Thursday, October 18, 2018
We have been given the okay to get back out to work today-
thank God! We started our day with morning Mass, had our breakfast and headed
out for our day. Our first stop was Terre Promise School in Cite Soleil, still
one of the poorest areas of Haiti. While we were greeted very warmly by the students
that were there, we were saddened to learn many students were not in school
today because the parents were afraid to send them after the protests on
Wednesday. The area has many gangs so safety for the children is very
important. That is not something we see in our quiet little area of White Bear
Lake, Minnesota.
Our next mission was our first water truck delivery of the
day. We got to work with the other team that is sharing the guest house here.
It was so nice to get to know them and to work side-by-side. We were barely off
the tap-tap when children came rushing toward us. Some were naked, some were
partially clothed. But all were needing to be held and loved. Some of us held
and played with the children, some of us helped with distributing the water and
helping the people carry the containers back to their homes. These are not the
kind of homes we think of back in Minnesota. These are huts probably no bigger
than some of our closets at home and have just dirt floors. They are often made
of whatever can be found to make walls and a roof. I, again, wondered what it
is going to take to get this country and these people back on their feet. When
we arrived at our second water stop, the poverty was worse than the first.
Again, we held naked or partially clothed children and played with them while
others helped with water distribution. Everyone agreed that it is heartbreaking
to see people, our brothers and sisters in Christ, living this way.
Between our water delivery stops, we visited Fleri Farm. Our
guide told us that the farm covers 28 acres and explained how they are working
to help the surrounding neighbors instead of compete with them. One way is to
help the people learn how care for the soil and improve their ability to grow crops.
He talked to us about they care for the soil and about their plan to plant
cover trees to protect smaller plants like basil that is being grown on the
farm. It was very interesting for a city girl like me!
Our last stop of the day was at Fr Tom’s high school where
we were very warmly welcomed. We were treated to music and dance! One of the
students got Mary, one of our team leaders, to dance with him. The rest of the
students thought that was great and gave tremendous applause. Fr Talbot told
the students about Minnesota. They liked hearing about snow and skating and
skiing and sledding. But just like the students on Tuesday, I think they were
pretty skeptical when he tried to explain ice fishing! Our spirits were
definitely lifted by these students!
It has been raining heavily tonight, something that I have
not seen in Haiti before. My thoughts turned back to those shacks we saw at the
water delivery stops. The people would get wet sitting in those shacks. The rain
water would have flowed through their homes turning their dirt floors into mud.
There is no place for the people to go for shelter and who knows how long it
will take for the mud to dry out. How can people live like this? How can people
let other people live like this?
Lynn Arcand
Friday, October 19, 2018
We were early “Reiser’s” this morning and went to Mass at
the Missionaries of Charity. Missionaries of Charity was founded by Saint
Mother Theresa. It was a joy to celebrate Mass with the sisters.
Our morning mission was at Missionaries of the Poor, a home
for severely mentally and physically handicapped men and women. We were treated
to a wonderful tour of the grounds. When I was last here, they had just
installed a water filtration system and a solar power system. They had also
completed new dorms for missionary teams that would like to stay there and serve
God’s people. Now they are building a new chapel. Very unfortunately, we were
unable to work with the residents because they are sick. They have had flu-like
symptoms for two weeks and several of the brothers and other workers have sick,
as well. Please pray for them that they would have a quick and full recovery. 
Our afternoon mission was visiting a home for sick and dying
babies. At our team meeting tonight, the
words “heartbreaking” and “sorrow” were used to describe our day. One of our team
members is a doctor, I am a nurse and another team member is a children’s
mental health worker and still another is a dietician. We were overwhelmed. It
was very hard to see babies and children that are so severely malnourished. A couple
of the children have pneumonia. Many of us were stunned to see the children,
trying to figure out where to start working. I am reminded of the story of the
star fish. We could really only help one baby. There are other rooms with older
children that are healthy but this also brings sorrow because many of the
children are there due to the parents’ inability to care for them. We spent our
time feeding the babies and holding them or playing with the older children out
on the playground. Some of us cried as we watched Fr Talbot baptize children
that might not survive their illness. It is so sad to see what their small
bodies have gone through in their short time on earth.
Lynn Arcand
