Jakmel

At noon on Friday all of the sisters currently residing at Leocaide Convent, the postulants, including the postulant who is currently living and working at a different location, and our driver loaded the convent mini bus and headed to Port-au-Prince.  I found the drive to be enjoyable, we passed through mountains, through busy town centers, and at times got beautiful glimpses of the sea.  It took us six and a half hours to reach the Holy Cross convent in the capital where we were warmly welcomed with wonderful Holy Cross hospitality.  

Early the next morning, we set out for the city of Jakmel which is in the South of Haiti.  When we passed through the village of Fondwa I happily announced that I had been there before ( in  Sept 2011  and April 2011. ) Our first stop in Jakmel was the promenade by the beach.  The walkway along the beach is relatively new and I was quite impressed with the view as well as the mosaics and other art forms that adorn the path.  The pictures do not capture the true beauty.    I was grateful to walk the beach for a few minutes with my feet in the ocean.        

We spent a lot of time driving through Jakmel and some neighboring towns along the coast enjoying the scenery until we reached a river at which point we decided to turn around and head back towards Jakmel.  Early in the afternoon, we stopped at a convent and asked a sister who lives there, if we could eat our lunch in their yard.  The sister was very gracious and allowed us to sit on their porch, use their tables and chairs and showed us to the restroom.   

After lunch, we visited a rural area outside of Jakmel, where several years ago for a few years Sisters of Holy Cross lived and worked with and among the people.  One of the sisters I live with had lived there and she spoke fondly of her memories.  People  were so happy to see her and they asked for sisters by name who had lived there many years ago.  We saw the house, which was next to a chapel, which was beside an even smaller and older chapel.  When the sisters were there they provide for the spiritual needs of the people as the closest parish church is a distance and a priest would come only periodically.  There were people in the chapel joyfully singing Haitian hymns while we were there.            

Later that afternoon, in Jakmel we met a priest, who is the brother of a Holy Cross sister.  He showed us the inside of the cathedral which has not been operating since the 2010 earthquake when it was significantly damaged.  After that,  he was happy to show us a brand new church on the outskirts of the city.  The new parish church is very modern and looks to me like it could be in any US suburb; he did not have the church key with him but we peeked in through a window.     

We returned to Port-au-Prince that evening.  The next morning after attending Sunday liturgy and eating breakfast we made the journey back to Cap-Haitian.  We stopped  a couple of times along the way, once to greet the family of one of the postulants as we passed through her hometown.  We arrived, grateful for our adventure, for the experience and for the gift of community.    

Orphanage Update

Last week we welcomed a new baby boy to the orphanage.  We had said that we were full and the sister in charge had no intention of accepting any new children before the start of the new school year in September, but upon hearing the story and reflecting upon his situation, he was welcomed.  Everyone already loves the little guy.


Many blessings!  

 

Tree and Community

The tree in our yard which I wrote about in a previous blog entry continues to fascinate me.  link to blog from Feb 9th  The tree had lost most of its leaves when the flowers began to bloom.  Now that the flowers have all fallen to the ground, leaves are returning.  This tree seems to concentrate on only one activity at a time as it grows.  It relinquishes the flowers for the leaves to come and in time, releases the flowers allowing for leaves to be born, trusting that the flowers will come again in due time.  In each stage of its cycle, there is great beauty despite dramatic differences in its appearance.  

This picture was taken on February 2nd when flowers were beginning to bloom and there were still some leaves on the tree.

In this picture, taken a week after the other, you can see more flowers and fewer leaves.

By late February, there were a few new leaves when the flowers were passed their peak.

On March 22, there was one branch that had developed large leaves, but the others were mostly bare; I took a picture of one(perhaps the last) flower that day too.

Here is the tree today. In the photos below you will see some other views of its leaves all taken today.

Looking up from under the tree

Reflections on Local Community 

On Saturday, we had a local community meeting, for the sisters and postulants who live in the house.  The sharing of others and my personal reflection increased my gratitude for the experience of residing here at Leocaide Convent.  The eight people living here were born in four different countries, so we bring four different cultures, and think in different languages.  Each brings her own gifts, history, challenges, perspectives, skills and experiences.  It is truly a positive experience for me and I appreciate each of the women residing here.  I am grateful for all that they teach me, for their presence and for their varied expressions of our shared faith, and simply for people they are.  It is a great place to come home to at the end of the day; not living and working at the same location has been very helpful for me this year.  We have planned a community outing for the upcoming weekend, which I am looking forward to, and may write about next week.             

Thank you to all who take the time to read this and all who are supportive and encouraging. of my ministry here in Haiti.  Many blessings!  Take care!   

Peanuts and Passengers

Recently, I have found myself reflecting on how harm can be done even when people have the best of intentions.

Last week I found myself surrounded by a group of very well intentioned, kind Americans while on the flight from Miami to Cap Haitian.  There are often large church groups that come to Haiti   They are easy to spot in airports because they often having matching t-shirts with Bible quotes on the back.  From the conversation I had with him, it seemed that the guy sitting next to me during the flight understood the importance of building relationships with people during his short mission trip, which is very good; although personally, I am not sure how one manages to build meaningful relationships during a 10 day trip without being able to communicate in the language of the people.  He shared with me what he appeared to consider a great accomplishment  by the group (convincing what he referred to as " two witch doctors" to leave a neighborhood) during a previous mission trip which in my mind seemed to undermine the culture and traditions of the people.   Sometimes I catch myself thinking negatively of such groups,although I do acknowledge that they have good intentions and that they are no doubt for the most part genuinely very good people.

Another such example is the United States' plan to "dump" a surplus of peanuts into the local market here in Haiti.  There have been previous examples of this kind of so-called donation ultimately causing more harm than good.   You can read more about the peanut situation and if you feel called to do so, sign the petition, as I did to advocate for the Haitian peanut growers who have much to lose if this becomes a reality.  https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/halt-planned-usda-dumping-us-peanuts-haitian-market-and-future-surplus-dumping-there-procure-locally


When I reflect on these situations, I realize that despite my good intentions I too am capable of doing harm even as I strive to do good.  Certainly I recognize that any resistance or negative feelings that arise within myself towards the church groups who come here on mission trips have to do with my own fear that what I see in them exists within myself.

By the way, Haitian peanut butter called "manba" is quite good!

Take care!  Have a good week!  Many blessings!


 

A Brief Update about my Quick Trip

Since last week's update, I traveled to the US and returned to Haiti.

During my 5 1/2 hour layover in Miami, my parents who spend much of the winter in Florida and my grandmother who was visiting them picked me up at the airport and took me to a restaurant .  It was a wonderful visit!   It made the long layover delightful.  Mom, Dad, and Grandma, thanks for making the long drive and for dinner; I love you!

It was a full weekend.  The sisters in my congregation gathered for an important meeting on Friday. The meeting concluded with a moving prayer/ritual around the sale of the property in New Orleans where our congregational center is located which also is where I lived while in New Orleans.  The next day we had a joyful celebration for sisters celebrating jubilees this year (anniversaries for sisters who have been in religious life for 50 and 60 years.)  I am grateful that I was able to see so many of our sisters over the weekend, grateful for conversations, connections and celebrations.  I had time to connect with a couple of friends as well, although certainly I did not get to see or talk with everyone I would have liked to as my time was short.

Yesterday, I returned safely and happily to Haiti.

Here are a few pictures I took while walking in a park by the Mississippi River in New Orleans.

Take care.  Many blessings!