"If they come, we will have Mass to Thank God"

A friend of mine, Pere Jean Fils Chery, posted pictures of during and immediately after Isaac. He is a priest at a parish called St. Etienne up in the mountains. He gave me permission to share some of his pictures from yesterday.

Pere Jean Fil's house during the storm. 

Driving around Leogane

Driving around Leogane

Yesterday afternoon Pere Jean Fils told me that they were already trying to prepare to have church on Sunday even with many of the benches blown away or damaged. Another priest friend who works at a parish in Leogane said that many of the people in the area had lost everything. The tent that the parish worships in was completely destroyed. In spite of that he said he was still preparing for mass on Sunday saying "If they come, we will have Mass to thank God" 

*Pere Jean Fils writes a blog and you can check it out at http://perechery.blogspot.com. You can also follow him on twitter @JeanFilsCHERY 

"Oh Those Poor People"

*I hesitated making the below post because I didn't want it to be mistaken for a lack of concern for the devastation Isaac caused but I was talking to a Haitian friend of mine in Port au Prince and they encouraged me to post it saying "if thats what you believe then post it, if you don't post it then you don't really believe it"

I was talking to someone earlier this week and the issue of tropical storm Isaac approaching Haiti came up. As surprising as this might be for some of you, I didn't bring up the Haiti topic. They were telling me that Isaac was going to hit Haiti and "Oh those poor people." It is a phrase that I have heard over and over again when people talk about Haiti - "Oh those poor people"

Every time I hear this or similar comments it drives me absolutely crazy. It's not that I don't think that Haitians gets more than its fair share of bad luck. They do (Earthquake, Hurricanes, Cholera and the list goes on) and its Too Much. It's not that I don't empathize with the people in Haiti, particularly those still living in Tents or with unsuitable housing. I do and they have constantly been in my thoughts. And it's not that I haven't been worried about my friends and god-daughter. I have been worried and have been on the phone and facebooking throughout the past couple of days to see how they are doing. And I am sure in the coming weeks I will be posting about the devastating effects of the storm. But I wanted to take a moment to talk about those "poor people"

When Americans say "Oh those poor people" it's said out of pity. It's a throw away statement. "Oh those poor people." They feel bad but they don't really care or know Haitians. If they did, they wouldn't be saying "Oh those poor people." It's said in a way that implies that Haitians and Haiti can't help themselves, that they are bystanders to their own fate. "Oh those poor people" suggests that they just let things happen to them. "Oh those poor people" suggests a people who are poor in spirit, depressed, in-active, and weak.

These aren't the Haitians I know.

At orientation this week I heard a quote from Einstein that went something like "you do not really know something, unless you can explain it to your grandmother." So this is how I would explain the Haiti and its people, that I think I know, to a grandparent - Haitians are resilient. They are strong and don't take things just sitting down. They are the farthest thing from poor.

There is a picture taken by the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti of a woman walking through chin high water caused by flooding from Isaac. Its a striking photo and you immediately worry about the woman (and hope that the person taking the picture helped her). It's a picture where you could easily pity that woman caught in the storm and say "oh that poor woman" but then you read the caption. This woman is going back to her home to get her belongings. She is strong. She is fighting back. She is Haitian.

And just in case I haven't sufficiently made my point, heres just one more thing. Recently the brunt of the storm ended in Port au Prince and there are already photos out of Haitians clearing the streets and helping each other. Of girls going out in the floods to get drinking water. I even saw one photo of a RaRa (like a parade) through the streets of Port au Prince playing music and celebrating the storms passing. I don't understand how anyone can see Haitians and think "Oh those poor people."

I hope you will keep Haitians in your thoughts and prayers as they work to recover from Isaac and as they continue to work to get people out of the tents and combat Cholera. If you would like to read more about Isaac and its effects on Haiti you should check out Sister Sarah's Excellent Adventure. Her blog has some great coverage of Isaac's impact.

RaRa in the streets after Isaac by @joshjobitz

Cleaning up Champs Mars after Isaac by @isabellemorse

Carrying drinking water after Isaac by
@RAMHaiti

Am I Holding Haiti or is Haiti Holding me...my Return to Blogging

Well, its almost been a full year since my last post...at least I didn't let it go a full year...right? But I'm back and have made it a goal to post more regularly. I recently returned from a trip to Haiti and am starting grad school this fall to study international development. The combination of these two things had me thinking that it would be nice to start blogging about Haiti again. Its been about 2 and a half years since I left Haiti but there is something about Haiti that I can't let it go.

When I thought of the title of the blog I thought it was a nice alliteration with my name and Haiti's but it never occurred to me how true that title would be...but perhaps the title should be reversed. While I may think I'm holding Haiti, I think that Haiti has a hold on me and its something I just can't seem to shake...not that I would want to. While the tie I feel to Haiti has a bit to do with wanting to help and do what I can to participate in its rebuilding and development, it has so much more to do with the friends I have made and the feeling of being at home every time I visit.

While its my hope to one day return to Haiti - I no longer live there...so you might wonder what I'm going to write about. So far I have had about 6 return trips to Haiti, and I have a lot of stories stocked up that show the place and people that I know and care deeply for. These stories most definitely won't be in chronological order but will relate to something that I'm thinking about at the time. I will probably also talk more about some of my favorite Haitian things...I can't wait to post about Presitge! There will also occasionally be commentary on news in Haiti or my perspectives on development and mission. And because I strongly believe that you can best learn about Haiti from Haitians, I hope to feature some posts from some of my friends.

So here I go again...and hopefully it won't be a year before you hear from me again. Also if anyone knows how to change the background on blogger so that it makes one big picture and not a tile of pictures please let me know!

Until next time...