Habitat for Humanity and the DeLos Santos family

Concepcion De Los Santos was confined to a wheelchair since his two daughters were in grade school.  Since then he and his family have adapted their lives to meet his needs.  His eldest daughter, Glorialyz, and wife, Ileana, earned nursing certificates and can now assist Concepcion and support the family.  Concepcion does many of the family chores and supervises projects he can no longer carry out himself.

For five years the family waited for the landlord to make their apartment handicap accessible.  They were disappointed when their landlord constructed a ramp for the wrong apartment then refused to acknowledge the mistake and wouldn't allow them to move to the apartment with the newly built ramp.

So, for the first time Habitat for Humanity constructed a handicap accessible house.  In their new home the De Los Santos family can now adapt to their physical surroundings because they can now carry on as productive members of the community.  We have "made it!" says Glorialyz.

A Story of Grace and Mercy

by Deborah Little Wyman, priest for street ministry, Ecclesia ministries - Common Cathedral on the Boston Common

My ordination to the priesthood was not approved for a year and a half because "we aren't sure that street ministry is priesthood."  This was a long and difficult stretch. My attention was so focused on my survival that I hadn't given much thought to how I could exercise my priesthood in this strange disorderly setting.  Two months after my ordination, it was the morning of Christmas Eve.  I woke up knowing I needed to celebrate communion in South Station where I had been spending parts of days. In winter, that's where my people were.  I called my life long and sympathetic friend, Ann, to express my terror and excitement about the vision.  All I knew was I needed a prayer book, bread, grape juice, the Christmas gospel story, and a lot more confidence than I felt.  "You can't do that without chicken soup, can you?" were Ann's first words.  

The next thing I knew, we were meeting at 4 pm under the Arrivals and Departures Board and she was bringing not only soup but Boomer, the dog.  I had more confidence in Boomer's ability to create a safe sacred place in all that holiday crush than in anything we could offer.  But within a half hour, we were ten in a circle of chairs, huddled so we could hear each other.  I asked one of the men to read the gospel and then I sat listening to our hearts beating and waiting for guidance about what to do next. I heard a man across the circle take in a smoker's breath.  "My name is Joseph," he said.  "I wish I had been so kind to my wife when she took off with my friend."  He was weeping, and soon each one was sharing something that told me they were all completely present in the Christmas story.

I felt one of the greatest lessons about why Jesus sends us to the poor to learn about God. Folks who have nothing have God.  All the layers of complexity that we consider necessities in fact put distance between us and God.  I had no idea of creating an outdoor church that day, but I knew who the preachers were.  A year later we would be nearly 100 outdoors under the trees across from the Episcopal cathedral with Bishop Tom Shaw baptizing, confirming and celebrating our Eucharist.  Our folks would name our street church "common cathedral".  

Emily Dickinson

"Hope" is the thing with feathers -
That perches in the soul -
And sings the tune without the words -
And never stops - at all -

And sweetest-in the Gale-is heard-
And sore must be the storm-
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm-

I've heard it in the chillest land-
And on the strangest Sea-
Yet, never, in Extremity,
It asked a crumb-of Me.

Nelson Mandela - Long Walk to Freedom

No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion.  People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.  

Ministrations to the Sick (from the Book of Common Prayer)

In the Morning

This is another day, O Lord.  I know not what it will bring forth, but
make me ready, Lord, for whatever it may be.
If I am to stand up, help me to stand bravely.
If I am to sit still, help me to sit quietly.
If I am to lie low, help me to do it patiently.
And if I am to do nothing let me do it gallantly.
Make these words more than words, and give me the Spirit of Jesus.

Amen

Prayer Composed by Haiti Mission Team After Monday's First Mobile Clinic

Blessed be God, Ruler of the Universe, who has brought us all together in this place
Grant us clear sight, compassion, patience, strength, courage, and openness
So that we may give, persevere and do your will in this place
Through partnership with our Haitian Brothers and Sisters
To the glory of your name.

Amen

St Lukes San Lucas Blessing of the Renovation in Chelsea

On Saturday, February 21^st, between 7:30 am and 1 pm, many of us joined Father Edgar’s St Luke’s San Lucas’ community in Chelsea to celebrate the just completed beautiful kitchen, food pantry and parish hall renovations.  Many of us joined Father Edgar's parish in a special ceremonial blessing of the renovation led by Bishop Alan Gates. 

   

Chris Berns and Ralph Engstrom were the breakfast chefs under the fearless leadership of Claudia Bell and her husband Chip, with a hard working supporting team of Stephanie Terry, Betsy Walsh, and Linda Brown, serving over 70 guests. Then Carol Hollingshead, Barbara DeWolf, Celia Ceruolo, Kate Reynolds and Chris Joseph stepped up to help serve a roast beef lunch with butternut squash ravioli coated in a delicious butter, garlic and parmesan sauce, with julienned vegetables and rich chocolate frosted chocolate brownies or brown sugar crumble coffee cake for dessert serving over 100 guests.  In between breakfast and lunch, Bishop Gates led our partnering communities, in a beautiful worship service bringing us all together in mission.   

On Thursday March 12^th all are invited to gather at Epiphany to paint bowls to help the Chelsea Bowls organization raise both money and awareness in the fight to end hunger.    The local organization, Chelsea Hunger Network, is holding their event on April 25^th where the ceramic bowls will be displayed then given away.   The money raised will go directly to food pantries and community kitchens in Chelsea including St Lukes.  We hope you will join us on March 12^th at Epiphany from 7:30 – 9 pm for wine, conversation and painting!

Margaret Mead

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”

Haiti Church and Walking Tour

by Elizabeth Foot  

              

There is a carnival going on here and, I guess, just like the US, Saturdays are the night to go out. The music is amazing; exuberant and joyful. Those were the feelings I felt when I heard them going by my window, but at 4:45 am, I was not ready to return the love.

                But today I was. It’s Sunday: God’s Day. The Church service started at 7 am and despite efforts to be there on time, we walked over around 8 am. The service ended around 10:15 am—meaning it was hours longer than any service at Epiphany. For those hours, I struggled to understand before giving up completely; anyone sitting behind me would have seen me perk up at any words I knew and then watch me put my head down again when I realized I’d have to wait a while before I recognized anything else. Since my French speaking and hearing ability borders decent, I was left to enjoy the service with all senses save comprehension. [Parts of the service are in Creole; cognates may be few – Ed.] I saw how nicely everyone was dressed: the girls and women were in dresses and bows, boys and men in dress suits and ties. They swayed with the music of the chorale group—led by a women in a pale coral dress and voice that filled the room. The acolytes surrounded the altar and one of them spread incense. The toddlers were amazing, they just sat quietly with their mothers. If they didn’t sit still, and one boy was running around the whole time, it was outside.

                I learned after the service that the church was built on what used to be the school’s basketball court. I also saw where the old church used to be, but now it’s just cinder blocks and wire foundations; they are getting ready to rebuild it. The only room that remains from the earthquake five years ago is a small room off to the side, the sacristy. The room is in good shape but it looked lonely sitting at the top of some steps and surrounded by grass covering the old ruins. As Carol Hokana said “Those cinder blocks represent hope. They’re so simple, but so strong.” I want to thank Carol for expressing what seems so true.

                As a high school student, I am lucky enough to say this culture is a shock to me. Yesterday, on our way from Port-Au-Prince to Leogane, we saw things you only see in movies: pigs in the street, piles of burning trash, policemen patrolling streets with intimidating guns. Yet the people seem hopeful, just as they were at the church today. It’s incredible and I have really never seen anything like it. All I could keep thinking was, as we were driving yesterday was, if there were pigs, or cows, or goats roaming the streets in Boston, we would call Animal Control to figure it out, or we would just run away. But here, people and animals are living side by side (I don’t know if there is animal control or not).

                But back to today! After lunch, we will be heading off on a walking tour of Leogane. I’m excited to see the area as well as get some exercise. I don’t know what exactly we will be seeing but that makes it all the more interesting because, for some of the “returning varsity members”, they’ve already seen it but it is my first time and my first impressions have yet to be made.

Haiti Medical Mission #5 and School Mission #2

by Reid Boswell

One by one, in the wee hours, most of our team trickled into gate B30 at Logan for our 6:05 AM flight, bleary-eyed and desperate for coffee. Ah, yes, the coffee war: Starbucks vs. Dunkin. Doesn’t matter, the Haitian coffee makes both look tame, and despite the best efforts of Bill and I, there apparently is no Starbucks in Haiti and the Seligmans and their Dunkin’ devotion are equally out of luck. Our flights to JFK and then on to Port Au Prince were almost seamless, except a bit of turbulence on our descent to Hispaniola. We were on a large Boeing767-300, and there seemed to be numerous American mission groups aboard with some scattered Haitian expats. There was a team of dental students from Temple University heading out to the west coast to spend a week extracting teeth (about all that can be done in rural Haiti). There was a group of kids from Eastern Nazarene College headed to Leogane to do some maintenance work at a local health clinic. The young man sitting next to Linda was downright wide-eyed with excitement.

Baggage claim could only be described as utter chaos. With a bigger plane there were way more people claiming baggage than we have ever encountered, and finding our 50 lb. medication filled duffel bags and then trying to re-group was (as Nick and I agreed) exactly like herding cats. Then customs. Customs was almost a random experience, with some of our team sliding easily through with nary a glance, others required to show baggage claim tags (but not all), some required to produce the list of items in our bags, and then a few (including our intrepid leader Linda), who were pulled aside and interrogated. The guy who asked me to produce my list of items in my bags clearly had some advanced pharmaceutical training. I gave him my lists, he looked them over with a knowing expression, nodding as he went down the list, and then waved me on, keeping in mind that the list included words like Lisinopril, ceftriaxone, omeprazole, albendazole, etc.

Finally, we were all able to walk out of the terminal to the awaiting Hopital St. Croix trucks. This is my 3^rd year going to Haiti, though I missed last year. Immediately, the sensual recall of this country enveloped me, and I was transported back: the smells, the vivid colors, the noise, the high emotion, and the fantastic Caribbean heat. The bags were carefully packed and headed back to the guest house at Hopital St. Croix, while most of us headed to the artist colony at Croix de Bouquet, where we shopped for the now famous (at least in our Parish) hammered metal artwork. The ride to Croix de Bouquet was difficult and our seasoned driver used every skill he had to maneuver through the dense traffic. Traffic rules are pretty much non-existent in Haiti and I have learned not to look while our driver plays chicken with large dump trucks as he passes slow moving tap-taps or other vehicles that do not meet his standard of appropriate speed. As far as I can tell, there is only one traffic light on the road from Port au Prince and Leogane, but nobody really pays any attention to it. We spent about an hour walking through the shops, marveling at the amazing hammered tin art and watching the craftsmen plying their trade while on their knees or squatting on the ground.

We made it safely back to the inviting guest house just after sunset and enjoyed a delicious dinner of chicken, rice and beans, fried plantains, vegetables and salad, washed down, of course with the premier Haitian beer, Prestige. We met with our host, Robin, to refresh our memories of the rules of the guest house and indeed Haiti in general. Six of our 22 member team will be sleeping at the Nursing School. Sleep was the number one agenda for the evening, with our predawn start and “Spring Forward” time change (though I enjoyed little of that thanks to an apparent allergy to my malaria medication).

Today, most of the team went to church (generally a 2 hour service in Creole). I demurred, having experienced the lovely side effects of Benadryl. The rest of today will be spent relaxing and then getting ready for our first clinic tomorrow, sorting and counting meds, organizing team members, and most importantly preparing emotionally for helping to take care of the hundreds of patients we will be seeing in poor, rural areas in and around Leogane. I am excited to be back in Haiti and hope my rusty primary care skills will re-emerge somewhere in my cortex. This is a great team, and as I have said before, I believe we will make a difference, even if it simply to show up. Bondye beni ou.

Francis of Assisi

“Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace.

Where there is hatred, let me sow love,

Where there is injury, pardon;

Where there is doubt, faith;

Where there is despair, hope;

Where there is darkness, light;

And where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek

to be consoled as to console,

to be understood as to understand,

to be loved, as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive,

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,

and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.”