It starts again……the plane descends into Port au Prince…….. I can see the rivers…….dumping mountains of trash, huge volumes of eroding sediment, and millions of gallons of untreated sewage into the harbor………….I see the explosion of discharge as it fans out for miles discoloring the ocean.   My anger starts to rise as I ponder once again why our US Coast Guard will not allow Haitians to fish in deep waters off of Haiti, prohibiting Haitians from supplementing their diet with abundance of fish.  How much do I tell the guys?  This is their first adventure into Haiti, the poorest nation in our entire hemisphere.     

The airport mob scene isn’t as bad as it was in the years following the earthquake that killed 275,000 in 2010.   My warnings to the guys is for naught as everything was calm and the flood of luggage attendants wrestling for our luggage didn’t occur.   Rather we were met with big hugs by Julian our driver, interpreter and “fixer” who has become a dear friend over the years.  He took a bus at dawn for 6 hours from Les Caye to meet us.  Julien is a 32-year old Father of three that is “ripped” according to my kids but who is fiercely protective and loyal.

The next day Julien drives us 8 hours across the country down the 2 lane national highway narrower than Rt 109 but lined on each side with goats, children, chickens and vendors. Half way to Jeremie in the south western corner of the Island, we stop at Julien’s house so he can drop some much needed money with his wife we pre-paid him; then up and over the mountains we head.   At one point on a single lane dirt road cut on the edge of the mountain pass our 4WD come precariously close the 1,000 ft shear drop into a raging river below.   When in Jeremie we all agree that the $300 additional cost to fly in a puddle jumper from PaP to Jeremie would be well worth it.

Dennis, Kevin and Dan had the pleasure of meeting Bette GeBrian for the first time, a 60-year-old devout Catholic woman from CT who 35 years ago invested her life in Haiti, married Edwin a Haitian contractor and never looked back.   She has inspired Lynda and I, encouraging us at every step.   She hangs a wooden bell inscribed with the Haitian saying, “No One Hears the Cry of the Poor”.   We have witnessed Bette do everything within her power to ring the wooden bell as loudly as she can on behalf of the people of the Grande Anse area of Haiti, where extreme poverty is a way of life.    

It was Bette that sent Tom Cannon and I up to Fr. Romain several years back with the hopes we could help St Anthony’s the Hermit of Lori Parish fix a road.  A chance meeting that has bonded St Therese to St Anthony’s.

As Dan Rooney has so clearly described in his article, the St Anthony’s Church building was devastated by Hurricane Matthew.  But hope abounds and as was so clearly expressed by the children as they greeted and played with us, their faith and joy were not diminished.   Dennis Guay joined the kids jump roping and all you could hear were screams and belly laughter from hundreds of children, and immediately Dennis was loved by all.  Praise God for Dennis’s willingness to become an adopted grandfather by so many.
  
Father gives up his room for us for two nights and in it he exposes our Lord in the Monstrance.  What a joy to be with together with Christ and Fr Romain, bonded forever in the Eucharist. We literally nodded off to sleep and awoke in His presence.  We are truly one body in Christ, forever bonded with this gentle warm spirited man of God..

The Moms and Dads of Lori who have lost their homes now have an opportunity to help rebuild their church with the $1’s, $5’s and $10 dollar bills that St Therese helped to raise.  These families continue to  walk the 2.5 hrs down the mountain to the river to carry a 5-gallon bucket of river sand up to mix with the cement.  They will joyfully work for less than $4/day to help rebuild and all the while be grateful for the work.   Imagine!!!  We are the ones that are blessed!  God is graciously allowing us to stand alongside of our brothers and sisters and join in their suffering.   Praise be to God.   Life is Good!!