Felician Sisters of North America Mission: Haiti

May 1 was another great day for the people in the diocese of Jacmel who gathered to celebrate the Eucharist with the Cardinal. There were so many people, with all the priests and religious of the diocese gathered together in one place. Once again it was as if the Pope was coming. The celebration took place in the newly-built conference center in the middle of Jacmel. This was the first time we had been in this building. Cardinal Chibly reminded us that we are called to be about the mission of Jesus Christ; we have a universal call to rebuild the Church, especially here in Haiti. He reminded us that Pope Francis has a special love for the poor. We may be poor physically, but spiritually we have our faith community to proclaim the Good News that Christ is truly risen and is in our midst. We must work and walk together! The choir and the dancing all made a joyful noise to the Lord! “>

On April 30, Jacmel was ready to welcome Haiti’s first Cardinal. The whole city, as well as people from the mountains, gathered in the streets at the entrance of the city. There was more excitement than ever because Cardinal Chibly is from Jacmel. It was as though the Pope was coming; people stood with the signs, and a musical band played while choirs sang. We stood waiting for his arrival for two hours. He finally reached the entrance of the city and walked among the crowd. He spoke to us and reminded us that we all have a mission for the universal church, especially here in Haiti. He gave us his blessing and said he looked forward to seeing us the next day as he would celebrate Mass for Jacmel’s feast, the Feast of St. Joseph and Sts. Philip and James. After that he drove through the town of Jacmel, greeting all the people. It truly was a great day for Jacmel. We also learned that, because of the feast, there would be no school or work for two days. br />

Dr. Kathy Vito, a professor of Nursing from Felician College, Lodi, NJ, joined a mission team from St. Patrick’s, Jersey City, NJ. While in Jacmel, she gave a class in community nursing at the University of Notre Dame Nursing School and did some clinic work with her group. She is interested in bringing Felician College student nurses here in the future to work in our clinic.

Because of last year’s generosity of Bishop Ahr High School, Edison, NJ, we were able to purchase a projector. We use it for our English classes and to show movies. For the past two weeks, we had been showing “The Passion of Christ.”

During the Lenten season we began catechesis with our kids. At first it was once a week and now we are blest with twice a week. Fr. Elicien has a class once a week and another day we or James, a young man who desires to be a priest. Some of our kids are preparing for Baptism and Communion, and some for the sacrament of Confirmation. Fr. Elicien has a special Mass every Saturday evening for the Sunday Eucharist, some older ladies who cannot get to a church come with the kids.

On Sunday morning about 8 of our kids (because we cannot fit more in the car) come with us to one of the neighboring parishes for Mass.

Since we have a worshipping community everyday in our chapel and we worship in the native language of Creole, we knew it was time to purchase a “tanbou” drum. Drums are hand made in Haiti by seminarians in Port au Prince. Fr. Elicien tightened the head of the drum and waxed its skin, and then began to play for us.

We are blest that we have more and more people helping us with the mission of the mobile clinic. This is a sign that God wants and desires this for His people. Every Tuesday and Thursday, Clara, a student nurse from University of Notre Dame, Jacmel, joins us to learn clinic nursing. In Moncil, one of our sites, there are two nurses from the parish that assist us in health education and taking blood pressures. This help is needed every week in all four sites that we serve because we have so many people who come to the clinic every week.

We are very blest with our dedicated Haitian doctors and nurses that we have hired. They do not count all the hours and time they put into helping people who would never have access to health care as they do now because of the Mother Angela clinic. There are days we leave at sunrise and return after sunset. They truly love their brothers and sisters.