MaTante's tears

MaTante was sitting in the pews while the teens presented the various readings from the Jewish Scriptures. She watched as they enacted stories from Genesis, used a PowerPoint presentaion for the Creation Story, told the story of Jonas and the whale and engaged the children in the story of Noah and the ark. She cried. Like me she remembers these teens when they first came to us. Undisciplined, arrogant, ignorant of religious traditions, they are now acting like older brothers and helping teach the younger ones. This is probably one of the most rewarding moments of our time here!

A dramatization of the willing Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac. This was choreographed by Joey laMarre with the help of Stenly, Sam and Amos. 

Easter Service: the Blessing of the Fire. The Paschal Candle is lit from here and then processed into church.

TiRoro telling the story of Jonas and the whale using drawings he made. The kid's got talent.

Here are the newly baptized gathered around the food table. Fanfan put this together for them. Looks good, eh?  

Happy Easter

I came across this image on the web and thought it was very appropriate for us. We have adopted the butterfly as our symbol. The tree represents the wood of the cross. The resurrection is seen in the leaves and flowers as well as the butterfly which has gone through metamorphosis.

Good Friday

We have a special liturgy prepared for this afternoon. The teens have put together a Power Point presentation [would have been slides in the old days, remember?] with the help of Nick. It is a Haitian perspective on the Way of the Cross. They are not just dressing up the stations in Haitian garb/culture but are interpreting them. For example: Jesus is condemend to death is interpreted as a child facing his mother's death and what that means for him here in Haiti. They have needed a little assistance with this but have learned alot in the process. Thanks to Nick who allows this kind of creativity. May your Good Friday celebration refresh your sense of His enormous love for you. God bless.

This is a photo of Brother Clement Rondeau working in our carpenters' workshop. The man has been a blessing to us with his experience and practical skills. Brother Clement comes from Quebec and should be retired but he is having too much fun.

I promised you an update of the progress the boys are making on the second dorm and here it is. It will be ready shortly for a roof and then the doors, windows and cupboards. Not bad, eh? 

Dennis Noel doing some informal training with a few younger boys. The topic was the importance of working hard at whatever you do. Dennis wasn't always a good student but certainly is now. Will the younger guys learn from him or will they have to learn by doing?  

This is a photo of the men at Castel-Pere. From the left: Gilais, Raymond, Brother Clement, Jean-Marie, Jerome, Ti-Joe and Tanis.  

This is a good forum for me to introduce the members of our staff. This is Berthony Piard. He is the Director of Pwoje Espwa and my right hand man. Berthony first came to us six years ago when I needed an experienced driver. He has worked his way up to the position of director as he has proven time and again to be an asset to us. He is engaged to Camille and they plan a July wedding.

Here is a photo of Archange (Archangel in English) and Denise, affectionately known as MaTante. Archange is the youngest of four who came to us recently after their mother died. Every last relative refused to take them in due to poverty. With us they get to be together.

News items

• We have been in touch with Dick Martin of Global Peace Containers. He'll be coming to visit us next week when we will discuss the possibility of building a school out of shipping containers. I've seen some plans and they are impressive.

• The Rotary International Irrigation Project is underway. FINALLY !!!! Jude Noel, the agronomist who wrote the project and will execute it, says that in two months we should have the system up and running. Can't wait. This will be a huge asset to our agricultural efforts. Will keep you posted.

• The kids are out of school for Easter vacation. We have outings planned, arts and craft projects, choir practice, dance lessons and a sports program to keep them busy.
  

• Getting passports for Edmond and Elson has been a real nightmare. Found out this morning that there's another delay in Port-au-Prince for another stupid bureaucratic reason. Please say a prayer that this work out as we need those passports so Edmond and Elson can get proper treatment in the states.
  

I mentioned St.Paul earlier as one of the artisans who fabricates metal butterflies. He was disappointed not to see his photo on this blog so...  

St Joan of Arc Parish - Boca Raton, FL

Our friends at St Joan of Arc Parish in Boca Raton have been helping us for many years. Every quarter they send us a check to help with food expenses. We are deeply appreciative of this support. May the Lord bless and protect them for their charity. To Marguerita Comiskey and our friends at St Joan's, thank you very much.

Reynold and Beatrice Remarais

Reynold has been with me since the beginning in Camp-Perrin. He was in charge of the altar servers at Ste Anne in those days. He finished his schooling and has been working with us in various capacities over the years. He is now our bookkeeper and doing a fine job. For a while we thought he had a vocation to religious life but OBVIOUSLY God had something else in mind. Beatrice and Reynold were married at Sacred Heart Church here in town on Saturday evening. Join us in wishing them many long and happy years together. We pray that God bless them with all they need, with much joy and the strength to carry them in moments of hardship.

Mr and Mrs Reynold Remarais 

Arts and Crafts

One of the ways that people can make a living here is by making arts and crafts. We've started a small program and the boys are making bracelets and matching necklaces. They fashion crosses and hearts out of coconut shells which, believe me, is time-consuming and difficult. Honel and St. Paul create these colorful butterflies which our visitors seem to appreciate. I figured that out because we are always sold out of butterflies. Someday we'll be selling these on the net.

Honel, one of our artisans, painting butterflies. We have eight teens making bracelets, necklaces and metal work.  

When there are no toys available, you adapt. This is Thomas at the village. 

Ray and his team of teens have put the icing on the cake-- so to speak. Visitors all react the same way--WOW !!

Before and After

These are before and after photos of MaTante's House. Having all the buildings painted at Castel-Pere has really made a huge difference. My friend, Raymond Verreault, has been working hard and it shows. Merci beaucoup, Raymond.

New building at the village

As you can see from the photo below, we are moving right along with construction of the second Sixto house. In a week or two we'll be ready for the roof which we have to buy in Port-au-Prince. We have made a few changes...a good sign as it means we learn from our mistakes. We are also changing the roof style. This new Sixto will have one large roof so the courtyard will be covered. The little guys will move in here and be protected from the rain and sun. If affordable, we'll try and cement the courtyard so they can play with their cars out there.

Won't be long now we'll be ready for another 80 or so little guys.  

The children at Castel-Pere

Much is happening at the village. The kids are happy and healthy. Every last one of them love it. They can run and play and sing and scream. We have a small garden project. Four teams of 10 to 12 year olds are learning about agriculture by doing it. The teams get up around 5 AM and get their waterjugs. Some check out the weeds and pull them. All of them have promised me fresh produce for my table. What a gift! I mean that they will have something of their own to give away. Few and far apart are the opportunities for them to be able to give something to someone else.
The younger boys are just having fun and eating as many mangoes as they can. Our mango trees are doing us a great favor and the kids are getting extra vitamins. Our banana trees and papaya trees have started bearing fruit though we can't pluck them just yet. Raymond is deciding which other fruit tree to plant next. I'd like to see some sweet grapefruit trees. I can just imagine eating them for breakfast.

Herbie and Ti-Denis 

March in southern Haiti

Winter is defintely over. The heat and humidity have returned so every day is more and more like a sauna. Have started this blogspot so that you can keep up with what is happening here. I'll be adding news bits every now and then and will honestly try to keep you updated. Nick, our photographer, will assist me by providing current photos. Now all I have to do is figure out how to upload those photos!! Come back weekly for updates. Thanks for stopping by.