Felician Sisters of North America Mission: Haiti

We believed that, coming to the U.S. at this time, we would get an opportunity to see Pope Francis. Jesus says: “Have faith.” So we put our names in the USCCB lottery and waited, but we did not win. Then we thought maybe in NYC we would get a chance, but it was too late. “O you of little faith…” God certainly had another plan for us.

On Friday. Sr. Joselle, local minister in Lodi, said her sister had two tickets for the Mass in Philadelphia. We would need to find a place to stay. But it was last minute, and all places were full. Once again, “O you of little faith.” God never disappoints us. Our brothers and sisters who we met last weekend in Chicago from the Neocatechumenal Way opened their heart and home. We had a place to stay just a 45-minute walk from where the Mass would take place! We are staying with two families and a group of little kids! We seem to always be surrounded by kids. Praise the Lord for them and for the family!

Last Sunday morning, while we were at prayer, two little boys came to our door. We told them that Sunday is our day of prayer, and we have no activities. They wanted to come in and pray with us. We welcomed them into the chapel and began to tell them about Jesus and how much we love Him, how He loves them, and how we see Him in them. After, we asked them to ask Jesus for what they needed and/or wanted from Jesus, because Jesus loves them so much. They went up by the tabernacle and stood so reverently before Jesus for a few moments. To watch them was a real meditation of humility and reverence. After those few moments, we asked them what they asked Jesus. Jim had asked Jesus for a backpack, notebooks and pencils. Donaldson asked Jesus for a peanut and jelly sandwich because he was hungry.

I wonder what the kids in the U.S. pray for?

On Saturday, September 5, we finally received the container that our friend, Ann Zon from Amhurst, NY, sent on August 3 to Port au Prince, Haiti. Sending a container is not an easy feat. But this has been Ann’s mission for many years, and she certainly has the experience. Ann has a mission heart and soul. She founded the Nicaragua Mission Project, where they send containers quite often to Nicaragua. 😀

Since last year, Ann extended her love for the missions to us. This is the second container she has sent to Jacmel. This time, the contents in the container were intended for our new seminary in the Diocese of Jacmel and the local hospital that serves the poor.

We would like to give you a little background about what happens when a container is sent to Haiti. It gets packed up in New York. Ann puts in her donations, then items are added from our Sisters in North America. The container was sent on August 3, and it arrived in Port au Prince on August 22. That is when we enter a race to get it out of Port as quickly as possible because, after ten days, we have to pay a fine for each day it sits there. We cannot do all that needs to be done on our own. We need to hire a broker who goes to the different Ministries to get it out for us; she does all the paperwork. Because this was coming to the Diocese of Jacmel, we had to have a letter from the Bishop so we would not be taxed. This takes a lot of time and needs a lot of patience. There are fees that must be paid ahead of time, and checks must sent from Jacmel to Port au Prince. We are blest to have Nicole as our broker. She is very good at her job and very dependable. 

This past Thursday, we were told that the container could be released. We went to Port au Prince to pay for the container and to arrange to have it trucked to Jacmel. We were told that it was leaving Thursday afternoon and would arrive in the evening. Well, evening came, and morning followed, the second day and no container. We again called the man who was settling about the container being shipped to Jacmel. He made some calls and then told us it was in Carrfour, a town outside of Port au Prince. Then we were told we could not open the container when it would arrive until an inspector would come. In the meantime, we had lined up some of our boys and some other friends to help with the unloading. Also Caritas provided their trucks. This meant having water and food for our helpers. When we heard we could not open it when it arrived, we wondered how are we going to be able to do this and have our help waiting, possibly for days. So we went to Fr. Bertrande, the Director of Caritas, asking him to call the inspector and explain what the container was for and what was inside. He said we had the permission to open it when it arrived. So we waited and waited again. Evening came and morning followed the third day. There was still no container. So again, we called the man contacting the trucking company. Finally they called us and informed  us we needed to pay an extra fine in the port for not picking up the container on Thursday. We still do not know why it was not picked up. So, we paid the extra $90. The container was on its way by 11 a.m. Saturday morning. Again, we waited…Then, at 4 p.m., the container finally arrived, and everything went smoothly because we could finally control the unpacking. With the help of Caritas taking the things for the new seminary and for the hospital, and with our boys and Fritz, we finished in 3 hours.

We thank God for Ann Zon and all those who donated to the poor here in Haiti. May God bless you all!

“…and God saw it was good!” Gn. 1:10 🌞

On Tuesday, September 1, our Dr. Wanitha spent the morning seeing the kids from our neighborhood whom we suspected have scabbies. This is a skin disease that is found among the poor due to poor sanitary conditions. It is highly contagious and easily spread among family members. We had two families come for consultation, and our suspicions were correct. All were given needed medication for the disease. They need to wash all their clothes and clean their living space well. We want to provide the needed materials to clean and wash, using sanitizers. Our people do not have access to free running water so this becomes a problem. We also have been providing them with water so they have the opportunity to bathe twice a day, and they have been given the needed medical treatments. Both families do participate in the “Water with Blessing” project so they do have clean water available to them. 

Again, we thank you for your generous support for this to be possible and for our people to get the care they need. 

There is a very poor family in our neighborhood that has about 20 people living in two small rooms and a tent; eleven of them are children, ranging from 6 months to 15 years old. Today we took the kids to buy the things they need for school–shoes, backpacks, socks, pencils, pens, notebooks. For some, we purchased their books and uniforms; and for some, we have have paid for their tuition. This can only be done thanks to our benefactors! We pray for you everyday!😇 

We thank every one for your prayers and messages as we made it through the tropical storm named “Erika.” We had prepared ourselves as best we could by putting everything inside a room, and we took down the crucifix and icons from the outside walls. We made sure the chairs were all inside a room. We had high winds and heavy rains throughout the night. Today all is calm; we still have some winds, but all is well. There are many banana trees down, and there is a lot of garbage everwhere. Our neighbor lost many of his banana and papaya trees. Many had extreme flooding into their small homes because they do not have secure doors, windows, and roofs. Some  people live in what looks like a hut made of babana leaves; these were destoyed. Thanks be to God for His glorious mountains that we feel protected us from   even greater winds and damage.

 Now we are praying for all of those who may be affected as “Erica” moves her way up the coast. St. Florian protect us from fires, floods, earthquakes, hurricanes and tsunamis. 

Please keep us and our people in your prayers as we meet this storm!

After dark, we usually do not have visitors, but tonight there was a knock at the door. We were surprised to see Christella. You may remember the blog we wrote about her 9 months ago when she was missing. She looked very mature and grown up. She told us that she was in Port au Prince and is now returning to school in Jacmel. She did not want to share the details of what happened; she only said her aunt, with whom she had been living at the time, threw her out of the house. We are happy she looks okay and will be returning to school. However, we know that it has been a difficult 9 months and has not been an easy time for her. Please keep Christella in your prayers. 

On Monday, August 17, and Tuesday, August 18, we met with our fourth group of “Water Women” at St. Yves Parish in Monchil.  This is another place where the Mother Angela Clinic visits every other week. 

We had 20 women participate in the formation process, preparing them to be a part of the “Water with Blessing” project. This group seemed to be very well organized since we had the opportunity to collaborate with the Spiritan Sisters, who helped to invite the women and who also participated in the formation process as the women each received a filter and a bucket. It was a joy to have our four Felician Sisters–Margaret, Angela, Julitta and Rita–participate and help us with the two days of formation.

We thank all our benefactors who make possible this project of giving clean drinking water to the poor in our midst.