By the providence of God, none of the members of the Orthodox Mission
in Haiti, nor any of its facilities, have been harmed by the
devastating meteorological and political events of the past year. The
excruciatingly slow process of recovery from devastating floods in the
southeast early in the year and even more catastrophically at Gonaïves
in September continues, despite the woefully inadequate response of the
international community. [The lightning massive response to the
admittedly even more devastatingly tragic tsunami floods in southeast
Asia stands in heart-rending contrast. In disaster relief as in so many
areas, “it all depends” on who are the victims.]
Health
problems, however, are too much a part of our lives in Haiti, with
sadly inadequate means for responding to the needs. Sick babies must be
hauled by tap-tap to the fly-ridden courtyard of a woefully
understaffed clinic to wait for hours in the broiling heat for an
attempt to relieve a fever of typically unidentifiable origin. Women in
need of emergency Cæsarians travel and/or wait for hours, often losing
their babies (if not their own lives) because of the delays. Complex
problems can’t be addressed at all: Fr. Grégoire may have to leave the
country to obtain a needed MRI for a better assessment of the recurrent
crippling arthritis which has prevented him from leaving his home for
weeks at a time twice in recent years. There’s little we can do
directly — but our informed prayers, and informed voices in the halls
of power (and financial contributions) can indeed help. There is no
excuse, human or political, for the most powerful nation on earth to do
so little to alleviate the misery of the citizens of one of its nearest
neighbors, the poorest country in the hemisphere.
What can the
Mission do? What does the Mission do? A few drops here, a few drops
there — and, as you may remember, that’s the only way to fill the
bucket. By God’s grace and your support, the Mission has been able to
provide the basis for decent (if even yet wholly inadequate) housing
for a few of the faithful. Miraculously, Juliette is no longer on the
streets of Les Cayes, but now lives in her own room at the Foyer de
Sainte Marie d’Égypte — a room found immaculately clean when I visited
there this month.
Next to Juliette’s room another room has been
added, to provide housing for one of our families until now living in a
tumble-down stick-and-mud hut… and unable, most of the time, to afford
the rent even for that. The new home will bring the children next door
to the school, and provide considerably better security both for them
and for Juliette. Not far away, near Katherine’s new home (which still
desperately needs enlarging — would you be willing to live with 13
people in a 12x12 foot square room?), on the newly purchased land for a
someday church, another parish family has been installed as caretakers.
Their own new stick-and-mud home (looks pretty nice now, but I think
the lifespan of these buildings is about 3-4 years) is well underway.
For the future… a deep potable water well on the property, to serve
both the church development and other families in the area unable to
afford such a project.
At far-away Cyvadier, near Jacmel on the
south coast, the “heat is on” (pun intended) for something more
adequate than the presently rented room, which can no longer hold more
than about half the people for many services (20 people showed up for
an unannounced weekday vespers service while I was there). A good well
has been completed and encased. Next project is a storage depot, to
completely enclose the well, provide a point of attachment for
electricity (astonishingly, the area enjoys full-time power) and secure
storage for tools and building materials as work goes forward. About
12x18 feet, the expected cost for the building (with foundations and
concrete roof adequate for the addition of a second story in the future
if needed) is $7,000. Building in Haiti is not cheap!
All the
way across the country to the north, at Cap-Haïtien, no hope yet even
of renting, let alone building, anything. But that doesn’t mean nothing
is happening. This trip I was able to pay a long-overdue visit (attempt
to get there last year for the parish feast of St. Nicholas had to be
abandoned due to political conditions), serving vigil and liturgy for
the patronal feast. Regrettably, Fr. Jean was unable to go with me, as
Fr. Grégoire was yet unable (due to his arthritis) to cross the city to
serve at the Nativity parish. Land travel to the north is all but
impossible at present (that is, considerably more impossible than
always), so all visits to the parish must now be made by air. [Happily,
both the airline’s equipment and the Cap-Haïtien airport have seen some
considerable improvements since I last made the trip two years ago!]
This is of course costly, but vastly less wearing and probably
considerably safer than land travel: air time is 20 minutes, versus
8-12 hours on the ground if one gets through at all. For Fr. Jean and a
reader to help him to make the trip, the cost is $250, once a month —
assistance warmly welcomed!
In the course of this trip,
persistence paid off, and the manager of the Roi Cristophe Hotel
generously offered us the use (for the present, for vigils and
liturgies only, when a priest is present) of a covered gallery at the
side of the hotel for the services. While far from ideal, it is a vast
improvement over the 8x12 room in which I first served there, or a
hotel room. By the prayers of St. Nicholas, may the community continue
to grow and be blessed with a permanent home!
And, everywhere —
hungry children (and adults). A little has been done here and there to
provide at least some nutritional support for some of the children at
some of the schools. Glory be to God, we now have a pledge which opens
the possibility of establishing much more stable programs at at least
two of the schools. Such a project is, of course, much more complex in
Haiti than it would be here: no refrigeration; vermin-tight and
theft-proof storage must be purchased or constructed; cooking
facilities for large numbers of people of course don’t exist in
anyone’s home or any of the schools (and such equipment is terribly
expensive); and, of course, someone actually has to do the cooking and
dish-washing! More help is needed, but the planning is underway, with
hope to begin with at least a few meals a week throughout the second
semester at St. Nicolas and the Foyer d’Amour.
So that’s how you
fill the bucket, brothers and sisters. Without your help, not much can
be done. With it… quite a lot. Please keep us all in your prayers, and
in your hearts and minds and consciences every time you reach for a
checkbook or wallet.
