Na Mache Men Nan Men
"Na Mache Men Nan Men" is very appropriate as our theme for St. Mary's second visit to St.
Joseph Church in Pendus, Haiti. Literally, it means "We will walk hand-in-hand," which we
were doing with our newfound friends in all of Haiti. Is also represents the words to a Haitian
Solidarity song which is sung to the tune of "We Shall Overcome." This is particularly important
given the number of potential roadblocks set in our path along the way . . . each one turning out
for our betterment due to the new opportunity presented or the lesson taught by the perceived
setback.
The words to the Solidarity Song (first in Creole and then in English) are:
"Na Mache Men Nan Men,
Na Mache Men Nan Men,
Na Mache Men Na Men Jo-Dia.
O, Wi Nan Fon Kem, Mwen Kwe Sa Vre,
Na Mache Men Nan Men."
"We'll walk hand in hand,
We'll walk hand in hand,
We'll walk hand in hand today.
O, yes deep in my heart, I do believe,
We'll walk hand in hand today."
Tuesday, December 26, 2000
Sharon, Kyle and I were up at 4:45 am. My Dad and Mom picked us up to drive us to St.
Mary and then the airport. There were ten of us traveling together on this trip – Jim Rush, Jake
Rush, Doug Granlund, Helen Hession, John Velten, John Willis, Jim Weiss and the three of us –
were at St. Mary by 6 am. We had all 20 of our suitcases and 10 carry-ons and 10 backpacks
loaded into two vans (ours and Rush’s) and in Brian Roark’s truck before a special send-off
Mass at 6:30 am. What a send off it was as over 40 people were at the Mass in the parish chapel!
Only four showed up for our first group last March!
In addition to Father Bob and the 10 of us, those in attendance included Naomi
CasaSanta, Patti CasaSanta, Jim & Theresa Newell, Bob & Shirley Fitzgerald, Joanne & Jenna
Willis, Brian Roark, Kim, Nick & Kelsey Granlund, Mike & Patti Cassidy, Art Taylor, Thom
Reed, Rod Ray, Bill VanAlstine, Loretta, Sara & Mary Rush, Mimi Melville, Adel & Lulu
Yaacoub and several others that I missed writing down their names. (Tim Maloney met us in
Indy at the airport as we were boarding our flight.)
The temperature this morning was 4-degrees and there were 16-inches of snow on the
ground (I’m not sure how to explain either to those in Haiti, although Helen brought Polaroid
pictures of the snow – “nage” in Kreoyl -- to show!)
We tried to check our bags all the way through to Port-au-Prince, but could not do so due
to our overnight layover in Miami. Our flight #37 on TWA left Indianapolis at 10:33 am and
arrived in St. Louis at 11:21 am (Indiana time). One of the true ironies of this trip came with the
help of our travel agent, Annette Crane of Adventure Travel. She was wonderful in helping us
get reservations and the best rates and warned us of certain airlines that had potential work slowdowns on the horizon. Even better, she upgraded most of our seats to first class (at no extra
charge) – both going and coming from Haiti. How ironic, my first trip in first class and I’m going
to Haiti.
We had nearly a two-hour layover in St. Louis, long enough to find hot dogs, TCBY &
coffee – all the necessities of life in America. A euchre game or two was played – a common
occurrence at each airport layover. St. Louis was under a cloud cover and had fog and some
freezing rain and light snow that morning. Due to the weather and the de-icing procedure, we
were in the plane over one hour before finally taking off at 2:55 pm on TWA flight #146. The
clouds began to clear away as we flew over northern Florida and the Gulf coast. Lunch on board
was chicken or a Mexican wrap, green beans, drink and a warmed raisin cookie.
As we approached Miami, we saw a rainbow out the left side of the plane that formed a
complete circle with a spot in the middle. Of course this was a GREAT sign for Sharon, Kyle
and me. When we arrived at Miami at 5:15 pm, it was 74-degrees and sunny.
When we landed we had to handle ALL of our luggage (a task we hadn’t had to do the
first time I went to Haiti last March since we went straight through). Luis – the luggage man at
the airport – was a great help in getting our bags gathered and out to the hotel shuttle. We had
four rooms at the Double Tree Hotel about a mile from the airport and we arrived there at 6:30
pm. After unloading, the three teenagers each got in the pool, but it was very cold. Jim managed
to find some beer and we ordered sandwiches and pizza to be delivered to the lobby. Several of
us took turns walking to a nearby mall to pick up last minute items. The boys all watched “The
Klumps” on HBO in Rush’s room. We were in bed by 9:45 pm, knowing we had an early start
tomorrow.
Wednesday, December 27, 2000
We were all up at 4:30 am to be ready for an early flight to Port-au-Prince. Half of us
shuttled to the airport at 5:15 and the rest at 5:30 am. We got all the luggage checked without
incident. However, Jim and Jake Rush and John Willis were told they were only on standby and
not guaranteed a seat. This was our first big obstacle of the trip.
After a quick stop for breakfast at a Burger King at the airport, we got to gate D-17 and
found out that not only were those three truly on standby, but that our flight was delayed at least
until 10 am (due to lots of ice and weather the day before in Dallas – the hub of American
Airlines.) Instead of our plane this morning coming from Lima, Peru, American was bringing
one down from Canada. John Willis and I were able to reach Annette Crane to enlist her help in
solving the ticket problem for Jim, Jake and John. Numerous phone calls later, she had them
booked on the second flight from Miami to PAP (scheduled for an 11:05 am take-off.) The plane
from Canada did not arrive until 9:45 am. One advantage of the delay allowed us to make a
Cinnabon stop as well as play more euchre!
We also met a couple from Florida. They are missionary leaders. We talked a lot with
them about what to expect in Haiti. After one of the nearly endless one-liners by Jim Rush, he
added, “If you write that down, I’ll break your pen. I’m trying real hard not to be the Brian Roark
of this trip!” Too late Jim. I got it written down.
We -- well the seven of us anyway! -- didn’t take off until 11:15 am on American
Airlines flight #377. Jim, Jake and John took off about 45 minutes behind us on flight #1291.
Lunch en route was a chicken wrap, salad, bread and warm cookie – all on china with real silver
ware (remember we are in first class!) I sat next to a 26-year-old lady named Joan. She was born
in Haiti and lived there 15 years before moving with her mother to Miami for 9 years. The past
two years, she has lived, worked and gone to school (nursing) in New York City. She is heading
back to visit other family. We talked a lot about the language and culture of Haiti. (“Jwaye Noel”
is Merry Christmas; “Bon Ane” is Happy New Year.) As we were landing in Port-au-Prince at
12:41 pm, the view of the city brought tears to Sharon’s eyes as she thought it looked like a
massive train-wreck.
The airport in PAP reminds you of a 1950 vintage airport. When you deplane, you simply
walk down the stairs and walk across the tarmac to the customs building. Surrounding you are
the majestic mountains of Haiti (you can’t see the city side of PAP because of the customs
building.) Once inside, you enter one of several long lines (remember the whole plane – and it’s
a large one with nine seats across – is doing the same thing) to get your passport stamped and
customs declaration turned in. Haitian calendars for 2001 were being passed out while we waited
in line. As we waited to get through this passport check, I saw Cha Cha waving and waiting for
us.
Once past that post, there were hugs all around from Cha Cha. The next room was a big
baggage claim area. No one could leave this area without going through a final customs check of
the luggage. We didn’t know if all 20 of our checked bags would arrive or if 6 were taken off to
go with Jim, Jake and John. Constantine (complete with an airport ID badge) introduced himself
to me and said the Hospice asked him to help us at the airport. Sharon, Helen and John Velten
watched all the carry-ons, while Kyle, Doug, Jim Weiss, Cha Cha, Constantine and I tracked
down each piece of luggage (all 20 pieces were on our first plane.)
Before we had retrieved the luggage, the second plane with Jim, Jake and John Willis
landed. By the time they went through the first passport check, the rest of us with Cha Cha’s help
had began going through the baggage-customs check. Whatever, Cha Cha had told them worked,
as they simply were waving us past into the last small holding room before leaving the airport
building. We were told by Constantine to say we had no medicines – which we didn’t since we
didn’t have a doctor with us. (We had no prescriptive medicine, only over-the-counter stuff.)
Helen and I got Jim, Jake and John’s attention in line and hurried them through the baggage
customs part as well.
Immediately as we exited the building, we were inundated with Haitian men wanting to
help carry our bags (for a tip of course!) The 20 bigger bags were loaded on three carts, which
we had to push through this crowd. It was not easy to stay together. We were quickly separated.
Fritzner and his friend Sergo (whom we hadn’t met before) appeared and helped us (although I
was the only one to recognize and know Fritzner and know he was truly help and not another
“red cap”.) This was very scary, especially since it was happening so quickly.
Each “Red Cap” (they actually wore yellow shirts) wanted to help, and it was impossible
to know which one was in charge – or even who to trust -- until time to tip when one clearly outyelled the others, “I’m the boss!” By that time we had already tipped Constantine and probably a
few others. John Willis had pulled a bill from his pocket to tip, not noticing it was a $100 bill.
Luckily he never handed it to anyone else. It took 20-30 minutes to get through this 60-yard
gauntlet and load Tidan’s truck and the 12-passenger bus for Hospice St. Joseph (and it seemed a
lot longer!). In retrospect, none of them was trying to hurt us; each simply wanted some of the
action since Americans do tip very well (and Haiti is such a poor country.)
Once we pulled away, we all could breathe a little easier. However, our first experience
of Port-au-Prince still awaited us. The road nearest the airport wasn’t too bad. But after the first
left turn, we seemed to be going up a dried-up creek bed. The homes all had walls with either
barbed wire or cut bottles of glass on top to keep people out. Also many of the homes were built
of concrete and apparently built one on top of the other. Often times the construction looked
incomplete (such as rebar still sticking up into the air). Supposedly, if a building was not
“finished,” it wouldn’t be taxed as much.
The complete hustle and bustle of a city was quickly apparent. The streets were narrow
and there were no sidewalks. However, people lined both sides of the street walking in either
direction with traffic attempting to go both directions as well. In addition, there were various
“markets” lining the streets along the way with many items from food to clothing (and many
other things as well) to sell.
Kyle described his first impression of PAP as “it looked like a bomb or hurricane went
through there but no one did anything about it . . . they just continued to live there.”
We arrived at Hospice St. Joseph shortly before 3 pm and met all three nuns there – Sister
Ann, Sister Maureen and Sister Kay. We then unloaded our entire luggage. The stuff for Pendus
was stored in a locked room down-stairs by the clinic, while the rest went to our rooms on the
third floor. Each room had a bathroom, complete with a toilet, sink and shower. (The middle
floor included the kitchen, dining room, chapel and the nuns’ quarters as well as a computer
room.) This building has been a hospice run by the Sisters of Tipton, Indiana for about 10 ½
years. Before that, the building had been a small hotel.
Since we arrived so late, we hurriedly left for a short tour of Port-au-Prince with Frantzy
Fortune as our driver. He first took us to Visitation House. We saw the mural of the 14 Haitian
Stations of the Cross behind the soccer field on the complex. Soon Ron Voss met us there and
gave us a brief history of the home and of Haiti. We each made a few purchases of Haitian
artwork and enjoyed a cold soda pop (mine was a fruit Champaign called Couronne) before
continuing our tour.
Since we wanted to be back at the Hospice for supper, the rest of our tour consisted of
driving by the Catholic Cathedral (there was a wedding going on inside – and this was a
Wednesday evening), the huge market in front of the Cathedral, the Episcopal Cathedral, the
Haitian White House, the national museum and Champsmars Park. We did not make very good
time on this excursion as traffic was often at a complete standstill.
Back at the Hospice, dinner was at 5:50 pm and consisted of Soup Joumou (a squash or
pumpkin soup and the national meal of Haiti representing its independence on January 1, 1804),
rice with bean sauce, salad and tomatoes with Culligan water, Coke, Teem and Prestige Beer to
drink. Afterward we sat on the third floor balcony overlooking a picturesque Port-au-Prince.
Several times the light flickered and went off, sending us looking for candles.
At 7:45 pm I got a phone call! It was from Sister Jackie (who was still in Gros Morne.) It
was bad news – our second big obstacle of the trip. There had been a lot of rain in the Pendus
area on Tuesday and today, making the road impossible to travel on until it dried out. This meant
we weren’t going to make it to Pendus on Thursday as planned. It had to quit raining and begin
to dry out before the roads would begin to be passable. We couldn’t come this far and not make
it to Pendus.
I told the others that this possible predicament gives all new meaning to the saying, “If
God is willing and the creek don’t rise!”
Many of us took showers, albeit cold ones. We continued to talk on the balcony by
candlelight until finally retiring at 10:30 pm. Kyle and John decided to sleep on cots on the
balcony to catch the comfortable night breeze.
Thursday, December 28, 2000
The night noises were new to most of us . . . roosters at all hours of the night, dogs
barking (Sharon said it reminded her of the dogs on 101 Dalmatians), people talking, music and
vehicles seemingly racing up and down the steep hill outside the Hospice. After a muchinterrupted night, I got up at 5:40 am. It is amazing watching Port-au-Prince awake in the
morning. From both the balcony and the wall along the street, we saw and heard the early
morning stirrings of a city coming to life.
Cha Cha arrived and had a Mass in the chapel for us at 7:30 am. Before Mass, we
presented Cha Cha with a chalice (donated by Mr. & Mrs. Koches) and a pair of pix (to carry
hosts in) from Helen, Doug, Jim Rush and John Willis. Today is the Feast of the Holy Innocents
and Cha Cha focused on the children of Haiti – while they need clothes, food and toys, what they
need the most is love.
Breakfast followed at 8:20 am and consisted of Sweet Mornings (a type of Corn Flakes),
carnation milk, bananas, oranges, cantaloupe, bread and apricot jelly and coffee. Since we
couldn’t get all the way to Pendus today, we weren’t in a great hurry to leave. However, we
didn’t get away until 10:50 am because one of the drivers, Tidan, was picking us a French nun in
PAP to take to Gros Morne with us. We loaded up in a four-wheel drive truck driven by Tidan
and a 12-passenger bus driven by Reynolds Joseph. John Velten, Fritzner and I started out on top
the luggage in the back of the truck (and soon was joined by Doug.) The rest rode in the bigger
van. Cha Cha said 16 Haitians could easily fit in there, although it was a very snug fit for the
eight that had to ride in it.
In my opinion there isn’t a better vantage point to view the Haitian countryside than from
the back of the pickup truck. The drive from PAP is beautiful as it approaches the edge of the
mountains and follows the Caribbean coast until you reach St. Marc. From there it heads inland.
We made a short stop (1:30 pm to 2 pm) at a Texaco gas station -- the only place with air
conditioning the whole time in Haiti. Cha Cha treated us to ham & cheese sandwiches, cookies,
Pringles and various soda pop. We got to St. Marc at 2:30 and left any semblance of pavement
(but not Highway #1) about 2:45. Kyle described the travel (including on Haiti’s good roads) as
“eight hours of driving across railroad tracks!” Jim Weiss got a good laugh when he added, “It’s
a good thing my hemorrhoids are in remission!”
Several times along the way, Cha Cha told those in the bus there was “an hour” left.
Several hours later, they were still traveling. This created the often-used phrase “Cha Cha time.”
We finally reached Gonaive and the Bishop’s house for a short break from 4:30-5 pm.
Our two vehicles were not together at this point. Next to the Bishop’s place is a power plant.
Doug saw two generators that were made in Lafayette! Ten minutes outside of Gonaive, we left
Highway #1 and began our journey on the “Highway to Heaven”. I called it that on our first trip
as it had many ups and downs, twists and turns, but when all is said and done, the destination is
worth all the effort of the trip. I hope everyone else agrees with me.
To describe this road as a “road” is often giving it more credence than it may deserve.
With the added “fun” of the mud from the rains, our adventure was beginning. I said many offroad enthusiasts would pay big money to take the ride we were getting! Shortly after dark, we
arrived at Gros Morne at 6:15 pm at Cha Cha’s rectory. There were enough beds for us all to stay
here tonight. We hadn’t been here five minutes and I got a phone call from Dr. Adel Yaacoub
wanting to know how we were getting along!
Dinner was at 6:45 pm by candlelight! We had macaroni and cheese, chicken, salad,
potatoes, carrots and beets, labour (pronounced “la-bwee” it is an oatmeal-type porridge), and
either Coke, Pepsi or 7-Up. After dinner, I presented Cha Cha with the new Rockport shoes
donated by Tom Mosser and delivered other gifts for him and Jackie from us, the Yaacoubs and
even Jackie’s sister-in-law.
Then Helen got her guitar out and we practiced our singing of “Na Mache Men Nan
Men” or “We Will Walk Hand-in-Hand.” Pretty soon we were singing Christmas carols and a
whole host of songs that she brought the words to. Sergo also played her guitar and did quite
well. Several others joined our group sing-along, including a young Haitian named Donald that
shared a song sheet with Kyle, Father Jean Baptist and Sister Vivian. The sing-along continued
by candle light until 9:15 pm. Several of us got cold showers before finally retiring at 10:30 pm.
Friday, December 29, 2000
The local roosters had a “call to arms” around 2 am. What noise! In addition there were
the usual dogs, cars, snoring and a 4:30 am loud speaker broadcasting something for all to hear.
We were up anyway at 5:30 am as the normal morning Mass at Our Lady of the Light was at 6
am. There were probably 100 people there besides our group. When the collection was taken,
Sister Vivian called it “the march of the widows’ might!” as each one had to walk to the altar to
deposit his/her donation (and most of them were apparently older widows.) We sang “Na Mache
Men Nan Men” at the end of Mass. As we concluded, several local dogs gathered at the entrance
to the church and began howling . . . I don’t know if they didn’t like our singing or our Kreoyl . .
. but we all had a good laugh.
As we left church, four young Haitian girls called “Jeff! Jeff!” I recognized them as
attendees at the wedding in Pendus last March. They were Nadine, Jose, Sabine and Fabiola.
Fabiola remembered I was a lawyer (which Kyle said in her English sounded more like liar.) She
also remembered Steve, Tim, Craig and Brian’s names from the March trip. I added Margo and
Jane but she couldn’t remember any names but the men’s. When Sharon had herself introduced
to her as my wife, Fabiola gave a disgusted look. We ended up singing the Hand-in-Hand song
again in the courtyard for the four girls and several older ladies (one of which wanted a copy of
the music and words.)
We ate breakfast at 7:30 am back at the rectory. It consisted of scrambled eggs and Spam,
bread rolls, oranges, hot chocolate, coffee and orange juice.
There is a basketball court outside the church as well. At one end the drop off is at least
two feet in one corner, while a big pile of stone sits at the other corner. After breakfast, Kyle and
John joined in the game. Without knowing each other’s language, the boys blended in well. All
the boys were quickly able to recognize each other’s talents and communicated approval with
slapping of hands or high-fives after a good play. It was great to watch. Jim and Jake Rush, John
Willis and I also each took turns in the game too.
While the basketball game was going on, Helen and Sharon began playing with the
younger children with a tennis ball. They soon had a crowd as well. Helen said that when she
first introduced herself to some children, they thought her last name was “Haitian.” She had to
correct them to say “Hession.”
Sister Jackie had a few errands to run, so several of us went with her while the boys still
played basketball. We stopped by the Hopital Alma Mater (Latin for Hospital of Our Mother),
and then drove to the homeless shelter that was currently under construction. We delivered two
machetes and some hoes and rakes for the workers. Jackie said some of the blankets we sent
down in the sea container would be used here when it opens soon. We then drove by John 23, the
new 12-room Montfortian school that was finished since March (replacing the one-room school
back at the church.) They were still working on drainage and fencing around it. One classroom is
for secretarial training (for girls all over the Gros Morne area). The electric typewriters we sent
are being used here. Next to the school is land the sisters’ acquired for a new convent. The view
of the surrounding mountains is spectacular – Gros Morne after all means Big Mountain.
When we returned to the church, the game was still going on, but Kyle was talking to a
local boy (without an interpreter). Kyle said the other boy didn’t know English but did know
Spanish, so they were conversing in Spanish!
All of us then went back to the Hospital (Jackie drove Doug and a few others to finish
assembling the pulmonary machine, while the rest of us walked the three blocks.) When those in
the vehicle arrived, they saw a baby that had died from diphtheria being carried out in a small
wooden casket. Jackie was upset, as the death was avoidable with a simple vaccination (which
didn’t occur either because of cost, distance to get to the hospital or superstition about
vaccinations.)
On the way we tried to buy some Haitian candy to show the boys the bartering process.
Once we bought a $1 worth, they began to give it away to the ever-present entourage that
followed us.
At the Hospital we saw the EKG machines and the autoclave that Dr. Yaacoub got
donated to go with the sea container. An American missionary girl named Krista gave us all a
tour through the various sections of the hospital.
We finally packed and left Gros Morne at 11:45 am. Hopefully another half day of sun
and breeze will allow the road to be passable. The roads were steep, treacherous and indeed
muddy in spots and both vehicles fish-tailed through the worst places. Several times we crossed a
creek or river by simply driving down one side of the bank and up the other. My vehicle driven
by Tidan was in the lead and arrived at Pendus about 1:20 pm.
The other vehicle wasn’t so lucky. First it had a flat tire. Doug said they were on an
incline and had to put rocks under the other three tires to keep it from rolling backward while
they changed the tire. Then they ended up getting stuck in the mud and everyone had to get out
and push (getting muddy in the process.) Tidan came back and picked up some the passengers
from the second truck, while the rest of them ended up walking the last part to Pendus. They
arrived 20-30 minutes or so behind us.
As we approached Pendus, several young children came running out of the roadside
yelling, “Blan! Blan! Blan!” I thought Fritzner would wet himself, as he laughed so hard. He said
they were saying, “The whites are coming! The whites are coming!” It was said with excitement
and not as a derogatory remark. As we got even closer, several of the children began calling,
“Jeff! Jeff!” Boy did that make me feel great that they remembered me.
Pendus is a relatively quiet little village located at the end of any drivable road (assuming
what I previously described was either drivable or a road!) in the north central mountains of
Haiti. The entire area that comprises Pendus actually has nearly 19,000 people – spread out all
over the mountainsides from Massacre (pronounced “Ma-sak”) to Savanne Carre and all in
between.
The guesthouse that we stayed in at St. Joseph was built with some of the first money
sent by St. Mary. It is has a concrete floor and concrete block sides and a concrete roof. It
consists of four bedrooms (two of which are accessible through one exterior door) and a
bathroom (which has a gravity fed shower, toilet and sink – but not safe drinking water.) The
gravity fed system is simply three 55-gallon drums of water on the roof that are filled with
rainwater or water carried up from the river and hand pumped to the top of the roof. There is a
patio courtyard between the guesthouse and the kitchen and rectory.
Even before the second vehicle arrived, I was playing a game of “O-O-Ski-Watt-EnTani” with the children. Helen kept teasing me, calling it “Obi Wan Kanobi.” This was a popular
game last March. I didn’t have to reteach it at all as they all remembered how to play.
Madam Marcel Garcon served lunch at 2:15 pm in the dining room below the rectory. We
ate chicken, beets-carrots-peas, potatoes, rice, bananas, bread, Haitian grapefruit jelly, water,
cokes and Prestige Beer.
Afterward Kyle and John wanted to climb the large hill overlooking the St. Joseph
compound. I asked Doug and John Willis to go. Since they got their shoes muddy on the way up
to Pendus, they had taken them off and placed them outside their room. Neither could find his
shoes to go on this hike (and Doug did not have another pair of shoes with him.) After a moment
of panic, they finally found them – Madam Garcon already had them cleaned and had them
drying!!
I had Sergo ask one young boy if he knew how to get to the top of that hill. He said he
did so I gave him three suckers and off we went. We soon had several boys hiking with us. The
view from the top was spectacular in all directions. We waved down to the others at St. Joseph,
saw the Pendus River snake around the village, saw a nice soccer field down-stream a short
distance and saw animals grazing, even that high in the mountain. I got out my binoculars and
the young Haitian boys loved looking through them.
One of the boys at the top with us wore a green t-shirt with “Yes I Can” written on the
front. His name was Benedict. John Willis said he was never going to be able to keep all the
names straight. I told him, “Don’t worry, he’ll be wearing the same shirt all week (and he was!)”.
Later Cha Cha told Sharon and I that Benedict needs a sponsor for his schooling even though he
goes to a school other than St. Joseph (His mother has died. Since his dad remarried, Benedict
now lives with his grandmother.) Sharon and I said we would sponsor him.
We met and visited with Jean Claude, the sacristan Francois, his son Jackson (who is in
his first year of seminary) and several others. We also played more games with the children. The
two bank boards, rims and nets have been put up in the courtyard in front of the school. The rims
are only 8 1/2 feet high and the court is rocky and slanted on an incline. However, there usually
seemed to be someone shooting baskets.
Many times throughout our stay, we would play games and sing songs with the children.
Helen and Sharon taught them the Hokey Pokey and other songs. Once Jim Rush got a limbo
game started much to everyone’s enjoyment.
Sharon had brought a bunch of beads and accessories to make necklaces and bracelets.
She was quickly inundated with children wanting to participate. She said it was like a swarm of
bees. Several of us began to help her pass these out in the patio area and help the kids put them
together. Afterward, Sharon got out the bottles of bubbles that she brought. We all enjoyed
watching the children chase the bubbles in the air. Even Cha Cha blew a few bubbles.
Art Taylor had donated a Polaroid camera (to leave in Pendus for future groups to use too) and
nine rolls of film. The Rushes also had brought one with lots of film too. Throughout the
weekend, Jake, John and Kyle took pictures of the Pendus children – and Fritzner and Sergo –
(as all ages truly enjoyed this) and gave them to the kids to keep.
One funny story came about when Jim Rush and Jim Weiss were introducing themselves
to some of the local people. Rush said, “My name is Jim.” They responded, “Ah, Jim (with the
soft “J” French sound). Weiss then said, “My name is Jim as well.” They responded, “Ah,
Jimaswell (as if it were one word).” Needless to say, he was called Jimaswell the rest of the trip.
There was a rosary service about 6:30 pm in the church. We took turns doing a decade in
Kreoyl then in English. I asked Cha Cha what his favorite verse in the Bible was – and he said
Isaiah 45:14-16 – it is about the Lord never forgetting us because he has written our names upon
the palm of his hand.
Dinner was at 7:45 pm. We had chicken soup, labour, bananas, bread, grapefruit jelly,
coke and Prestige.
There were many improvements that I noticed that have occurred since I last visited in
March:
1. The school addition was finished and the whole school was painted.
2. The 5000-watt generator we sent in the sea container was in use and a 10’ x 10’
building was built around it for protection. It also sat on a concrete slab. It sat a few feet past the
end of the bathroom of the guesthouse.
3. New wiring was in place running to the rectory, guesthouse, dispensary and church
from the new generator.
4. A 12’ x 24’ building sat behind the generator building. It was divided into two 12’ x
12’ rooms (the floors were not yet finished.) The right hand side is to be a kitchen for the school
and the left hand side a warehouse for the church (to house such things as we may send in future
sea containers!)
5. The outhouse was now completed and had doors on each stall! (Something Steve
Klinker can truly appreciate!)
6. The two basketball goals are up and a grass “court” in use.
7. The concrete block fence was now totally completed surrounding the entire
church/school area.
8. There were decorative, painted iron coverings for each window in the guesthouse.
I’m sure there were other improvements that I did not notice as well . . . and this does not
include all the evidences of the sea container contents being put to good use!
After more games with the children, talking around the patio area and taking turns
getting a cold shower, we all went to bed by 11:00 pm.
Saturday, December 30, 2000
The night noises had plenty of cows, birds and roosters, along with some early morning
chanting (which we figured to be voodoo). The church bells also rang at 6 am for the “Prayer of
the Angeles” They also rang each day at noon and 6 pm for the prayer as well. The morning was
cloudy and showed signs of rain in the mountains.
As always there were children hanging around for our attention even before breakfast,
which was served at 7:15 am. Again we had scrambled eggs and Spam (it comes in a can so it’s
easy to use up here), bread and grapefruit jelly, oranges, bananas, coffee and lemonade. As to the
use of Spam in Haiti, Sister Jackie said, “It is something that keeps. World War II has nothing on
us!”
Shortly after eight o’clock, we left for our hike to Massacre. We were lucky it was
overcast as it made it more comfortable for the morning-long climb up the mountain. Due to the
recent rains, the river that we had to cross 4-5 times was up considerable from March. In March,
you could simply walk from stone to stone to cross. Now the water was at least knee deep. You
either waded through it with shoes on, took off your shoes and waded across, or were carried
across (usually by one of the Haitian young men.)
About half the way up, Helen decided it was too steep and slick (due to the mud) for her
comfort. So Cha Cha had her and Fritzner stay at a nearby home of a local woman. Helen also
met her husband and children. The husband makes wood coffins (there were two rooms in the
house they couldn’t see since they were for the dead. Thank goodness; there were no dead bodies
there when they were visiting.) They talked, played games and sang songs. They also learned
that the woman practices voodoo and has a “voodoo chicken” – which was bigger and fatter than
the normal ones. Helen later sent her a thank you gift for her hospitality.
Sharon was completely enjoying this hike until half way up when she got a migraine
headache. It actually caused her to vomit a couple times. Sister Jackie massaged her neck and
helped ease the pain.
While within sight (and earshot) of Massacre, we saw the foundation and beginning of
the back wall of the new school/church that St. Mary is funding for Massacre. We arrived at this
school at 10:40 am. Laid out in an “L” shape, there are four classrooms and a larger room for the
church (which will also double as another two classrooms). All the foundation was complete,
which is impressive since we didn’t send the first money down until August, and October and
November are the rainy months. The part of the back wall of the church section was also started.
There were many piles of sand and stone collected for further construction.
After a twenty minute stop at the new construction, we finished the last 10-minutes to
Massacre. The drums and singing from the school got louder as we approached. Sharon said
when she heard the drums and music it was as if angels carried her the rest of the way. Kyle,
John and Sergo were the first to reach the school and be welcomed in. We were all a little tearyeyed by the wonderful reception we received.
During a formal welcome, the principle compared our effort to climb up to Massacre to
Jesus “who also was not afraid to climb a mountain!” After more greetings by the principal, Cha
Cha and Amotess (the school’s founder), we sang the Solidarity Song for them. I also presented
Amotess a Kreoyl Bible and a pair of moccasins (made by Carol Rollet in Lafayette). He suffers
from elephantiasis and his right foot is much larger than his left. The moccasins were the best
way make a shoe that could fit based on the measurements we took last March.
Cha Cha followed with a Mass in the open-air chapel. Following Mass we presented each
of the children and teachers there with a rosary (made by Candy Reed’s class at CC), a toy
(many of which were McDonald’s hand puppets) and a piece of candy. Cha Cha enjoyed playing
with the puppets.
By now, Kyle was getting hungry so he, Sergo and Lionel (a local Pendus boy) headed
back ahead of the rest of us. On their way back down, they picked up Helen and Fritzner and
took them to Pendus as well.
The teachers gave each of us a coconut to eat (both the juice and the coconut meat.) It
was good. We then went to Amotess’ house and he tried on the moccasins. They fit perfectly. I
explained through Cha Cha that these were durable as they were made of deer and elk but they
didn’t have a Kreoyl word for either of them.
On the walk back, we stopped at the storage area for the school construction. There were
many pieces of lumber and concrete bags – both of which are expensive to buy and to haul up
the mountain. For example, a 16’ 2 x 4 costs $70 Haitian (about $17 US); a 16’ 1 x 12 is $117
Haitian (about $30 US) and a 16’ 1 x 4 is $35 Haitian (about $12 US). One bag of cement costs
$30 Haitian ($7.50 US) plus $7 Haitian (almost $2) to haul it up the mountain. It’ll take about
100 bags of cement and about 3,000 blocks in the construction. Cha Cha also pays the local
people for each pile of sand and stone gathered as well as 2 Goudes (about 10-cents) to make
each block. A paid construction person oversees all the work.
The walk back was not eventful. However, the cool water felt very refreshing each time
we had to cross the river on the way back to Pendus. We got back at 3:05 pm. In the village just
before reaching the church, I met Benedict’s grandmother, father and two sisters (Ken was his
cousin!). His grandmother says he “only wants to stay at the church while we are here.”
A late lunch was at 3:20 pm, consisting of chicken and goat meat, rice, bread, grapefruit
jelly and potatoes.
Afterward, Jim Rush attempted to show the Haitian boys how to play football American
style. We had a laugh or two teaching them to hike the ball! Some of them could run and catch.
Meanwhile, several of the girls were doing songs and chants in a circle. I got a tape of some of
the singing.
At 5 pm a group of community leaders, including a pastor and others not from St. Joseph,
met for two hours with me, Sharon, John Willis, Doug, Cha Cha and Sister Jackie in one of the
school’s classrooms. I gave a history and purpose of Habitat for Humanity and answered many
questions they had. Jackie said a lot of groundwork was needed to set the stage for a Habitat
chapter in Pendus. For example, the people there assume anything coming from the “whites” is
free. Since a Habitat home is paid for (albeit interest free over a period of time), it could create a
lot of jealousy if perceived by the community to be a “gift”. Also the concept of the community
helping each other to build a house is foreign as everyone there is truly poor and needy (at least
materially . . . not spiritually!) Everyone there agreed the meeting went well and the potential is
great for Habitat. However, more community consensus-building is needed. Doug Taylor, the
Habitat director from Lafayette is scheduled to meet Jackie in Pendus on January 9-11, 2001
(after he and others from Lafayette finish working on building a church elsewhere in Haiti.)
Hopefully the seed is planted . . . and will fall on fertile soil and not among the cactus and
thorns!
While we were meeting, a lot of great singing was heard coming from the patio area of
the rectory-guesthouse. Helen, both Jims, Kyle, John, and Jake were having a regular sing-along
covering a wide-range of songs (such as Proud Mary etc.) The enthusiasm of all involved was
obvious from the volume of the singing. Unfortunately they were done singing by the time our
meeting wound up so we missed out on that fun. However, the bongos were brought out and
some dancing began which we got to be part of. Jim Rush was clearly the hit of the evening. I
told him later that I hoped he hadn’t become engaged with any Haitian women during any of the
ritual dancing! (I heard Jake relayed this to Loretta when they got home!)
Dinner came late at 7:50 pm. We had Bouyon (a potato, carrot and goat soup), labour,
bread, bananas, coke and Prestige beer.
Afterward, Cha Cha and Sister Jackie took our group back to the classroom for a
candlelight reflection on the readings from tomorrow’s Mass. Those readings were Sirach 3:2-6,
12-14; Psalm 128; Colossians 3:12-21; and Luke 2:41-52. This was done partly so we’d know
the Sunday readings when they were being read in Kreoyl. We also shared our reflections of the
visit thus far. What a peaceful feeling we had when this was over at 10 pm.
After sitting around the patio area talking some more and waiting to take turns in the
shower, we finally all go to bed shortly after 11 pm.
Sunday, December 31, 2000
Again chanting was heard at 4:30 am, along with roosters, cows and the 6 am church
bells. Needless to say, we were up by 6:30.
Before breakfast, Doug and I talked with Cha Cha about needs for the school and church.
They would like to get pews that had backs on them for the church. We also told him about Brian
Roark’s idea about painting the apostles’ pictures in church (like in our newly renovated
Cathedral at St. Mary.) Cha Cha was so excited he wanted to know if it could be done BEFORE
our next group visited in March! They could also use a manger scene as the one they now use
has a larger Joseph holding a boy Jesus, a Jesus in a manger and a much smaller-scaled Mary
with her head taped back on after being broken (all of which sits on top of one of the boxes we
sent with the sea container.) Stations of the Cross would be another good idea for the church, as
they do not have any at this time.
For the school, they could use teacher’s desks and cabinets to store things. After desks for
Massacre are completed, they could use desks here too. We also noticed that there are no crosses
or crucifix in any of the classes.
Throughout the visit we teased, Cha Cha that there were three languages spoken in
Pendus . . . Kreoyl, English and Cha Cha! In addition we always teased them about “Cha Cha
time” since a precise start was the exception rather than the rule to most things. When I was here
in March, I taught him the phrase “Youbetcha (meaning Oui! Oui! Oui! with feeling)” which was
used a lot this time as well. We also taught him “You snooze, you lose!” which he was finally
putting to good use when we left. (Jackie had to do a little more interpretation to explain that
one!)
Breakfast was at 8 am. We ate spaghetti, oranges, bananas, coffee, bread and grapefruit
jelly.
An alternating Kreoyl-English rosary was said in church at 9:30 before the 10 am Mass.
The church was over half full (but not as much as normal since the rains were keeping the people
from at least two chapels from walking to church.) Still the joyous sound from the ones present
and singing was inspiring. After the homily by Cha Cha, he had all of us stand in front to be
introduced. Since the theme of the Mass was the Holy Family, he compared Sharon, Kyle and I
to the Holy Family. He also had some palms blessed and presented them to me to give to St.
Mary to be burned and used on Ash Wednesday. He then had me address the parishioners on
behalf of all of St. Mary. Obviously Sister Jackie did the interpreting for the congregation. After
Mass, Helen sang the “Holy Family Hymn” which was written by her uncle, a priest from Fort
Wayne. The people picked up the words quickly and began to sing along in English as she sang
it a second time. Mass was not over until 11:30.
Afterward Helen and Sharon had brought make up for the Haitian girls. They spent quite
a while putting blush, lipstick and fingernail polish on the girls and then letting them see
themselves in a mirror Sharon had.
Today was a big market day in Pendus since tomorrow (Jan. 1) was a big feast day in
Haiti (their Independence Day) followed by another feast on Jan.2 similar to our Thanksgiving
Day. Both days revolve around lots of food and family, so the market had lots of food to sell.
Kyle and John got pictures of a cow that had been slaughtered in the market for the meat. There
was also another cow tethered on a rope, ready to be slaughtered in case the first one was
completely sold. John also bought some sandals for what he thought was $1. However, the
person insisted on another dollar and John paid it to avoid any hassle.
Cha Cha and I walked to Benedict’s house and met his sisters Moselene (age 10), Lense
(age 10), Roseline (age 8), Pegi (age 6), his father Ruben and his six-month-old son from his new
marriage. In addition, Ken (whom I had met in March as well) was there and said he was a
cousin to Benedict.
John Willis went to visit a fourteen-year old girl named Carmen. He and Joanne will be
sponsoring her for school. He also met her mother named Madam Ceroy and her sisters Cecile
(age 16) and Christine (age 10). John had met Carmen and her father the night before. Carmen
also has a brother Jean Humain (age 20) and a sister Adline (age 18).
Cha Cha also introduced Doug to a sixteen-year-old boy named Simeon Bericles. He is in
high school Gros Morne. His father has abandoned the family and they are raised by their mother
(whom Doug met later that day). He has several brothers and sisters, but Doug was not sure how
many or how old they were because no translator was available at the time the two met. Doug
and Kim are going to sponsor Simeon. Doug also got a couple pictures with Simeon.
Several of us also visited the homes of deOnvil Saintville and Jean Claude Alexis.
DeOnvil’s home is a thatched-roof, dirt floor home that measures about 15-foot by 25-foot. It is
his home along with his mother and seven children (his wife died in November, 1999.) There are
only two rooms inside. Other than a walkway through, there is no space except for the beds, one
of which had a blanket from the sea container on it. He has an old, iron forge in front that he
works along with a small patch of crops.
Jean Claude’s home sits beautifully behind the St. Joseph complex, overlooking the
Pendus River yet still nestled among the mountains all around. Since he now works as caretaker
for the church, he has completely replaced the old, rusted, leaky roof with a new one (since I was
here in March). His home is a little larger (probably 25-foot by 25-foot) as it had four total rooms
in it and a dirt floor. The exterior walls are not watertight and still need attention. He had a stickbuilt cooking room several yards behind his house along with several plants growing for food on
his parcel. There were also several animals – pig, donkey, and chickens – around.
Sharon brought paper and crayons for the children. The school principal opened one
room and it soon was filled with children drawing pictures for Sharon to take back to St. Mary.
Helen, Doug, John, John and Kyle also helped in this distribution process. Sharon also had a
good, long talk with the principal about education, children and teaching.
Back at the church, preparations were being made for the children’s benediction (which
was supposed to be last Thursday on the Holy Innocents Day but was postponed when we
couldn’t get to Pendus that day.) Kyle, John and Jake – with help from the rest of us – set out the
rest of the toys, children’s clothes, candy and balloons we brought on three 16-foot benches in
front of the church. The benediction began with a welcome read by one of the young boys (I
attached a copy of it and its translation at the end of this article.) Then several girls sang songs,
as did Benedict and Serge. Jake then read a welcome on behalf of all children of St. Mary.
After the blessing, the children came up one-by-one and picked out one toy and piece of
clothing along with a piece of candy and a balloon. When the ceremony started there were 100120 children there. As the ceremony continued, more and more children began to arrive (largely
due to the distance many had to walk to get there) until probably 300 were there. We had to scale
back the gifts to either a toy or piece of clothing along with a piece of candy and a balloon. Cha
Cha said the children of Pendus had never had such a Christmas. The benediction was not over
until 6:30. There were some families that didn’t make it until later, but we still had some toys
and candy left to give to them.
During the benediction, an older lady came in wearing a bright blue dress. Jackie said she
was one of the poorest in Pendus, but she came to show off the dress she had received from the
sea container. She sat right next to me throughout the whole service. Sharon also saw another
lady wearing a dress she had donated as well. Hard telling how many other clothes were from the
sea container as well but we didn’t recognize them.
There was a Midnight Mass scheduled for later for the feast day. Since it was dark and
drizzling, many people simply stayed in the church to wait for the later service to begin (After
all, where else could they go and what else could they do? Only the church had any electricity
and lights.)
We ate supper at 7:10 and had plantains (fried bananas), bananas, chicken, labour, french
fries (much to the delight of Fritzner and Kyle), toast, juice (it needed lots of sugar), coffee, coke
and beer. Afterward, we stayed in the dining room and talked with Cha Cha and Jackie about the
trip and how to improve it as well the needs of the church. We talked about the Port-au-Prince
airport experience, the difficulty of the drive to Pendus and the Massacre hike, learning the
language in advance and being prepared for the “candy” experience the first time we try to give
something out in public.
On the positive side we talked about bringing toys, clothes and candy for the kids (that no
matter how much you brought, there was always a need for more, but that shouldn’t be a reason
to not bring those things.); bringing more young people with us (as Kyle, John and Jake were a
hit with the children . . . not to mention that they had a great time as well); and about the ideal
group size being 8-12 with some flexibility in different situations.
While it often is difficult to explain to others what exactly we do in Pendus, after these
few short days it was readily apparent that building relationships is by far and away the most
important thing we can do and in fact do accomplish on such a trip.
Jackie said the needs of St. Joseph are the same as when they last wrote to us (after our
March visit), meaning finishing the school at Massacre, redoing the dispensary at St. Joseph,
getting a salary for Madam Garcon and possibly enhancing the teachers as well. We also touched
upon such things as Stations of the Cross, pews and a manger scene for the church. Most all the
time we were talking in the dining area, we could hear wonderfully joyous singing coming from
the church from the many who were biding their time until Midnight Mass.
Before we finished our discussion, Madam Garcon brought us some popcorn (no salt or
butter), while Cha Cha opened a bottle of Champaign for a toast to our sister church relationship.
Before church, Kyle asked if he could give something to his guide, Lionel. I had one
long-sleeved Macker shirt left that I’d worn this week. He and I gave it to him and thanked him
again.
We went into the church for Midnight Mass shortly after 11 pm. Another rosary service
was held. About 11:40 everyone in the whole church knelt on the concrete floor and stayed there
in prayer until after midnight. I know it was the first time I ever ushered in a new year on my
knees. It was a humbling experience.
Benedict sat in the pew directly behind Sharon and me. About half way through Mass I
noticed him asleep on the pew. By the end of Mass he was awake again. When Mass was over
we both gave him a hug. The more he tried to fight back the tears, the more it made both of us
cry. He followed us to the patio area (by now it’s after 1:30 am) and stood around in the drizzle.
Seeing him shiver, I got one of my blankets and wrapped it around him and gave it to him to
keep.
It’s going to be a short night, as we didn’t get to bed until 2 am.
Monday, January 1, 2001
Bon Ane! Happy New Year! We were supposed to be up at 6 am so we could leave by 7
am. I saw Jackie at 5:45 and said “Bonswa.” She said, “You mean Bonjou!” I said that it still
seemed like night to me!
It had been raining for about an hour when I got up. I was worrying about the mud for the
ride home. Tidan and the other driver were late getting to Pendus, so we all didn’t have to get up
quit as early as originally planned.
We had breakfast at 7:15. We ate Soup Joumou (the traditional New Year’s meal),
scramble eggs with Spam, bread, jelly, bananas, coffee, water and juice.
Lionel was one of many there to see us off. He gave Kyle the Polaroid picture of Kyle
and him that he had received earlier in our stay. It was all he had to give and it was a way for
Kyle to remember him.
As usual, Jean Claude was up early and working sweeping the patio. He had on a purple
“Onekama, Portage Lake” sweatshirt – that Sharon had donated as part of the sea container. He
had no idea where it came from and we were very surprised to see him wearing it!
In anticipation of a wet and muddy ride home on top the back of a truck, I decided to
change into my sandals, swim suit and t-shirt (it was raining but still warm enough that I wasn’t
cold dressed like that.) When I changed, I left my bag in my room (it now had all my clothes,
wallet, shaving kit and film in it). By the time the second truck arrived at 8 am, I was out playing
“Oh Oh” with the children in the rain.
As soon as the last truck arrived, we were loaded up at once and ready to go. I asked Kyle
to check the rooms one last time. He said that they were already locked (by Madam Garcon, who
else). So we took off. As we pulled away, Benedict was standing on the hill to the side of the
road crying.
One hour into the wet ride, we had our first flat tire of the ride home. In the process of
getting it changed, I realized my bag was still back at Pendus. Since my passport, plane tickets
and some cash was in the safe back at the hospice in PAP, we did not go back to get it (they
promised to get it to me somehow . . . remember Doug Taylor is suppose to be visiting Pendus
about Jan. 9-11) As I road to PAP, I had an uneasy feeling I’d be wearing my sandals and swim
suit through the airports home too. Kyle said, “Don’t worry Dad. You fit right in now. You have
as much as the Haitians do!”
We stopped at Grepin (pronounced “Gray Pay”) and looked at the warehouse where the
desks from the sea container were being stored. They were all there. We also saw a couple boxes
of clothes that hadn’t yet be disbursed. One such box contained a bunch of Gus Macker shirts
that I had donated. Cha Cha let me have one so I could wear a clean, dry one home (which I did
end up wearing home.)
At Gros Morne, our second truck was emptied back into the 12-passenger van. That
driver had to go back to Pendus for Madam Garcon and promised to look for my stuff. We also
picked up Diefson (pronounced “Jeff”) Joseph and his mother Petitlia. They are heading to
Indianapolis for heart surgery for Jeff. He is a sweet, quiet boy. They will be staying with Molly
Brady and her parents in Indy. We will help them get to Miami (we are all on American Air to
Miami. They stay on American the rest of the way home while we switch to TWA).
Cha Cha could not go any further as he had a retreat to go to this week. He presented
each of us with a gift – a hand-made and hand-stitched Haitian shirt for each guy (except me
since I got one last March), a similar styled skirt and some hand-stitched napkins for Helen and
Sharon, a table cloth for Sharon and I and an alter cloth to give to St. Mary Cathedral. Final
good-byes were said to Cha Cha and we were back on the road. By now the rain had stopped,
although it was still overcast.
As we left Gros Morne, our two vehicles got separated as Tidan’s truck had a bad
celanoid. Within two minutes, someone stopped. Tidan told them something and within 10
minutes came back with what he need to fix it (his shop is located in Gros Morne). We also went
back to Jackie’s house to pick up some mail that was forgotten. Add in another flat tire later and
we seemed to be well behind the other vehicle. Tidan gave it his best effort to catch up on these
roads, so John Willis, Doug and I had a great ride home in the back of the truck.
Just before we reached the bishop’s house in Gonaive, Doug stopped to take a picture of
the two Cat generators made in Lafayette he saw on the way up.
At the bishop’s house, Tidan saw Jean Mary and some others drive by in another of his
trucks. He flagged them down and made them change with us so we wouldn’t have any more
trouble the rest of the way to PAP (and we didn’t). We also drove past the Cathedral and statue
in front of it on the way out of town.
We stopped at the same Texaco gas station on the way back and shortly thereafter saw
our other van stopped along side the road with everyone out for a swim in the Caribbean. We
stopped and wasted no time in getting in too. It was very rocky on the bottom, but felt great. We
felt refreshed for the rest of the ride home.
The ride through PAP just after sunset was interesting from the back of the pickup truck .
. . especially since one week ago we probably wouldn’t have done that! We arrived at the
Hospice St. Joseph about 6:15. Sergo had to leave once we got back to go see his family and
could stay for dinner with us. So we all said good-bye in the parking lot to Sergo.
They were waiting supper for us since they knew we were coming. I asked Sister Kay if I
could check the Internet on their computer to see the Purdue-Washington Rose Bowl score. She
said to check with Sister Ann in the computer room. We found her there . . . WATCHING the
Rose Bowl game. It was 17-17 midway through the third quarter. After we had supper (as others
were waiting on us to eat), Purdue was behind and eventually lost 34-24. But we did get to see
some of it!
A shower, even a cold one, felt great. Doug loaned me some underwear and Jim Rush
some long pants and socks. Together with my Macker shirt from Grepin, I was set to head home
tomorrow. I did get a call from Cha Cha about 9 pm telling me my bag with wallet and film was
with him in Gros Morne and that they’d get it to me somehow (hopefully through Doug Taylor.)
We sat around on the balcony and talked until nearly 11 pm. Once again, Kyle slept on the
balcony, this time on one of the couch-type chairs. I had one new “night noise” tonight. At
midnight, Sister Ann knocked on my door and said I had a phone call! It was Adel Yaacoub
calling to make sure all was OK!
Tuesday, January 2, 2001
We were up by 6 am, had a short prayer break in the chapel at 7:20 and ate breakfast at
7:30. We had a type of corn flakes and Apple Jacks (left over from the stash Kyle had brought to
Haiti to eat), carnation milk, bananas, oranges, bread and jelly, coffee and water.
After one last group photo, we were loaded and heading to the airport by 8:20. Unloading
at the airport was so much easier, since we only had three bags to check and one of them was
little Jeff and his mother’s. When we reached the airport, Fritzner had to leave as the second
driver had offered to take him home (which was a lot safer for him since he now had a bigger
suitcase with a lot of stuff to take home that had been given to him by our group.)
Once inside, the “Red Caps” allowed our group to bypass the line to get checked in at the
American Air window. I had everyone’s ticket and passport and the check-in went smoothly.
After that, we each paid our exit fees ($30 American and $2 Haitian). At this point, we had to say
our final good-byes to Jackie.
After a short stop for duty-free Haitian rum and a few other things, we boarded American
Air flight #1646 and took off nearly on time at 11:50 am. Lunch was served on this leg of the
trip. Guess what? It was chicken and rice. We landed in Miami about 1:40 pm. There was
supposed to be someone with a wheelchair to help Jeff and his mom. They walked right past the
wheelchair. While we went back to get it, Kyle took Jeff on his first escalator ride (and back
down the other stairs.) I loved the look on his face. All his mother could say when she got off the
plane was “Big!”
We had to go through separate customs. Five of us stayed with our luggage and the other
five finally met up with Jeff and his mom in line at their gate (they were going on American to
Chicago O’Hare and then on to Indianapolis.) She seemed relieved to see us when we got there,
as they did not speak any English. We made sure they got on board (a 3:22 pm flight). We called
Annette Crane to see if see could help things go smoother in Chicago. They really didn’t as the
flight got to Chicago too late to make the scheduled connection to Indy. American was going to
simply put them up for the night. Molly’s Dad called and told them they didn’t speak English
and hadn’t flown before. Not until he said Jeff was here for heart surgery did they bump
someone else and get them to Indy by midnight (or 3 ½ hours later than originally scheduled.)
We still had some time to eat before our flight so we headed to Shapiro’s for pizza (that’s
what the boys wanted). However, they were out of sausage, so I took Kyle to Burger King for
hamburgers and a shake. Our flight # 505 on TWA left Miami at 5:30 pm and arrived in St.
Louis at 8:40 our time. Once we landed we realized out flight to Indy was delayed over one hour.
We waited, playing cards and watching some videos on Jim’s camcorder screen. We finally left
St. Louis at 11:25 Indy time on flight #100. We landed in Indy at 12:15.
When we got off the plane, my Mom and Dad, Father Bob, Brian Roark, Patty
CasaSanta, Naomi CasaSanta, and Eileen Hession Weiss greeted us. We began retelling our
many wonderful stories as we waited for the luggage to arrive. Father Bob rode home with our
van and we relived the week with him the whole way home.
After dropping Father Bob off at the rectory, we finally got home at 2:30 am. Believe it
or not, but I made it to work Wednesday by 8 am, as I had a busy day of collection cases.
Before we got home, everyone in our group said they wanted to go back – the best
testimony of the effect the trip had on each of us.