Premye kominyon

On Sunday several of the children at the orphanage received their first communion during a liturgy held in the chapel on our grounds.  After the mass we had a party.  Some of the relatives of children who received first communion attended.  We also celebrated the birthdays for children born in April.    
While I am not comfortable posting pictures of the children on my blog out of respect for confidentiality I will include some pictures of the delicious food and beautiful cake.  Warning: They may cause you to feel hungry or to regret that you missed the fèt!  

Ti vizit

On Sunday I took the bus from Cap Haitian to Port-au-Prince.  Although the ride is long, it is enjoyable. The scenery is beautiful  and I tend to encounter friendly individuals.  When my friend, an american sister from Ohio, picked me up at the bus station she mentioned that she need to stop at the grocery store.  Walking into the grocery store, I felt like I was walking into the US; if there are large grocery stores here in Cap, I have not seen one never mind shopped in one.   It was great to connect with friends at NPH, the organization I worked with previously.  The Sunday evening mass for volunteers was  in a combination of English and Creole, although I think we sang a song in Spanish; a few of the people present are native Spanish speakers. 

I spent Monday visiting the Father Wasson Angels of Light program.  It is wonderful to see how the children have grown! Monday was a good day to be there too, as I saw several workers who were off when I last visited on a Sunday afternoon in January.  I am surprised by the number of children who remember me, or at least the turtle puppet I used to use.   I regret that I honestly don't remember the names of all of the children; I do recognize their faces.  Since my last visit, several children with significant disabilities have moved into Kay St. Anne; this is likely a much better setting for them than the hospital, where many of them were abandoned by families not having the resources to care well for children with such severe special needs.  

On Monday evening we went to a restaurant, again I felt like I had briefly stepped out of Haiti.  The menu was entirely in English and prices in american dollars; although out of habit  when getting ready to pay I asked the waiter in Creole, if they accept american money; they did and actually most formally established businesses in Haiti do.  The vegetable fajitas I ordered were excellent!      

On both Monday and Tuesday morning, I attended the daily liturgy in the little chapel on the grounds of St. Damien hospital.  Both mornings there were funerals for those who had died in the (NPH and St. Luke) hospitals.  The frequent funerals during morning mass had started when I was working there and Cholera arrived.  The songs and routine were familiar.  Some of the people attending the mass were regulars four years ago, and there are new faces too.          

On Tuesday morning after mass I boarded the bus and returned to Cap Haitian around mid afternoon, grateful for my friends at NPH,  for conversations and connections, for the opportunity to see the children there, and grateful for a brief break.  Mesi Bondye!             

Living inter-culturally and inter-congregationally and working cross-culturally is an experience filled with many gifts and blessings.  I learn a lot everyday, about others, about myself, about life, about perspectives.    

It is also at times challenging and there are difficult occasionally painfully difficult moments.  Misunderstandings and mistakes can occur so easily when there are cultural and linguistic differences.    

Still I believe it is well worth the struggle.  The gifts far outweigh the challenges.  


A couple of people complimented me on last week's blog post; thank you.  I don't expect a response from this brief and somewhat vague entry; perhaps I will be more inspired to write a little more creatively next week.  Thanks for being interested enough to read this.  Have a good week.  Take care.        

Mango Anko

This is not my first blog post about mangoes (http://kmnhaiti.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2011-04-03T10:39:00-05:00&max-results=10 .)  I decided to revisit the subject since they are coming into season here in Cap Haitian.  Actually because there are so many varieties of mangoes in this region of the country, we have had them intermittently since I arrived, however soon we will have an abundance.

There are many mango trees on our property. Here is a sampling:
 

My appreciation for Mango trees has only grown.  I have enjoyed watching the trees flower, the blossoms wilt and then after then soon after the wind wisps them away, the smallest of mangoes appear in their place.  Sometimes on on the same tree one can find each of these stages at the same time.  In addition to the fruit nourishing my body, reflecting upon the transformation that takes place in the process by which the flower dies and the fruit is produced has provided spiritual nourishment for me as well. 

   In case you are wondering, I have only improved slightly since my previous mango blog entry (over four years ago now) regarding my ability to eat a mango without making a mess!  

  

Pak Easter

On Easter Sunday during the liturgy held here in our little chapel seven children were baptized.  Following the mass we had a party, which everyone seemed to enjoy.  Later that evening  a group of Canadian students who are visiting Haiti to do volunteer work came to meet the children and bring them Easter candy.  The young people have come every afternoon this week to do activities and assist children with homework.

The paschal mystery is certainly all around us here on the grounds of the orphanage.  Just a couple of weeks ago a cow was killed for meat; I did not offer to help or even watch.  On Holy Saturday another one of our cows gave birth.  One of the cats that hangs around the convent gave birth to three kittens on Easter Sunday.  We are surrounded by suffering, injustice, death in many forms, and we are surrounded by new life, birth, joy, resurrection and hope.  

I hope that you had a joy-filled Easter and will continue to celebrate the hope and new life that the season brings.  Many blessings!

   

Palm Sunday

On Sunday afternoon, the older children and the Haitian sisters and I participated in a prayer, procession and special mass for the youth.  We started at a parish church with some prayers.  The priest was enthusiastic, and I could see that he is probably very good with young people.  I think I was sprayed with holy water nearly half a dozen times during the opening prayers.  There were many people who participated in the long walk from that parish to the cathedral.  We sang and danced in the streets, as we marched and from time to time we were directed to, "bat bravo pou Jezi," (clap our hands for Jesus.)  It seems people joined us along the way, because the smaller church where we started was not full, but the much larger cathedral was full (although not overflowing this time.)  It was quite an experience and the young people including our older children at the orphanage who really seemed to find it meaningful.  So often I impressed by the deep faith so common and often so freely expressed in the Haitian culture.

I hope that you are experiencing many graces and blessings during this Holy Week and may you experience the joy of the resurrection and abundant new life as we celebrate Easter.          

Plaj la

The children are on school vacation this week and next.  On Tuesday we had a field trip to the beach for all of the children.  The children had a grand time, splashing in the water and playing in the sand.  Some of the youngest children had never been to the shore despite the fact that Haiti is on an island and has a large coast line.  I enjoyed watching the youngest ones who in the morning seemed uncertain and even intimidated by the large body of water,  overcome their fear by early afternoon.  It was also wonderful to be able help some of the older children learn to swim; it has been a long time since I taught swimming lessons, but I think I remembered the basics and quickly translated the sayings I used to use many years ago, into Creole.  A few of them were so eager to learn and improved rapidly.  I only wish applying sunscreen four times and wearing a hat would have been enough to prevent my Irish skin from a serious sunburn, but otherwise it was truly a wonderful day!

March and Mass

During the past few months some convents in various places in Haiti have been broken into, burglarized.  Last Wednesday the religious of the diocese of Cap-Haitian and many lay supporters gathered together to bring attention to the problem or crime in Haiti and to pray for those who have been victimized and for an end to the crime sprees.  Together, we marched from one down town church to the cathedral, Haitians and foreigners, elderly, middle age and young, religious, and lay, men and women.  When we arrived at the cathedral we, the sisters, were directed to sit in a section at the front of the church to the right of the altar.  At first I wondered why they were going to squeeze us into that section when the pews of the large cathedral were all empty.  What I had not realized, since we had arrived as the march was starting and joined towards the front where other Holy Cross sisters were, that so many people were behind us or at least would be joining us for the liturgy.  The entire cathedral was full to capacity; people were sitting on the steps that lead to the altar, and on the raised floor near the sides of the altar, while others stood filling the isles.  At communion the priest came to the pew and leaned over me to give communion to the others in the pew since there was not enough space in the nearby isle to form a line.  When I think a pew is full to absolute capacity, and would probably be considered so in most American churches, there is always room for at least one or two more people, if any space exists between any two people in the pew another person may and probably will squeeze in.  I was very touched that so many people would come to this mass to stand with the religious as we try to stand with those who have been victimized.  Many of the hymns we sang had justice and solidarity themes.  A higher percentage of the liturgy was in Haitian Creole when compared with the daily mass we sometimes attend in the early morning hours at the same cathedral.  I left the church with a sense of hope, peace and renewed energy, feeling connected with God and with all those who had gathered.  There may be a few people committing crimes against religious and others in this country but there were so many more willing to spend their Wednesday morning marching, praying and singing for an end to crime, people desiring peace, justice and people creating a sense of solidarity.                      

  The blog may look different in a week or two.  There are a lot of blog templates that just were not available when I started blogging that are much more attractive and have other advantages as well, so I'd like to give mine a face-lift one of these days.  

Happy St. Patrick's Day!  Take care.  

Brief Random Updates and Thoughts

Relatives of one of the sisters, who is from Canada, are visiting with us for several weeks.  On Sunday they prepared a day of activities for the children. It was the Olympics of Hope!  The children really enjoyed the friendly athletic competitions, the awards ceremony and gifts that followed.  It was truly a great day for all.  I have enjoyed the presence of this lovely couple in our house.  The children love them and they are so good to the kids.  They each speak a little English, and even less Creole; the majority of meal time conversations are once again mostly in French, which I personally find quite challenging; their kindness makes it worth the challenge.

Since I am mostly doing clinical work, out of respect for the confidentiality of the children, I do not share many details about the children or they work I am doing with them, so sometimes there are interesting and good things happening that I am not comfortable mentioning most especially on a public blog. I know that other missionaries and volunteers who work in various places and who are not social workers are less concerned about this than I am, and their blogs are much more interesting because they post pictures of the children and share more details.  

The internet plan I have is supposedly unlimited, at least that is what it is called.  Last Wednesday when I was participating in an on-line play therapy training, and on other recent occasions when trying to Skype, I have found it to have many limitations and the connection can be unpredictably slow at seemingly random times and perfectly adequate at other moments.  So I alternate between feel frustrated by it and very grateful for it.  Maybe they should think of another name that captures that reality.  

Every Friday afternoon the children each get a 20 minute turn to ride a bicycle in our yard.  They enjoy and look forward to this activity of course.  A few months ago, one of the older boys asked me if I knew how to ride and I said, "yes."  He seemed skeptical and got off of the bike, sacrificing a few minutes of his precious time to see me ride, perhaps thinking I would give him a reason to laugh.  He seemed very impressed as I happily and effortlessly circled the house of the younger children.  Earlier that same day, when the girls had asked me if I knew how to wash clothes (by hand,) I reluctantly said that I "yes, but not as well as you do."  They too had wanted me to show them how I do it; in that case I knew they would not find my technique up to par but showed them anyway giving them something to laugh about.  So in the eyes of some of the children, my clothes washing skills may be lacking but others seem to find my bike riding skills impressive.  Like my "unlimited" internet key, I have limits and gifts.  One of the bicycles the older children use, is remarkably similar to a bicycle that I purchases with a tax refund check while I was in college which is currency sitting probably unused (although I did tell the sisters they are welcome to use it) somewhere in New Orleans.  This morning, since it is my day off, and it is not Friday afternoon when the bikes would be in use, I borrowed the bicycle that resembles my own and went for a bike ride.  It felt wonderful!

  When Lent started I thought  to myself, oh good, at least on Fridays we won't have those sausages that are really hot dogs to eat.  They are often cut up and put into pasta, soup, omelets, and other dishes at the evening meal.  If they are served at the noon time meal they are separate so one can easily not take them.  It is surprising to me that the religious/cultural not eating meat on Friday  during lent tradition, is not really followed at the orphanage given that other Catholic traditions are adhered to.  Since I prefer not to eat too much meat anyway, and don't think those hot dogs have any nutritional value, I am not necessarily wanting the tradition to be followed for the purest and holiest of reasons.  It does seem ironic that I had that self-serving thought which clearly misses the point of Lent, and it turned out to be WRONG anyway.

So don't trust that anything called unlimited really is without limits and if you are Catholic to leave the hot dog pieces out of your Friday night meal.   Take Care.  Many Blessings!      

              
 

Tomat, and working cross-culturally

We grow some of our own food here on the grounds of the orphanage.  Twice, I have made tomato sauce with basil using fresh ingredients from the garden.  I was pleased with the results and enjoyed an Italian meal for a change, well probably not truly authentic Italian food, but considering that I am an Irish-American living in Haiti....

A new child arrived on Friday, although she is clearly school age, we are not sure if she has attended school in the past and we don't yet know if the school here will take her this far into the school year.  The education system if very different here and the idea that children have a right to go to school might exist on paper but not in practice, as there are many children in this country who do not attend school.  As an individual, and an American who studied education undergrad, my thinking would be that the school needs to include her;  but, there are differences because of culture, experience and education  in how we approach and perceive situations.  Lately I have been aware of these challenges, in many varied situations which I encounter regularly.  As a Social worker I strive to be culturally competent, and respect the values and beliefs of the culture in which I am working, while always attempting to advocate for what is in the best interest for the child, or those who are most vulnerable, while considering the common good; this is the ideal and I don't claim that I meet this ideal with any regularity.  It would be unfair, and inaccurate,  if I assume that what initially seems best to me,  really is.  There are always little struggles and constantly I am needing to discern my response and pray to know when to remain silent, what to accept , what to challenge, when to speak, how to listen well, and how to speak in a way that is respectful and open to the perspective of others who can teach me much.  In a few simple situations this is not too terribly difficult, but in many it is extremely challenging and certainly, I mess up, frequently.  Working in a different cultural context, if nothing else certainly requires constantly being stretched and learning and relearning the virtue of humility.  

I hope that you are well.  Thanks for reading.  Feel free to leave a comment.  Wish I could send you some fresh tomatoes.  Take care!