Nativity Parish, Food for the Poor: Working Miracles in Haiti

By Alfonso Aguilar
Special to the HERALD
(From the issue of 9/5/02)

Second of two parts

"I feel my faith has strengthened [...] and probably forever," said Kirk Taylor, one of the three teenagers in the Nativity Church delegation expressing his feelings after his second day in Haiti.

Jim McDaniel, a parishioner in his middle years, said almost the same thing a year ago upon his return from his first visit to this Caribbean country. "As a result of this powerful experience, my faith has been strengthened and I have found a new resolve to do what I can and to leverage my efforts with others, to help those in need," he wrote.

In a country where almost everyone is in great need, every place the pilgrims visited showed them a world that they may never have imagined they would see, touch and feel. As parishioner Andy Felschow said, "We saw the poor, the sick, the persecuted, the meek, the homeless, the hungry [...] all of the beatitudes."

During the four-day journey along with representatives of Food for the Poor, the delegation visited orphanages, schools, clinics, hospitals, homes for the elderly, centers for adults and children with AIDS, a home for mentally ill children, a leper hospital and miserable slums, home to wrenching poverty.

One of the first places visited was Our Lady of Hope School, an orphanage for boys run by The Daughters of Mary Congregation in Croix-de-Bouquets. Once abandoned, abused or imprisoned, more than 200 boys now are privileged. In Haiti only one in two children goes to school, and of those only 5 percent complete elementary school.

Our Lady of Hope's boys are happy, clean and well-fed. "Here we are. We are the children of Haiti. We are the hope of this country," they seemed to be saying when the nuns asked them to pose for a picture.

Sister Flore, the principal, explained that in addition to regular classes, all the boys learn a variety of trades such as carpentry, masonry, painting, ceramics, shoemaking and plumbing. The students' uniforms are made at the school and a variety of fruits and vegetables are also grown there.

With the double purpose of giving them a sense of family and targeting another group in great need, Food for the Poor built an adjacent village for the elderly, which was also visited by the delegation. Although the homes for the elderly are small, they offer them a sense of privacy. The homes each have a shaded porch and form a very attractive and colorful complex which, together with the well-maintained gardens, convey a tranquil feeling of community.

In addition, there is a healthy interaction between the two communities. The boys enjoy socializing with and helping their elderly neighbors, some of whom are physically impaired.

Rainbow House, a center for children with AIDS, is also pleasant, beautiful, colorful and extremely clean. Just outside this house, there is a very different world. Visitors noticed immediately that Rainbow House looks like a kindergarden with many happy boys and girls reading, running, laughing and playing as if unaware of their fatal illness.

Robert R. Pénete, a Haitian, and his wife, Madeline, returned from Canada to help the people of Haiti. "We just wanted to do something for Haiti. We didn't know exactly how or where," he said to the visitors. "It's a difficult job, but it is what we wanted and we love to do it," continued the executive director.

The delegation was very impressed by the Food for the Poor warehouse, which provides food for 2,500 families almost daily. "I had no idea that such gigantic bowls existed," said one parishioner, who along with many others volunteered to help serve the food to the hungry.

"The feeding program is just amazing," said Father Paul Wilderoteer of Food for the Poor.

Many more places made powerful impressions on the parishioners as they continued their travels: a home for mentally ill children, some of them infants left abandoned on the streets; a hospital for lepers, where parishioners celebrated Mass; and all the beautiful children in a school for orphaned girls, who welcomed them with songs and applause.

But nothing they saw prepared them for the impact of their visit to Cite Soleil, considered the worst slum in the Americas, home to half a million people surviving in inhumane conditions.

"No human being should have to live without water," said Father Richard Martin, pastor of the Church of the Nativity, who five years ago founded Project Starfish to help the Haitian people with food, housing and education.

Unfortunately, the tragic past of this country, the current political crisis and diminishing international aid guarantee that there will be no clean drinking water for all Haitian people. What is the future of Haiti?  

Copyright ©2002 Arlington Catholic Herald.  All rights reserved.