Author Archives: Felician Mission: Haiti

Since February 2013, we have had a food program for our kids who come for English classes. When Lebrun’s family were asked to leave, we had to find a new cook and replace the outdoor kitchen to be used for cooking. As always, God provides. Now we have a small new kitchen and a new cook. Adelia is the mother of one of our students and the grandmother of several other students. This time our kitchen is running differently, with the young people helping with the shopping for food, with cooking and with cleaning up. This is a real community project .

Our boys from our English School had asked us if we could take them to the beach. So today we had a class trip. We piled 10 kids into our Nissan Patrol and headed to the beach with our soccer ball. They had a lot of fun, and they even received a cold bottle of Coke. While they were drinking their soda, a small music band came by to sing some Christmas songs. Of course, we gave them a little something for their entertainment. As you can see from the pictures, our kids had a great time. The other half of our class of boys will get to go on the next class trip.

Today we went for Sunday Eucharist at St. Yves, the parish we helped connect with St. Gabriel’s, Saddle River, NJ. We are happy that this new relationship is growing. We thank Msgr. Frank DelPrete, Pastor, and Sr. Esther Falzone, Pastoral Associate, and their parish community for a donation they asked us to deliver to Father Gaston, Pastor of St. Yves.

As in every house, Saturday is cleaning day. Here in our house, we have a public stairway that no one has responsibility for cleaning. So we have our helpers that we named the “Spider Team,” who clean the cobwebs, as well as the stairs. Even Father Phanel lends a helping hand. 😊 After the job is done, our “Spider Team” gets a snack. Here they are eating our homemade pumpkin muffins. They were delighted that they could have three muffins each.
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We thank you for your prayers and messages today. It seems as though the demonstrations were peaceful. On Monday, November 18, there is going to be a nationwide manifestation in every city in Haiti. Once again, we will need to be vigilant. Please continue to pray for justice and peace for all people.

On the land next to where we will be building our new convent, the Foundation Poland Haiti is building a new school for the Diocese of Jacmel. The building construction is well on its way. We have been blest to get to know their engineers who are overseeing the project. Karolina and Marta, two young engineers, visited us today. Take a look at the following link; this is our Bishop Launay Saturne thanking the organization. http://youtu.be/P0OzwtgW6Ro

We received word that tomorrow morning, beginning at 8 a.m., there will be a big manifestation in the city of Jacmel. We have been advised to stay home and not go out for the day. They are expecting violence in the streets. The anger of the people toward the government is growing because basic needs are not being met, such as availability of electricity, rebuilding of a bridge that was destroyed by the earthquake, and completion of the airport in Jacmel.

Manifestations are not new in Jacmel; however, they used to be peaceful demonstrations. For example, previously, when they had no electricity, the people would walk for miles with candles. Today they are turning to violence, and innocent people are being hurt.

Last week, before our return to Jacmel, we heard that the children did not go to school for a few days because the violence in the streets was very bad. Those that did choose to go to school were forced to take part in the demonstration. The Salesian Sisters did not allow their students to take part in the manifestation, and angry demonstrators struck their school with rocks that did damage to the school and its property.

Please pray for us and for the people of Jacmel, that in a peaceful way they can receive what is right and just.

Thanks to our Sister Jeanine Heath from our Chicago area, we made a connection with the Hospital Sisters who help mission countries with medications and medical supplies. They collect medications and supplies from various hospitals that are not being used. Sister Giovanni was able to order many things needed for our mobile clinic. Pray now that these items will reach us in a container.

St. Gabriel’s Parish in Saddle River, NJ, donated altar server cassocks for a few of our young boys. In Haiti, altar servers need to buy their own cassocks. Our boys were delighted and right away asked Father to bless them. Both of the guys pictured here are thinking about becoming priests. The journey to become a priest here is very difficult because the young men come from very poor families that are not able to pay for their studies and books. This year our Bishop is looking for people to sponsor our young seminarians. Please pray for them and help support them if you can.

Thank you again, St. Gabriel’s, for the cassocks. The boys promised to pray for you.