Hospice St. Joseph Port-au-Prince

Constat d'innocence (short English paragraph at the end)

On ne saitque ce que l'on sait. Et si on sait ce que l’on ne sait pas, c’est un brin desagesse. Mais comment le savoir, ce qu’on ne connaît pas???

On sait parexposition, apprentissage, intellect, par expérience personnelle. Puis supposéqu’avec nos lobes frontaux, on peut faire mieux : on peut transposer desconnaissances et expériences personnelles ...

... so they can see themselves (no mirrors).

We finally arrive at the clinic and it is raining! We greet Dr. Leo who has accomplished a great deal. The clinic has a second floor. He has a full garden now and one of his passions is helping the people grow healthy food. This means we must leave the trucks at the top of the hill and walk the mile down to the rectory. It is like a muddy slip-and-slide. Poor John falls and breaks his ...

... waiting for the flight, a man walks by selling some food. I wonder if Clair is going to try it, but he lets it pass. I am always taken aback by how much further behind in development Haiti. I hear things are changing and some of the things that make Haiti so picturesque are being lost. It is a strange juxtaposition between modern technology and a simpler way of life; cell phones and open cook fires. We have no issues getting into Port ...

Mostly English with a little bit of français à la fin. Quick run down of what it's like here: Weather is, for the most part, excellent. Day temperatures linger around 23-25C (mid to high 70s and low 80s in Fahrenheit) . As long as I'm not directly under the sun, I'm very warm. Short sleeves in December = swell. Roads are not so excellent. The roads in the city are like rural ...

... airport, crazy, no one even turns to look. Finally in Miami! Customs is a hassle as a machine breaks. Kim and I need to check one of our carryons. We are in line with a large group going to Venezula. Did I mention their plane is leaving in thirty minutes. They completely jam up the line. Sadness, of all sadness, we do not get to go and eat burgers with the rest of the group. The one thing we ...

... two-thirds of the way up Kim says "if you want to go back I wouldn't mind". Right on sister! We bumble our way down the mountain, now in complete darkness, with Kim's wind-up light. Our shoes are basically big muck balls. We sit on the porch at night. A lot of our conversations at this point revolve around what we would like to eat. Ashley has made a lot of dog friends who like to hang out on the porch. I'd ...

... street signs, etc..) Imagine this in a city with over ten million people. Upon arrival at Hospice house we were grateful for the comfort. It truly is a beautiful place with beautiful people who work here. We were treated to a lovely vegetarian dinner-rice and beans, green beans, potatos, and salad (blue cheese dressing even). All pride is out the window as we are all ...

... en Guatemala, y siento que me dice "vuelve", seguramente porque me enamoré de la misión oblata en Quiché, sobre todo del trabajo con los pueblos mayas. Y pienso en aquellos otros países a donde siempre he querido ir: Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Tailandia, Camerún, el Sahara Occidental... pienso también en Cuba - y también en México, donde veo muchas necesidades. En fin, que así vivo este hermoso proceso de donfusión - o fusión de dones. Sus oraciones ...

... Française" (thanks to my sister). So my homily draft had to be roughly translated into French... and eventually awaited the generous help of my Oblate Brother Gimsly Valbrun, who kindly helped me translate it into Creole. Preach by heart, by memory, like we used to in our world famous "Preaching 101 with Ray John"? Dream on! I mean, I have done it, I love doing it, and I hope I will get to the point of doing it - but not now, not in Creole. AFTER THE ...

... at me, his gloved hands reaching out, but I recoiled. "That's all right. Go lay down, sweetie." I escaped, terrified of being trapped by those gloves, by the hollow eyes and flaccid breasts and ribcage bones like piano keys. Haiti had bared her teeth at me, and all the naked death and dust and garbage spilled out around me, until I felt I might be buried unless I unleashed my emotions. But I had none to let go, no sobbing like Mary and Julie needed, no shaking hands or breath ...