Sunday in Haiti

Sunday morning began at 2AM when we were awakened by a ra ra procession in the street outside the guesthouse. Awakening from a dead sleep to the sounds of horns, drums, and a caucophony of voices is quite startling, to say the least. The ra ra only occurs during Lent and is the antithesis of Lent.Our understanding is that different voodoo priests lead the processions and the one with the most followers is the most popular. We were also told that there is some Roman Catholic connection. We have been told that the processions are only on the weekends, only on Thursday and Saturday nights, and everynight. So, we shall see what happens tonight! Many of our group went up on the roof to watch and reported a fantastic sight of people dancing with large masks and torches. So, next time I hear the music, I'm heading up to the roof!

Many of us next awoke at 5AM. Of course, we intended to wake at 6. Our phones changed to daylight savings time, but Haiti did not! So, we had time for lots of wonderful coffee and some reading and chatting.

We strolled around the St. Croix complex before we left for church at St. Phillippe and St. Jacques. The improvements at St. Croix are remarkable since last fall. Much of the rubble has been cleared, the church is now under a tin roof rather than in the open air, and there is a temporary structure for the school courtesy of the Finnish Lutheran Church, which also rebuilt the school at St. P and St. J. Kerwin and his family now have a small wooden house in the front yard of their other home, in which Rholcie has been afraid to sleep since the quake. There are plans for further renovation and expansion of the hospital, rebuilding the church and schools with permanent structures, and rebuilding the guesthouse on the grounds, as well as a house for the families of the patients. And, there is even funding in place for some of these plans!

The congregation at St. P and St. J warmly welcomed us. I had brought the lectionary in English, and we had prayer books and hymnals in French. Of course, Kerwin's sermon and other remarks were in Creole, so our understanding was somewhat limited. The women's choir and the youth choir both sang special selections for us, including one last song in English. Unfortunately, my video skills failed me, so you will not get to hear them.

Madame Laborde, the lay leader's wife, prepared a sumptuous feast to enjoy following a meeting with the families at the school. The purpose of that meeting was to discuss how best the families could become self-sustaining with the help of the people of St. John's. The result was the formation of a seven person commission to explore the possibility of establishing a micro-credit fund.

When we returned to St. Croix, we continued our pill cutting, medicine pouring, labeling, and sorting. We are well prepared for our patients tomorrow. We expect 150-200 people. Our Haitian doctor arrived tonight and joined in the pill cutting fun. We also will be having a new element - a Haitian dentist offered to join us today. So, we will try that out tomorrow and see how it goes before committing to taking him to Jasmin with us.

Two of our translators, whom we have used before, Peterson and Valerie, came for a short visit to welcome us and touch base before tomorrow. It was great to see them both. Since our last visit, Peterson's wife has had their first baby - a boy named Peter - whom Peterson promises to bring to visit before we leave.

I think that today was a very successful day. The team is working well together in various groups, and Bob and Russ are providing our comedic relief. On to tomorrow!

PS - Nina, here's a photo of Bob in action!

Gwen relaxing after an early wake up call!

Most of the group







The reason I go to Haiti

Pere Kerwin and a young parishioner