Leogane and St. Etienne after Sandy

I'm watching the news right now, as we have power.  They're interviewing someone from Leogane, and I can see flooded houses behind them.  I don't understand all of it, but I hear that there are a lot of people without food or potable drinking water.  Leogane, mind you, was the epicenter of the earthquake, and also the area where I spent the summer of 2009. I'm assuming Darbonne is a mess, too; it's only fifteen minutes from Leogane proper (town as opposed to region - think New York).

Here is a photo via a news site here:

Leogane following Hurricane Sandy
source: http://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-6996-haiti-environment-sandy-5665-people-in-temporary-shelters-1372-houses-destroyed.html

This same site, from which I quoted earlier, has an update.  Among other news, there has been a landslide in Kenscoff, where we have a fallen-in house (in bad shape before the earthquake - we'd hoped to develop a retreat center there - someday!). 

An excerpt from the article:
Alta Jean Baptiste, director of the Civil Protection has declared in a press conference "...we evacuated 5.665 people to temporary shelters [...] there are 1.372 houses destroyed, particularly in the department of South and in the zone of ​​Nippes and of the Grande Anse particularly on the coastal [...] we have 4 municipalities in the department of South-East who are severely flooded, all the municipalities of the department of Nippes are under water [...] from tomorrow if the weather is better, teams will continue with assessments [...]"

You can read more here:  http://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-6996-haiti-environment-sandy-5665-people-in-temporary-shelters-1372-houses-destroyed.html

A friend of mine posted some photos and messages over the last 24 hours from St Etienne, a parish in the mountains south of Leogane heading towards Jacmel.  He gave me permission to post a couple of photos and comments from his Facebook page, which I'll share below.

St Etienne kindergarten following Sandy

Messages from yesterday (Wednesday):
Too much rains and heavy winds on the region. People lose their gardens, no clean water, any help from the government, wow.......prayers please.

and

The farmers of St. Etienne's region lose their garden and some animals as cow and pork. They were in await to sell and be able to buy supplies for their children to go to school and in some cases pay the tuition required...now, no hope. The Sandy storm destroys everything and they are always forgotten by all initiatives of the central government. So, misery and poverty will be touchable. Prayers and actions required.



Hurricane Sandy took the preschool's roof.

 A message from today (Thursday):

Storm Sandy left many damages in the community of St. Etienne. We lost our worship place, we lost the roof of our preschool (kindergarten) and the toilet of the school. So, more complications......

Meanwhile, prosaic details for those of us with fewer problems include wondering whether or not yesterday's laundry, in a permanent rinse cycle outside, will dry before Tuesday.  I've also heard that they've cancelled school for tomorrow (Haiti's version of the snow day, I guess), as the status is still "alerte rouge" - red alert.  I am in the process of double-checking that the seminary class I was to teach tomorrow is also cancelled.    http://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-6997-haiti-flash-friday-october-26-is-declared-day-off.html     How fortunate I am to have such petty things to worry about here.  My mind and heart are out with those who really do have something to deal with.     Please pray for St. Etienne, Leogane, and all the other areas affected by wind and rain and flood.   A prayer via another Haiti blog entry for today:     So, God of the universe
Do you hear the cries
That pour out from all the earth?
Can your hands of glory reach down and heal the hurt of the broken?
And God of eternal things - will you give us eyes to see all the light you bring?
Will you be the voice that causes our hearts to sing for the broken?
Can we fall in love again for the first time?
God of the universe when we hear the cries that pour out from all the earth will you give us hands to reach out and heal the hurt of the broken?
http://livesayhaiti.blogspot.com/2012/10/a-link-on-stormy-morning.html
 

goat stuff



one of Kim's goats
Bristol, TN
Yes, it's really a goat, not a sheep.
(She has sheep, too.)
 I just double checked with her.

family and goats and business, back home in Indiana - msn video

OK, full disclosure: Although I grew up in Indiana, my exposure to goats was limited mostly to petting zoos until I went to Haiti.  I did meet some goats up close and personal at the farm of a close friend and children's author Kimberly Brubaker Bradley (great historical novels and a couple of science books! I should do a post on her at some point. Look her up here: http://www.kimberlybrubakerbradley.com/). 

  



Goats. They eat everything.  I saw one bite a mouthful out of a tourist's straw hat at the San Diego Zoo (note: never let it hang down your back on a string around your neck).  In Haiti they ate almost everything.  In the video above, there were several hysterically funny shots of the msn camera crew cornered by goats or trying to milk them - apparently this is true with Indiana goats as well.  The video is worth watching just for those, as a matter of fact.



a little goat (a kid, maybe?)
Darbonne, Leogane, Haiti

Goats are important in Haiti, too.  Goat meat is more nutritious than beef, I am told, and since they are less high maintenance than cows, it makes sense for a number of reasons to have them.  I had intended to write about the Goat Project in Darbonne in an earlier post, but only ended up doing so after the earthquake: update from Darbonne.  It's rather like the Heifer Project, for those of you familiar with that, but run out of Global Health Action in Atlanta:  http://www.globalhealthaction.org/en/.  I had the opportunity to attend one of their weekend courses on the care of goats while I was in Darbonne, and I was quite impressed with the program.  (I note here, from their instructions, that while goats will eat anything, it is not the best course of action to let them do so!) You are, of course, welcome to follow the link if you would care to donate.


I would love to see the goats in Haiti be a source of greater business, too, something more like that run by the family in Indiana spotlighted in the video.  I wonder how that might be brought to life.  I wonder if I should email this family.  Do any of you have goat connections?


goat milk soap from Indiana



Meanwhile, this family business is worth a look: http://goatmilkstuff.com/









before and after - trade school in Darbonne

This is the professional/trade/vo-tech secondary school next door to the Rectory where I lived.  The building also held the school offices and the offices of the goat project connected with Global Health Action (mentioned in early entries).  It had a computer lab, a home ec department, and other classrooms.  I hope we can get it up and running again.  I am hoping to go speak with the Friends of Darbonne next month when they have their fundraiser.

(photo taken during my stay, summer 2009)

(photo from the Episcopal Diocese of Haiti website - link in entry above)

post-earthquake video from Darbonne

I found on YouTube this post-earthquake  video from Darbonne, which includes footage from the church there and the tents that, as I expected, have been set up on the grounds.  You can also see one of the schools.  John Engle, the man narrating, has had ties to Darbonne since the 1980's and apparently attended the parish while there.  I thought I saw someone I knew a couple of times, but she kept turning her head just a bit too quickly for me to see for certain.  I hope it was; I'd love to know she's safe.

update 2/9- I have decided that it is, in fact, Mme Dorvilas from my parish committee! Yea!  Makes me feel so much better to have found one more person.  I also found out another person, Roselaine, is alive, but another, Brigitte, has died.  May she rest in peace and rise in glory.

article on Ian Douglas discussing his ties to Haiti

The Road Home: State's new Episcopal leader brings worldly perspective (video)- The New Haven Register - Serving New Haven, Connecticut

Ian Douglas is the bishop-elect of Connecticut and was until recently one of my professors.  In the 1980's, he lived in Darbonne, Leogane, Haiti, in the same rectory in which I lived last summer, and it was through his time there that he found his vocation to ordained ministry.  The article and video include discussion of those continuing ties.

Posted using ShareThis

(photo is from the newspaper article linked above)

Darbonne photos, part 2 - before the earthquake

In my blog entry of a few days ago, I posted photos of the school and church following the earthquake, but for the life of me, I couldn't get these two "before" photos to load.  Today, no problem. Go figure. 

I really do want you all to see what it looked like before the earthquake.  Haiti is so much more than a pile of rubble.  With all the negative commentary out there about Haiti, it seems to me that people need to know that Haiti is a beautiful country, worth caring for and rebuilding. 

I am happy to report that Willy, who is in the picture of the primary school here, and Alissa, who is in the church photo below, the little girl in blue, are both alive and well, though the buildings are not.  If you haven't seen the "after" photos, scroll down two entries.

pictures from Darbonne after the earthquake

I hope to edit this post later on with "before" pictures, but at the moment they won't upload.  The turquoise building is the grade school; the white one is the parish church.

ADDITIONAL NOTE 2/2:  I have posted the "before" photos two entries above this one.

letter from Pere Samuel in Darbonne

I just opened my email and was thrilled to hear from Pere Samuel, my supervisor in Darbonne.  I wasn't thrilled with the news, of course, although it is actually better than I had hoped in some ways, but it is the first time I have heard from him, and I am so grateful.   Here is his letter to the Friends of Darbonne, the group which has supported the parish in Darbonne for so long. 

* * *

Dears Freinds,

Greetings from all of us at Darbonne in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Tuesday Junuary 12 at 4h53 PM, the earthquake shake Haiti especially west department and South East. It was very difficult moment for Haiti. Many Hundred thousands people die. Many hundred thousads are injured. The houses are broken, some of them are damaged.


At Darbonne, in the campound we have 3 injured persons but we don't have the loss of human bein. In the parish of Darbonne, we have 21 people die, 52 injured persons and 18 missing persons. On 8 buildings in the campound, 5 are completely broken: The professional school building where the goat project office is, the church, the primary school building and kindergarten, The dormitory of the children that come from in the mission, The Training center for the community health workers. The 3 others are damaged and the fence destroyed. To come in help as partners, we would like to have two forms of help: URGENT HELP and REBUILDING HELP

1) URGENT HELP

We need food, water medicines, tents, clothes and money because the things such as food water etc......can take too many times to arrive in Haiti and also our urgent is to demolish to droken buildings and to evacuate them.

2) REBUILDING HELP

In the middle term, the solification of the damaged buildings.

In the long term, rebuild from time to time the buildings destroyed and our priority is to rebuild the schools.


I know you have the financial crisis but the situation is really chaotic. If you can make some more effort that will be great.

I will send you the pictures next time.

Your brother in Christ.


Rev. Fr. Samuel St. Louis

good news on Darbonne from Global Health Action's page

Global Health Action is the organization that sponsors the goat project in Darbonne that I've intended to blog about since last summer (just a little behind...).  I may yet do that, but what I want to share now is their good news.  I reported earlier that they had received a text message from Franck, their director in Darbonne, that he was alive, but the buildings were down.  Well, now all of their staff, including Miron Beaudoin, who was on my parish lay committee when I was there doing field ed, has been reported safe, and so has my supervisor, Pere Samuel! Thanks be to God!!

Text from their Facebook page: "Global Health Action Update: Miron Beaudoin, Assistant Coordinator of the Community Health Worker Training Program, Pere Samuel, the Episcopal Parish Priest, and the Water Project Staff, all at Darbonne are also safe!"  Yea!!!

I am still waiting for news on the rest of the family, especially of the little one you see in the "how to eat a mango" blog entry below.  Communication with Darbonne is very difficult in the best of times (no postal delivery or land lines or internet...), so you can imagine how difficult it is now that they also have no buildings.  For another priest of the diocese sent me an email earlier this week in response to my query about Darbonne, Pere Samuel, and the family, saying, "You may know that in Darbonne no house is stand all are gone. Please pray for us. We need your prayer."  So I ask your continued prayers, especially for food distribution, medical aid, and, most importantly, clean water.

update from Darbonne

http://www.globalhealthaction.org/
This is the link to the goat project, which I'd intended to write about on this blog, and may still at some point.  I am so happy to hear that Franck is ok; I am very distressed but not surprised to hear of the destruction of the school and church in Darbonne.  Which probably means the rectory is gone, too: it was even older than the other buildings, as the church had been renovated/rebuilt.  I'm not going to think about that too closely for the moment, as I am still hoping for good news of my friends there. 

===============================

[Sunday, 01-17-10, 1 pm ET]

Dear Friends,

We finally heard this morning from Franck Toussaint, GHA’s long-time Goat Project Coordinator. His brief text message, which was actually sent Saturday morning, said that he, the other staff of the Goat Project, and their families are all alive and relatively unharmed. [Great news!]

Unfortunately, the damage to the buildings and infrastructure at the Episcopal compound in Darbonne, where GHA’s Goat Project and Community Health Worker (CHW) Training Program are located, is severe. Franck reported that the Goat Park, the CHW Training Center, and his office, as well as the Episcopal Church and the primary school, have all been destroyed. He has no word at this time of Rennette Olivier, Miron Beaudoin, or any of the other CHW program staff and trainers.

We will, of course, continue to post updates on what is going on with our people and programs in Haiti as we know more.

In other news, GHA has been contacted by the disaster relief staff of the United Methodist Committee on Relief (a long-time GHA partner), regarding coordinating relief efforts with our on-the-ground staff and network of Community Health Workers. UMCOR will be sending a team to Haiti next week.
Please continue to keep the people of Haiti in your thoughts and prayers.

Matthieu, Leogane

 I've just received a reply to one of my queries about Darbonne, Leogane, that Matthieu, very close by, is in very good shape, and no deaths!!!! Fabulous news for them, and also very hopeful for Darbonne and my friends there.  This waiting and waiting is really hard, and I've been scouring the internet (particularly the Facebook groups set up for earthquake information exchange) for information. It really helps to have these rays of sunlight!

a new bishop with Haiti connections

The Diocese of Connecticut has just elected Ian Douglas as their next bishop.  Ian lived for a year and a half in Darbonne, Haiti, in the same rectory in which I lived this past summer, while he worked in the Diocese of Haiti.  I hope this connection will continue as he moves into his new call.  Congratulations, Ian!

http://www.ctbishopelection.com/cand_douglas.php

http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_116023_ENG_HTM.htm

The Episcopal Parish in Darbonne, Haiti, And Its Schools - How You Can Help

The Parish of Darbonne is centered in a rural town in southern Haiti. The Episcopal Church of the Annunciation in Darbonne is “home base,” so to speak, but there are also eight small mission churches attached, most of which are not accessible by car. The central campus includes the church, the rectory, a water treatment project for the town (all other treated water must be trucked in from Port-au-Prince), a goat project (similar to the Heifer Project), a dispensary for occasional visiting nurses (no health care in the area) and for 4-month-long basic medical training courses, a vocational school, and a Pre-K through 10th grade school. There are also six mission schools and St. Agnes School, a Pre-K through 6th grade school at a former mission location. They have one priest, supported by the diocese.

For the past forty years or so, these schools and the other parish ministries have been supported by two Episcopal parishes in New York, which have more recently formed a formal mission project with a constitution and board. This is important work, as Haitian public schools have space for only 10% of the students, resulting in a 50% literacy rate for the country as a whole. This year, with the economic crisis, there have not been enough donations to keep the mission schools open. Teachers make approximately $60/month, so the six mission schools need around $4000 to open this fall. Obviously there are other needs as well; two of the four programs at the vocational school have also been closed. If you are interested in supporting this parish and their schools, we would welcome donations of any size.

Checks may be made to “Friends of Darbonne.”
Memo line: Project Fund
(or Scholarship Fund – but right now the need is for teacher salaries to keep the small mission schools open)

Zion Episcopal Church
12 Satterlee Place
Wappingers Falls, New York 12590

If you have any questions, leave me a message!

it was a dark and stormy night...

...in Darbonne a week ago Monday. I was in Port-au-Prince, where it was less stormy, so I missed the excitement when the tree came down right next to the rectory.







Yes, he is cutting up those logs and branches with a machete. No chainsaw. Hard, hot work.

more off-roading for the Lord

This Sunday we set off early for Chateau Gaillard, a mission church in the mountains. The first stage, as before, was by pick-up truck down a riverbed and then on up the mountain as far as possible. Eventually we could go no further, and it was there that a horse awaited. However, as there was only one horse, and he was in a very bad mood and kicking, we all elected to hike. "Sure, I can go on foot!" I said. So off we went, first downhill to the creek below, then back up again, Willy, M. Berthony with the thurible, me with my backpack, and Pere Samuel with his things as well, striding on ahead of us. This middle-aged city dweller may be used to climbing the hill in Roxbury, but hiking up a mountain in habit is rather another thing. I had to take a few rest breaks (along with one photo stop for the curly-horned sheep), and by the time I got to the top, I was thoroughly winded to the point that Pere Samuel informed me he'd be borrowing a horse for me for the way down. I was pretty sure I could walk downhill, after all, but I didn't object, either. I was infinitely grateful that the coffee we were offered there was made with treated water so that I could have some. It was just the pick-me-up I needed, even in the heat.

I preached my first homily in Haitian Creole there at St. Timothy's. I was a little unsure how it would go, given that not only was there the issue of language, but also the assigned gospel reading was the beheading of John the Baptist. Such a lovely story. Furthermore, Pere Samuel had been out very, very late Saturday night because the car broke down again, so he had not had a chance to look it over before breakfast that morning, which didn't leave time for revision. Fortunately, Guerling, the rector's wife, was kind enough to fix my grammar for me, and I checked the pronunciation of a few words on the way there. I think it went reasonably well, as I got vocal feedback during the preaching that let me know they were with me. I found that quite heartening! People here are so patient with foreign accents and grammatical mistakes. I can't tell you how much I have appreciated that generosity of spirit.

Two groups of children sang during the service. I enjoyed their music.

St. Timothy's also has a school with a couple of classrooms and another class which meets in the nave. The photo here is of the outside of the classrooms - they were locked, so I couldn't go in. I would have taken photos of the church, but I was too tired to remember.

Following the service, we were served a

snack (no coffee hours here, but they knew we were coming from a distance). I helped myself to some fried plaintains before getting on the borrowed horse and heading back down the mountain, led by the man whose horse we had borrowed. Absolutely stunning views.

Once down the mountain (and back up the other side of the creek), we piled back into the pick-up and jounced along to the next stop, Christ Roi, Corail. Or nearly - once we'd parked the truck, there was another hike, this one mercifully shorter and less steep. Which didn't stop me from slipping, falling, and thus arriving dirty as well as sweat-soaked. A sight to behold, I'm sure. But it didn't matter much: God showed up and we worshipped, which is what counts! Pere Samuel tells me that there are some parish priests who have six hour trips (on foot) to their mission churches. Fortunately, his parish only has eight missions, and none are further than three hours away. I suggested that maybe required PE should be a part of seminary here. Good thing most seminarians are young so they can get used to it if they are currently city dwellers.

Once again, I preached and Pere Samuel celebrated. We were joined by those who had come along from the home parish, Annonciation, and by several from Chateau Gaillard who came along as well. Corail is a smaller church with maybe 100 members, much tinier. However, the corrugated metal roof is in better condition than that of the previous church, which they are raising money to replace.

Christ the King also has a small school, and this time I was able to get in to see the classrooms, which were decorated with the children's illustrations of vocabulary words and so on. The preschool weekly schedule was posted. I don't remember my nursery school being so organized! You can see in the photo of the inside of the church that there are also classes held there: there are brown chalkboards along the sides and back of the nave. This is one of the four schools which may have to close in the fall, as sufficient funds have not yet been raised to pay for the teachers' salaries. They are short $4000 for six schools: teachers make approximately $60 per month. Not much to run six schools for a year, but it's $4000 more than they have.


When the service was over, the weary travellers were fed once again. The rice and beans were very good, but I can tell you that I have never enjoyed a cool Coke so much in my life!


When I got home Sunday afternoon, I was beat. That cold shower was just what I needed. It was a long day, but I am grateful to have had the experience of the two mission parishes, and I continue to grow in respect for the work of Haitian Episcopal priests. It's no small job here.

off-roading to a mountain mission

Early Sunday morning, Pere Samuel, Margarette (the other seminarian), several parishioners, and I set off for the Mission St Pierre. We had originally planned to go on motorcycles, so I was relieved to hear that we would do the first leg of the trip in a four wheel drive pick-up. I was even more grateful as we headed not across a shallow river, but right into it and down it, using it as a road. I've gotten used to some amazing road conditions and a lack of seatbelts, but this was an entirely new idea, not to mention experience for me.

We encountered quite a number of people on the way down the river - bathing, doing laundry, and collecting drinking water. There is a spring partway down the river which makes it a little less muddy, and Pere Samuel explained to me that people would dig a sort of a hole to let the sediment settle out of the water before putting it into containers to take home to drink.

Eventually we left the river and went a little farther before leaving the truck behind. Several parishioners had sent down their horses for some of us; others hiked, thuribles, dress shirts in bags, and all. I thought, hey, I am perfectly capable of hiking! However, by the time the day was over and my legs were starting to shake a little, I was grateful I had had the gift of that horse. Each horse also had a small boy assigned to urge the horse along when it got balky, which was not uncommon; a few times I had to get off so it could get up particularly steep, rocky places in the path. I was grateful for the dozen riding lessons I had taken ten years ago at the boarding school at which I taught; even without reins and with stirrups too long for my short legs, I was told I looked comfortable. As my mother says, will miracles never cease! By the end of the trip up the mountain I had collected someone bookbag and a hanging bag with dress shirts along with my backpack (which held habit, shoes, water, prayer book, bug spray, kleenex, etc.).

When we arrived, an hour before the service, there was already a good crowd gathered, rather unusual in my limited experience, given that service times are approximate. It is important here for parishioners from other churches, Episcopalian and other denominations, to come for a patronal festival to show support, and a number of people had come the night before and pitched tents. We were offered coconuts (juice and fruit) right away, as well as coffee (which I dared not drink, given the water situation) and bread.

Pere Samuel showed me the two classrooms which make up this parish school, an important service to the community given the lack of available schools in the area.

The service itself was beautiful and well attended. "Standing room only" doesn't cover it: some people had to stay outside for lack of space within. The parish choir sang, accompanied by electric guitar (powered by generator), as did a ten voice men's choir, accompanied by accordion. There were two thurifers with their clouds of incense, candle-bearers, and two crucifers. There were a dozen of us in the altar party. Once again, the offertory was fabulous, with a group of women wearing red dancing up the aisle with their offerings in red baskets on their heads, followed by two boys dancing with bags and hoes.

Pere Samuel preached about Peter and how very human he was, impulsive, speaking without reflecting, alternating between fear and courage - and yet his heart was in the right place, so God was able to work through him for great good. I always find that heartening.

He also talked to the congregation about the fact that the Episcopal Church has women priests, and that the two women with him were seminarians. As there is currently only one ordained woman in the diocese of Haiti, this is new for some, I think. He also reminded them that Episcopal clergy can marry if they are not called to take a vow of chastity in the religious life, and that it is possible to be a sister and a priest at the same time.

After it was over, I had a plate of rice and beans before heading back down the mountain with an even larger crowd, this time on foot. The views were spectacular.

The pickup held a dozen or so of us on the way home. It was quite hot, so when we got back to the river, I was seriously envious of the horses being bathed. What I wouldn't have given to hop out just for a few moments!

I will have the chance to go to another mission church in a few weeks. This time, I'll be preaching. Prayers, please! I don't know if it will be this much of a trip: some mission churches are accessible by car. However, there are also some that are up to six hours away. I don't think this is one of them; however, I do know that wherever it is, it will be an adventure.

chasing a hummingbird

There are hummingbirds near the place where we do our laundry. They come for the pink and red flowers there, and then they go sit on a nearby tree branch to rest for a while. From a distance they look black, but when you see them up close, they've got a beautiful, shiny green to their wings as well. I've taken to sitting outside with my books in the shade over there and to bringing my camera along. I'm still hoping for a good close-up photo, but at least now I've gotten one from slightly farther away. Still hoping!