The Confirmation class from St. Gabriel’s, Saddle River, NJ, had a bake sale to raise money to buy new black shoes for our kids. On Saturday, we brought our first group to the market to get new black shoes for school and church.
In the afternoon, they wanted to go with us for Mass at the Missionaries of Charity. Of course, they wanted to wear their new shoes. 😉 After Mass we visited the little children and babies for which the Sisters care.
One day the children came and told us that they saw Pope Francis on TV, and they said they liked him very much. They asked if Pope Francis would come to Haiti. We simply said, “Why don’t you invite him?” The next day the children started to come with letters for the Holy Father. In the letters, they invited him to Jacmel, telling him how beautiful Haiti is. They also wrote about their lives and their need for help. They thanked him for sending us here, and asked him to help us to help them.
We sent the letters with some pictures to the Vatican.
From January 19 – February 3, we were busy about the Felician Haiti mission in NJ and PA. We were invited to Most Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish in Wallington, NJ, for their Saturday and Sunday Masses, to share our journey of evangelization of presence in Haiti. Since it was Catholic Schools Week, we also visited Most Sacred Heart of Jesus grammar school.
The primary reason we had come to the States was to participate in the Haiti Mission Orientation III meeting with members of the council and the support group of the Haiti mission. The meeting, held at the central convent in Coraopolis, PA, was needed for making some important decisions; it very fruitful.
We also had the opportunity to meet with some of our Felician Associates and others who are interested in supporting the Felician Mission in Haiti.
We met with members of Felician College faculty to discuss the volunteer program in Haiti and to begin plans for another mission experience in Jacmel. We had appointments with three other parishes: St. Patrick’s, Jersey City, NJ, whose medical mission team will be coming in March; St. Gabriel’s, Saddle River, NJ, whose parish involvement has them twinning with the mission at St. Yves; and Our Lady Queen of Peace, Maywood, NJ, whom we thanked for their donation of school supplies which had been sent to us last month.
As you can see, it was a full two weeks…always on mission. 😊
Soon boarding…we will write about our two-week stay in NJ and PA on the next stop on the journey home to Jacmel!
Everytime we come to the airport, we see more and more positive changes. This time we are enjoying delicious Haitian coffee. As we were beginning this blog, a gentleman approached us and wanted to talk to us. Charlie Priestly is the President of COLIBRI-HAITI S.A.; his company takes care of all the aircrafts here at the airport. We had a wonderful conversation and learned a lot about this facility. Of course, we invited him to Jacmel.
Melinda and Jean-Philip are now settled in their new home (room) of their own. Before we left for the States, we visited them. They are so happy with their own home. This time we were able to give them two new pillows. This is the first time in their lives they have pillows. For Melinda and Jean-Philip, there is no place like home!
Riley Fuchs of St. Gabriel Parish, Saddle River, NJ, was so moved by the plight of the Haitian children that she decided to help them in a very tangible way. On the occasion of her seventh birthday, Riley did not receive gifts for herself, but she wanted the gift that keeps on giving. She asked her guests to bring items for the children of Haiti. This picture is a testimony to the other children’s generosity and the joy that Riley experienced by giving rather than receiving. In Riley’s own words: “I felt really happy to give these toys and shoes to the children of Haiti!” Thank you, Riley, for this beautiful example of love and generosity! Mesi anpil. Bondye beni ou.
During the month of October, Our Lady Queen of Peace Parish, Maywood, NJ, collected school supplies and books for our mission here in Haiti. The whole parish was involved in the project. On December 3, we received notification that the pallet of over 30 boxes had arrived in Port au Prince. The next day, we thought we were going to pick up the donated boxes. This was only the beginning of a long process. We went to the place to which the email directed us, to the terminal where it had been delivered. We learned that first we needed to go to Seaboard Marine Ltd., which is on the other side of the city. We are so grateful for Fritz, our driver! We had to pick up the paperwork, and then we needed to go to the bank for a certified check to pay for the paperwork. Next we were sent back across the city to bring the papers to a “broker,” (these are men and women who deal with customs). After we met with the “broker,” he could not begin the process because the pallet had been sent to the Felician Sisters, Attention: Sr. Marilyn Minter. We do not have legal status in Haiti, only as individual persons; my license name is Minter, Marilyn M. After many phone calls to New Jersey to the coordinator of the pallet, we could get the name changed on the paperwork. This took two days. After all that, we came home without anything. We believed that this would take at least a week. We experienced a real time of Advent waiting.
Every other day we would call the “broker” and write him emails (in Creole), always being told tomorrow or next week; and so we waited. We worried that the waiting time meant that we would be paying more taxes for the boxes sitting in the terminal. We wanted the boxes for Christmas in order to distribute the items to the poor. We were afraid that the taxes would be more than what the parish had sent to us. Finally on Tuesday, January 14, we received notice of the amount that was needed to be pay for taxes. We were in shock at the amount of tax we had to pay with certified check. We were taxed $13 USD. We thought we were reading the paper wrong because it was in gourds. The certified check had to be sent to Port au Prince that day so we could pick up the boxes the following day.
On Wednesday, January 15, we went to Port au Prince and got all the boxes. We brought them here to Jacmel, and our boys helped us unload the truck. The next day we got ready to distribute the school supplies. We thank Fr. Larry Fama, Pastor of Our Lady Queen of Peace Parish; Bill Cromwell, coordinator; and all the people who gave to our mission here in Jacmel. We are so grateful to all of you! We also thank the New York Yankees baseball team for the backpacks. Mesi, mesi anpil. Bondye beni ou.
Two days ago we were introduced to Fr. Jean-Pierre, who came for our 6 a.m. Mass to celebrate the Eucharist for us. He was in the seminary with Fr. Kontan, who usually celebrates Mass for us. Fr. Jean-Pierre is now in the Archdiocese of Boston. He came back to Haiti with friends from the Archdiocese: Fr. Bill, from Sts. Monica and Lucy; a group of mission pilgrims from St. Martha, Plainville; and a group from St. Mary’s, Wrentham, MA. Yesterday and today, the mission pilgrims came to celebrate Mass with us in our chapel. Additionally, a group of them came for our English classes and met our students to have conversations in English with them. It is a blessing to make new friends.
Felician Sisters of North America Mission: Haiti 