room which was across a narrow alley on the side of the spacious empty church.  I suppose the room would have been even darker if there had not been some small holes in the rusting metal roof.  It was simply decorated with a bouquet of fake flower and streamers which I suspect were created from thin toilet paper.  There was something about the simplicity and the small dark room that caused me to feel sad for a moment.  The ceremony started with some prayers in French, followed by songs sung in French and Creole.  The minister preached and did the actual marriage ceremony in Creole, because he said he wanted everyone to understand.  The bride and groom seemed young and nervous during certain parts of the ceremony, but lovely and sincere.  The bride wore a beautiful gown.  The mother of the groom, our co-worker who had invited us, and had seemed so excited about the wedding was not at the actual ceremony; I don't know why.  After the service ended, we piled back into the crowded van and drove a short distance.  In front of a nearby small home, we all exited the van. Our co-worker was there and she was so happy to see us, so glad that we had attended her son's wedding ceremony.  Everyone was handed a sand which wrapped in paper towel and something to drink.  The sandwich was a white hamburger bun,with a pink sauce that I think was made of ketchup, mayonnaise, and a few tiny pieces of hot-dog, green peppers and onions.  My drink was a grape soda.  Yes,(in case you are wondering) I ate and drank what I was given, appreciative of their generosity and graciousness.  Before most had finished their sandwiches, we loaded back into the van.  On the way home, one of the sisters asked the driver to stop at a vendor she seemed to know at the side of the road and purchased a few small Styrofoam containers filled small pieces of cooked horse meat which were passed around the van. I decided I had been adventurous enough in my eating for one day, and my stomach really was full from drinking all of the sweet grape soda and eating the entire sandwich, so I politely declined.

Other things

On Saturday evening, we had liturgy here at the a little chapel between the orphanage and the school (I'll post pictures of the chapel another time.)  Apparently this is something that we try to do a couple of times a month, but sometimes there is no priest available; it was my first liturgy in our chapel.  Since all of the children were attending, and a Holy Cross priest was coming to preside at the liturgy, I assumed that the liturgy would be in Haitian Creole.  I was looking forward to this especially since when we go to daily mass at the cathedral most of that mass is in French.  Except for the homily which ended with a French prayer and one short hymn, the mass for our children was entirely in French.

On Sunday evening, we celebrated the birthdays of all of the children born in October.  It was a wonderful celebration with dancing, singing and food.  It is always a gift to watch children enjoying themselves.  There should be a few pictures of the fet (party) posted on the Mary Gate of Heaven Orphanage facebook page, if you are interested.

I have been here over a month already. In many ways it seems to have gone so quickly, yet somehow it does seem like it has been a very long time since I was in the United States.  I hope you are well.  Take care.  

Kay nou, ak kay timou yo (Our house and the children's houses)

I decided to include a few pictures in this week's post.  Enjoy!

Here is a picture of the convent where I am living.  It is on the grounds of the orphanage.  

The bedrooms are on the sides and the large community room, dining room is straight ahead.  

One of the rooms that was probably designed as a bedroon has been converted into a small chapel.  

This is the house where the younger children live.  The second floor consists of three bedrooms and an open area.  Two of the bedrooms have bunk beds, the other one contains cribs where the youngest children sleep.

This is the house where the older children live.  Currently there is one room for boys and four for girls, since we have many more girls than boys at this time.  There are two bedrooms on the first floor and the others are upstairs. 

If you are on facebook, please visit, like, and follow the Mary Gate of Heaven Orphanage page.  Thanks!  Take care!

A famous singer came to visit the orphanage on Friday evening.  Her name is Melissa, and although I had never heard of her (of course that doesn't mean much as I am not always up on pop-culture) she is apparently quite famous in Quebec, Canada.  There is a possibility that she resided in this orphanage, many years ago when she was a baby, prior to being adopted in Canada.  (Our current program keeps children connected to whatever family they have; none are eligible for adoption.)  Melissa and a camera crew came on Friday afternoon.  The children welcomed her with song and she sang for and with them.  She was given a tour of the houses where the children live.  The children seemed to really enjoy her and she them.  It was a very exciting day here for all involved. She is indeed a very talented singer, which I can appreciate since I am not at all gifted in that realm.  In December her visit should air on television in Quebec.  

Yesterday I had some time just to be with the children when they were playing.  While pushing some of the youngest children on the swings yesterday, I experienced pure joy when they laughed.  There are moments that make any of the challenges I experience all worth while.  When the challenges do come, God always seems to provide just what I need.  On Saturday I was feeling a bit frustrated about a situation, nothing too serious but wishing that I could explain my perspective to someone in English, not to solve the problem but simply express what I was experiencing in the words that are easiest for me to use.  About two minutes after I had that thought, one of the older children came looking for me, saying that a sister was looking for me. The sister who made the journey with me from Portauprince to Cap Haitian, was here at the orphanage (she lives at the convent on the grounds of the high school) and being from western Canada, English is her primary language.  God provides!     

Today I was able to purchase a  klè, which translates to "key;" it is allowing me internet access, and I am glad to be able to connect.  Hopefully it will work always work as well as it seems to be doing right now.  It looks like a larger than usual thumb drive and for a monthly fee I should be able to access the internet anytime, anywhere in Haiti.   

I hope that you are all well.  Many Blessings! 

Today I started seeing some of the youngest children for play therapy.  The mothers of nearly all of the children here in this orphanage have died.  It seems that in addition to the loss of their mothers many have experienced various other losses and significant trauma.  I feel it is privilege to be able to journey with these children and pray that my presence, love, and skills will enable me to somehow be a healing presence for each of them.  Since I am doing clinical social work, and am very conscious of confidentiality, I will not post any pictures of the children on this blog, but trust me, if you were to see their smiles, and even at times their tears you could not help but love them. 

Over the weekend I was included in the region meeting for the Sisters of Holy Cross in Haiti.  Walking into the building when I arrived at the site of the meetings, there was large picture of Fr. Moreau, the founder Holy Cross.  Certainly the connections and charism common to the Holy Cross family has helped me to feel at home here.  I was happy to meet so many sisters and felt very welcomed and included in their meetings and conversations at table and during breaks.    

I brought my pocket Haitian Creole-English Dictionary to the meeting over the weekend so I could look up any unknown words.  The dictionary proved useless however, not because of my vastly improved knowledge of Creole, but because the meetings were held in French.  Fortunately, for me, there were two American sisters there, who were willing and very able to translate what was being said directly into English for me during the meetings.  When we broke off into groups on Saturday to share, for my sake, an English speaking group was formed.  On Sunday when we shared briefly in small groups, the sisters near me where willing to share in Creole instead of French which I appreciated, and an American sister was in the group to clarify anything I did not understand well.   I was very grateful for their willingness to accommodate me.

Internet connections have been challenging.  After many attempts sometimes I can get on for a few minutes.  I have not been able to fully access my Facebook page at all.  If you are expecting an email response and have not received one this is the reason. 

There are several other topics I had wanted to write about including: hearing about the death of the former president/dictator Papa Doc during the meetings,  learning to remove beans from pods, the funeral of the father of one of the workers, the houses that are being knocked down that we pass on our way to church, the American airlines flights that started coming into Cap Haitian, and getting a phone, but it is getting late and may take a while to get on line and paste this into the blog, so maybe I will say more about some of those later or just leave the details to your imagination.   Bon Nwit! 

On Wednesday, I arrived safely in Port-au-Prince.  Before making the trip to Cap Haitian, I had the privilege of visiting NPH, the program where I worked when I was in Haiti previously.  When I arrived at the new Kay Ste. Ann and the door was open for me, two boys, whose names and faces I knew well came walking towards me quickly and smiling.  I nearly cried with joy, because both of these children have disabilities and one of them could only take a couple of steps at a time independently when I left; the other was not walking at all (the first was the child who I accompanied when had was baptized, the other was the young boy who had been abandoned in the Cholera hospital see previous entries from May 8, 2011 and May 29th 2011.)  It was truly a joy to see the children.  How much they have grown in nearly three years!  It was important for me to see them in their new houses. I reconnected with friends there and met some new volunteers that evening.  The following morning, I attended mass at the little chapel by the Sr. Damien hospital.  The mass, as usual was a funeral, that day for two children.  I am grateful that I had the opportunity to visit there before, beginning my new ministry in Haiti. 

I spent one night in Port-au-Prince at the house that the Sisters of Holy Cross have there.  Early the following morning a Canadian Holy Cross sister who has been in Haiti for over 50 years, a driver and I left for Cap Haitian.  Most of the way, there was a pretty decent rode; sometimes we could see the ocean was on one side of us and mountains on the other.  The sister had some very interesting stories to tell from her many years in Haiti.    

When I arrived at the orphanage here in Cap Haitian the children and sisters were eating lunch.  I was shown to my room, which is quite lovely.  The house is quite nice; it is simple, but we always have electricity and running water.  There are currently three Haitian sisters, one French-Canadian sister, and Canadian lay woman who is volunteering here until the end of October, and now me in the convent which is on the grounds of the orphanage.  I am enjoying the sisters and getting to know them.  Language has been somewhat challenging at times as I am the only one in the house who speaks English fluently.  I have very much enjoyed meeting the children and look forward to working with them.  On Sunday evening we had a party for two of the children’s birthdays.  The children sang and danced and had special treats to eat.  It was quite enjoyable. 

I am glad to be here.  I have not been able to access the internet often or easily.  I wrote this in word so I  paste into the blog when on-line.  By tomorrow I should have a telephone.  I hope that you are well.  Take care!    

many possible entries condensed into one

As I write this entry, I really should be doing something else, like finishing packing, cleaning out the my desk drawer, organizing papers, writing the many thank you notes I want to send before I leave and 100 other tasks.

I have not even left for Haiti, and yet I feel like I have gotten behind on updating this blog.  In the previous entry I had expected to write about the transfer of vows liturgy and how grateful I was for all those who attended: my parents, my twin sister (who surprised me by coming),  a sister and good friend from my previous congregation, a friend who was a Redeemer Ministry Corps (lay volunteer) with me many years ago, members of the local Catholic Haitian community (who sang beautifully after communion), other religious,  friends, and of course many Marianites.  The priest who presided at the liturgy was born in Rhode Island, spent many years ministering in Haiti, and currently lives here in New Orleans.  I was filled with joy and gratitude, or as they say in Haitian Creole, "kè kontan," which translates to "happy heart."

Another topic I want to include was the graciousness with which my previous congregation has accepted and even supported my transfer.  For this I am extremely grateful and deeply touched!      

I also wanted to write about the prayer, and blessing, followed by ice cream cake and conversation that we had here with the sisters in both convents on the property where I have lived for nearly three years.  I will miss each of them and am grateful for their love and support.  Thanks for the beautiful, prayerful send off!

Last night, I attended the Haitian Creole mass here in New Orleans; at the end there was a travel blessing for me.  I could write a entire blog entry about how I began attended that liturgy occasionally to help me not forget the language when I first returned and then gradually in time found myself attending with greater regularity because the liturgies and music are so energizing; it really became my Sunday worship community.  Mesi anpil anpil anpil!      

I also thought about writing an entry about how Fr. Moreau, the founder of the Holy Cross congregations sent religious out  to the "foreign missions" from the very beginning, sometimes when they were very new in the congregation, and to far away places when travel was much more difficult.  It is a privilege to be called to live the charsim of Holy Cross; please pray for me, that I will do so to to the best of my ability.      

Well if I had really written longer more detailed entries about all of those things, I may have bored you, anyway.  I do not intend to update this blog again until I am on the other side of the Gulf of Mexico.  In the mean time, know that I am very grateful for the prayers and support of so many people. Take care!  Many Blessings!          

Transfer: the previously un-blogged details of my Haiti/ transfer story.

The other day I was wondering if I should include a blog update about my transfer from the Sisters of the Holy Redeemer to the Marinaites of Holy Cross, after all this blog is about Haiti. I barely finished the thought, when a realization followed.  My connections to Haiti and my discernment regarding transferring as well as the transfer process itself are very much interconnected.  There were parts of the story left out from this blog, in part because I needed some privacy and freedom to discern.

One of the main reasons for my restlessness in my previous congregation was my sense that I was being called to something else, to go where the needs are the greatest (that is not to say or infer that there are not great needs everywhere; there are.)  Very early in 2010, I was already well into discerning the possibility of transferring, to the point of having some initial conversations with the leadership teams of both congregations.  In one conversation I had with the provincial of the Sisters of the Holy Redeemer she wondered, how it would be for me to try staying a Sister of the Holy Redeemer and perhaps minister elsewhere for a time.  I said I would discern about that possibility and spent a weekend by the Jersey shore praying for guidance from the Holy Spirit.  I felt that God wanted me to try this, to see how it might be to remain a Sister of the Holy Redeemer while working in a ministry and place where sisters in that congregation generally have not served.

I met again with the provincial, one Sunday after mass and said that I did feel called to try this arrangement and not proceed with the transfer at that time, but stated that I could not promise that the call to transfer would go away, because I just did not know.  At that point, I was not necessarily thinking about leaving the country, but being open to whatever God wanted.  I thought I could go to Appalachia, rural Mississippi or might have even considered going across the (Delaware) river to live and serve in a poor section of Camden.  Prior to meeting with me, I don't think Anne Marie had given much thought as to where I would go.  It seems to me that she surprised herself when she said, something like, "If you want to go where the needs are the greatest, maybe you could go to Haiti?"  The earth quake had just happened  a couple of weeks earlier and at that moment I could not have thought of a place where the needs were any greater.  When the earth quake happened, I was in the process of  reading the book Mountains Beyond Mountains, by Tracey Kidder, which chronicles Paul Farmer's work in Haiti.  Going to Haiti made perfect sense; my only concern was whether or not I would be able to learn the language.    

When I was first in Haiti, I was focused on life in Haiti and gave little thought to transferring.  By the Spring time, as the province was preparing for chapter, the possibility that I might be called to transfer arose again.  I was realizing that discerning the possibility of transferring had already taken a lot of time and energy, so I promised myself I would make a decision during my retreat (in New Jersey) that summer and if the decision was not to transfer, I would with the grace of God really, finally let the idea go completely.  On the afternoon of the last day of retreat, I still had no clarity, but did at one point reach a sense of peace with the possibility of not making a decision just yet.  I remember thinking that I want God to hit me on the head with this and make it perfectly clear, and came to the conclusion that the perfect clarity I want from God, may never come.  Then that very evening, God did hit me on the head with it, and provide the perfect clarity I had just decided might not exist.  A Sister of the Holy Cross, who had been in a "small health care community" prior to "coming to Holy Cross" sat down next to me, and even though the meal was supposed to be in silence, having no idea that I had any connection to the Marinaites whatsoever, or that I was a member of a "small health care community" started a conversation with me.  Everything she said regarding her own experiences, spoke to and eased my own fears about transferring.  This was the clarity that I needed, at that point I knew I was called to start the transfer process.

It was also quite clear to me, that I would need to leave Haiti, sooner rather than later once I knew in my heart I would leave the Sisters of the Holy Redeemer and transfer to the Marianites of Holy Cross.  It was not that I wanted to leave Haiti at that point, I had expected to stay of two years and had only been there about a year.  An american sister, from another congregation, who I confided in while in Haiti, said to me "Haiti will always be here."  Maybe someday God would invite me back to Haiti.   (I did not even imagine that I would literally be returning to Haiti, 10 days after completing the transfer process.)  

  Several months ago when discussing my interest in ministering in collaboration with another Holy Cross congregation overseas it was stated that I would need to complete the three year transfer process before leaving on mission.

 So basically, because I was discerning the possibility of transferring, ministering in Haiti became a possibility.  The decision to transfer then became the main reason I left Haiti when I did.  Now that the transfer process is complete, I will be going to Haiti, Si Bon Dye vle.    

   

The Paradox of Preparation

I have been doing several activities to prepare for Haiti.  I have been reading books about play therapy and working cross culturally.   I have been reviewing and even trying to learn some new Creole vocabulary words as well as listening to and reading Haitian Creole.  I visited a travel health specialist and received a couple of vaccinations.  All that I do is likely to be helpful.  In some ways though based on my previous experience, nothing can fully prepare me for Haiti; I will face challenges which I will likely feel and will be utterly unprepared for.  God will give me the grace to do the best I can in whatever situations I encounter.  So the paradox is, preparation is extremely important even though nothing can truly prepare me.  In actuality, I will be both utterly unprepared and very well prepared at the same time.

August Update

The month of August has gone quickly and has been filled with many graces and blessings.  I spent time in New Jersey visiting the Marianites who live there.  That was followed by a wonderful eight day directed retreat at St. Mary By the Sea in Cape May Point.  I had the opportunity to visit with sisters from my previous congregation and connect with friends in the Philadelphia area.  Ten days were then spent in Rhode Island with family and friends there.  This year I was especially blessed that my twin sister and I were able to celebrate our birthday together.  This last weekend of the month was spent in prayer and community with several sisters in preparation for the transfer of my and another sister's vows into the Marianites of Holy Cross.  How grateful I am to have so many people in my life who are so supportive and whom I care about deeply and for all of the experiences I have had this month and in my life.

Prior to my first experience in Haiti, the song, Lord You Have Come resonated within my heart as I prepared for mission (see http://kmnhaiti.blogspot.com/2010/06/seek-other-shores.html.)  The first weekend I was in New Jersey when I attended a parish liturgy, the last day of retreat, the Sunday I attended liturgy at the provincilate of the Sisters of the Holy Redeemer, as well as the Sunday I attended mass at St. Veronica's in Narragansett, that song was sung (only once was there a possibility that the musician choose the song because I was there and she knew the significance.)  It is a song that continues to play in my heart as I am challenged once again to "seek other shores."
In less than a month I will be in Haiti.  The coming weeks will be for preparing to finalize the transfer of my religious vows, and preparing for Haiti.  I have much to look forward to, and much to be grateful for.     Thank you to everyone who is supportive of me in any way and Thanks be to God.  Mesi Bon Dye!  

Transitions and Changes

Once again, I find myself in the midst of major transitions.  Thursday will be my last day at Covenant House New Orleans.    I am grateful for the experiences I gained, the people I met, the opportunity to have worked at a place that has a mission which resonate with my own, and for all that I learned in my two years there.   As I have enjoyed my work there and will miss many residents and coworkers, it is sad to leave.  At the same time, I am really looking forward to visiting with my Marianite Sisters in New Jersey, going on retreat, visiting with my Holy Redeemer sisters and friends, and then spending time with my family.  This year for the first time in several, my twin sister and I will be celebrating our birthday together!  After vacation, I will return to New Orleans to prepare for the transfer of my vows in mid September.  In late September I will leave for Haiti.  I have so much to look forward to!      

I have made a few changes to this blog.  Often people ask me if I need anything for Haiti, so i decided to post a wish list.  These are not things that I really need, but rather items that I would like to obtain which will likely be useful when doing play therapy with the children at the orphanage in Haiti, and they can fit in a suitcase.  There is also now an easy way to sign up to receive this blog in your email when it is updated.  If you have any suggestions for how to improve this blog please let me know. Thank you!      

Many Blessings!    

  

        

Preparations

In preparing to go to Haiti, I have taken some steps to improve my language abilities.  Haiti Hub was one of the first resources I used to begin to learn Creole, and so I returned to that website.  Now there are on-line modules and the program is no longer free, as it was four years ago when I took an on line class via Skype.  It is well worth the price.  I was able to work through the modules with greater confidence and ease then I had taking the Skype class four years ago.  I an now even considered a "Haiti Hub All Star."  The modules helped me to relearn some forgotten words and to identify mistakes I was making routinely.  A few months ago I was able to download for free the entire Haitian Creole New Testament, available on Amazon.com.  When I am running on the tread mill or through the streets of New Orleans I am often listening.   I can exercise, pray and practice my Creole listening comprehension all at the same time; what could be better than that!  

When I was at a play therapy conference here in New Orleans a few months ago, and won a door prize for a gift certificate towards a portion of the price of a weekend long play therapy training called Camp Playmore, I asked my congregation if  I would be able to go.  I actually expected that the answer would be "no," given the travel and other costs since the training was in Arizona.  The leadership team said "yes" supporting the fact that it would help to prepare me to again work with younger children in Haiti.  Last Thursday I flew to Phoenix and took a shuttle to Sedona Arizona.  I had never been that far west before and was amazed at the landscape.  Never had I seen such red rocks,  mountains of such varied shape, or  tall cactus.  My words can not possibly do justice to the beauty I witnessed.  I was not sure what to expect.  One of the two presenters was the speaker during one day at the Louisiana Play Therapy conference here in New Orleans last March, but other than that everyone was a complete stranger when I arrived on Thursday night.  By Sunday I felt grateful for having met some gifted, wonderfully supportive, and amazing play therapists who despite the brevity of knowing them I would now dare to call friends.  The conversations and activities inspired me and energized me.  I truly believe that God wanted me to attend Camp Playmore and to meet the people I encountered.  During the past week at Covenant House, I found myself using some ideas I had received during the workshop and somehow felt a little freer and more confident in my clinical work with clients, as a result of those days.  Now I find myself feeling even more excited about going to Haiti and working with younger children once again.  

While I was in the airport Sunday afternoon, people were gathered around a large television by a restaurant cheering because America was playing in the World Cup.  I smiled and remembered that when I was studying Creole in Miami four years ago, classmates were running to a student lounge area to check the football scores during breaks.  One again I am preparing to go to Haiti while the world is watching the Wold Cup.  I wonder where I will be the next time the World Cup is played??  M pa konnen (I don't know.)  

I will try to update this once a month until I arrive in Haiti at which point my goal will be weekly updates assuming that internet connections are available and cooperative.     I hope you are enjoying the summer.  Take care!        

M pral tounen!

It has been over a year since I updated this blog and over four years since I wrote the first entry.  This blog has so far included my preparation for Haiti, my experience in Haiti, and re-entry, the process of returning and re-adjusting to life in the United States.  Life is cyclical.  Now another cycle begins. The story continues, as I am now once again in the process of preparing to be missioned to Haiti.    

In September, I will most likely complete the transfer process and profess my vows as a Marianite of Holy Cross and soon after that I will travel to Haiti, si Dye vle (if God wants, that was one of the first phrases I learned when studying Haitian Creole in Miami see the post from July 3, 2010.)  The three Holy Cross women's congregations are  committed to collaborating with one another.  The Sisters of Holy Cross have sisters in Haiti and apparently there is a need for a clinical social worker to provide services at their orphanage and high school in Cap Haitian.  So, I continue my journey trying as always to listen to the voice of God in my heart and in the needs of the world. Always trying to say yes, and remain open to go wherever the Spirit seems to be leading me.  It seems that Spirit is leading me back to Haiti, but I am not going to the same place, at the same time, or in the same exact circumstances.  

Even if I were to go back to the same place, it would not be the same; I know that much has changed there.  Just today I saw on Facebook that the older children (at St. Louie) in NPH's Father Wasson Angles of Light program have finally moved into houses.  When I first arrived in Haiti the older children were in the process of moving from tents into converted shipping containers.  I am so happy to see that they are finally living in real houses!  Here is the link to on-line photos showing the blessing of the new houses. https://plus.google.com/photos/111190824747486463657/albums/6006672697167819409?banner=pwa 

So to anyone who might actually be reading this, especially if you happen to be reading it from beginning to now, it may seem redundant that I am again writing about preparing to go to Haiti, and some general themes could possibly be repeated at some point, yet  it will not be the same.  Let us see how the story unfolds... It is in God's hands.  I will do my best to keep the blog up to date, for anyone who might be interested and for myself to look back on from time to time. Writing this blog and reading it helps me to remember and make sense of my journey, to see patterns and recognize gifts that sometimes only become clearer with the passing of time.