Author Archives: Felician Mission: Haiti

Let us give you a bit of a background before we share what happened on Tuesday, November 26. In August, our Sister Joellen from Lodi, NJ, was packing all her pre-school activities because she was moving to a new ministry. During her many years in child care work, she had created a wealth of hands-on activities for children. When she saw us, she asked if we would want to take any of these activities. Of course, after seeing what she had, we said “YES!” We placed these items in barrels to be sent to Haiti. Finally, after two months, we received those barrels. Yesterday, we were able to share some of those treasures from Sister Joellen with our kids.

Thank you, Sister Joellen, for being a part of the mission in Haiti!

For Jesus, leadership was about self-sacrifice, not earthly authority…Jesus, remember me when come into your Kingdom…

On this special feast, we remember the mission Jesus embraced for all of us. We are reminded that Jesus’ kingdom is within us; and we are given the Way, the Truth and the Life to make His Kingdom real among us.

At Mass today, like every Sunday, we were joined by the children we are preparing for Baptism and Communion.

Another group that was celebrating at the Mass today was an organization for teens that are taught to be civic leaders. It is kind of like Scouts, but with more religious and spiritual direction. Some of our teens participate in the group. They are very aware of the the country’s situation and are reminded to show and be good leaders to all.

On November 21, we celebrated our anniversaries and gave thanks to God for our past, for those who provided leadership, for growth in community, and for all those who led the Felician Congregation and the North American Province to this day. We prayed that God would awaken in us a hope for the future.

The day before the celebration, preparations were started. Our women prepared the chicken and the homemade cakes.

The Felician Haiti mission certainly did awaken in us hope, as we shared the story of Blessed Mary Angela and the founding of our Congregation. The children in our faith formation program were invited to participate in Mass and dinner.

The day began for us with Eucharistic Adoration with Morning Prayer, giving thanks for all that was, is, and will be as we prayed to awaken a hope for the future here in Haiti.

When the kids arrived, we shared a slide presentation which told our story and the life of Blessed Mary Angela.

During Mass, after the homily, we renewed our vows.

Then we shared our joy with a delicious dinner…

As we mentioned in our last post, we want to help our kids to keep learning in the midst of the crisis in this country. Can you imagine 100 kIds being placed in groups to learn math, Creole and French, computers, science, geography and history, and sports, too? Talk about having space! And then we need to feed them…

Our kids were so happy when our mission doors were opened after our return from the States. They are so hungry! Thank God we are able to buy rice and beans. The prices have doubled and tripled for some things but, with your help, we are able to feed our kids. Thank you ever so much!

Our kids have not been in school for three months already; and each day school is closed, they lose time learning. We have been praying to know what can we do to move forward. We will begin lessons, led by our teen leaders, in Math, History, Science, Creole, French and computers. Stay tuned to see how our youth will lead…

On Tuesday, November 12, Dr. Jean Paul Bonet arrived at the Felician Haiti Mission. His eyes were filled with amazement as he saw the mission for the first time after it was dedicated a year ago. He is here working with Rotary International on a few projects. He also had the opportunity to meet with the Mother Angela Clinic Team. Here he is sharing with our Director, Dr. Yves Derisier, MD.

Me André Michel, Spokesperson of the radical opposition of the movement called “Democratic and Popular” who this week launched with other leaders of the opposition a call to the “déchoukaj” of President Moïse https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-29090-haiti-news-zapping.html , rejected the latest call for inclusive and unconditional dialogue proposed by the US Embassy to resolve the Haitian political crisis https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-29094-haiti-usa-trump-administration-encourages-dialogue-in-haiti-without-delay.html

“[…] the US Embassy and the rest of the international community must not continue to support the Head of State […] the opposition has already launched 7 days of national mobilization from Sunday 27 October to Saturday 2 November 2019 to force President Jovenel Moïse to step down.

We are maintaining our schedule and recall that the country will be totally closed during this period of intensive mobilization. We call on the international community to join the Haitian people in their fight for the satisfaction of their legitimate demands.”

André Michel said that it is time to get down to business and that from October 27 to November 2 [week 7 of demonstrations and blockages], the country will be transformed into a real battlefield ‘democratic’, all roads will be blocked… “it will be a decisive week”.

On their side the four senators of the radical opposition [Evalière Beauplan (PONT); Antonio Cheramy aka “Don Kato” (VERITE), Ricard Pierre (Piti Dessalin) and Nenel Cassy (Famni Lavalas), involved in the looting and violence in the Senate continue to demand the resignation of the Head of State and announce a hardening mobilization from 27 to 2 November, encouraging their activists, supporters and sympathizers to mobilize more.

On September 30, we received a letter from our Bishops, stating their concerns for the country of Haiti and the need for peace and reconciliation; an end to the terrible violence that threatens the whole country; concern for the women and children; and a call to solidarity. They asked for the President to take a good look at the situation and have a dialogue with the people.

Each day, things seem to have escalated; and the violence has gotten worse. Another letter was sent on October 18 from the Conference of Religious in the country, inviting all Catholics to join in solidarity, especially in Port au Prince, to march for peace on Tuesday, October 22, the feast of St. John Paul II. As you can see from the videos and pictures, the march was peaceful as people of faith joined hands in prayer.

Please, we beg you all to join us in prayers for Haiti!