Author Archives: Felician Mission: Haiti

On Sunday, March 23, together with Sr. Giovanni who is with us for the week, we met with the leaders of the two villages where the clinic will be offered. First we participated in Sunday Mass at St. Yves, Monchil. The Mass was solemn because the choir celebrated its third anniversary. After Mass we had our meeting with the village leaders in preparation for the clinic. There are nurses in this village, who most likely will volunteer to help us for the good of their people. Then we made our way to La Font, about a half hour away, to Our Lady of Perpetual Help, where the village leaders were waiting for us. The people were very interested in the presentation that Dr. Yves made and showed their enthusiasm to help the clinic that will be coming to them every week.

Each of these places where the Mother Angela Clinic will be serving usually had medical attention given them once a year. Now they will have it every week.

Every Saturday, our kids come together for art class, led by our young adults. With our financial help, they were able to purchase materials needed to start a new project with paper mâché, a particular art form famous in Jacmel. The girls are creating all kinds of paper flower arrangements.

On Thursday, March 20 we had our second day of clinic in St. Jude’s chapel, Citi Lumineire. This day we were blest with two doctors. This has been a learning process for us too, we have created a form for the patients to fill out as they wait for their consultation. We have learned quickly that many of our people do not know how to read or write, but we found people who could help them. It is a joy to see all our people working together for the good of each other, especially the young people.

On the feast of St. Joseph, with great joy, we began the mobile clinic in Cap Rouge. We were able to see 79 people. Cap Rouge is located high up in the mountains. One 89-year-old woman, together with her son, walked two hours through the mountains to get to the clinic.

We began the day with prayer and 15 minutes of health education. Norma, our nurse, then registered each patient, took their vital signs, and sent the patient to the doctor. After the visit with Dr. Yves, the patient was sent to our pharmicist, Rosemanie. There is enough work, even for us who are not nurses. We helped with weight, temperatures, and medications. For many of these people, it was the first time they saw a doctor. />

On Thursday, March 13, after waiting seven months for the franchise, we finally received the Toyota ambulance that will be used for the mobile clinic. Together with our doctor, nurse, and pharmacist, we already had two village meetings with leaders and responsibles. This week we will have two more village meetings with the community leaders. During the meetings, we share with the people the function of the clinic. The people are very grateful that we will be coming to their village with the clinic.

As you can see in the pictures, the roads are difficult, especially now during the rainy season. The Toyota can drive through everything, even the river. Today after our meeting in Citi Lumineire, we were following the priest back home and his truck died on the road. They needed to leave the car where it died. Remember there is no AAA in Haiti, so we picked up Father and his passengers and gave them a ride back to Jacmel. We are very grateful we have this vehicle for this mission.

Finally, the building of the school, which is being funded by Poland, is underway. This school is located right behind us, near where we are planning to build our new convent.

The Diocese of Jacmel is on its way to building its Cathedral, thanks to the help of the USCCB (United States Catholic Conference of Bishops). So far, there is the wall, fence and gate. This is a great joy for the people of the diocese.

Haiti is in the same time zone as the east coast of the United States; thus, we were to move our clocks ahead one hour Saturday night. Here in Haiti, however, we have learned that, when there is a time change, you wait for everyone to catch up. Sunday morning Mass is still on the old time; after Mass, the priest announces to move your clocks ahead one hour. Now this is how it is done in the city of Jacmel. We hope by the end of the week everyone in the mountains will catch up. The people in the mountains tell time according to the sun.

Today we had our first group for Lenten catechesis.