Showing posts with label st. damien. Show all posts
Showing posts with label st. damien. Show all posts

Thursday, February 21, 2019

Haiti’s capital sinks into violence...

Below is a first-person story from Haiti, written by Cassagnol Destine, Project Coordinator of NPH Haiti about the current situation.
 
An NPH staff member describes the situation in Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince and how NPH is supporting the people
 
At two in the afternoon I get into an ambulance, together with other staff from the NPH St Damien Pediatric Hospital. We’re taking them to the areas where they live. Ambulances are the only means of transport respected by the demonstrators. On the way back we’ll pick up other staff and injured people.
 
The situation is chaotic. It doesn’t take long until we encounter the first roadblock. We slowly drive up to it. Everyone holds their breath, but then we’re allowed through without delay. On our way to the next blockade a group of about 250 people races towards us. They indicate to us that we shouldn’t try to go any further, but we need to get past the roadblock and drop off some of our passengers so that they can make their way home on foot through the narrow alleyways.
 
Tear gas, stones, and gunshots
 
The driver presses slowly onwards. He cranks down the window and talks to the demonstrators. They say that a confrontation between the police and looters has escalated. The police are using tear gas, rocks are being thrown, and there have been gunshots, though no one knows from which side. Then we see the blockades, the burning tires, and a small group of police trying to keep the situation under control. The police are exhausted from constantly being on duty; they are utterly outnumbered. Finally we manage to drop off all the staff without incident and pick up more passengers.
 
Breaking point on the street
 
Not all vehicles get away so easily. Another one arrived at a barricade just as the police had shot dead a youth who was throwing stones. The outraged crowd wanted the ambulance to transport the body. The ambulance, however, was already at full capacity, and the shooting would in any case have to be investigated.
 
The people exploded in rage. They took the ambulance hostage until finally some demonstrators recognized the NPH hospital name and defended the staff on board.
 
When the ambulance finally set off, rocks were thrown, smashing the rear windshield and seriously injuring one woman passenger. At that stage every second counted, because every new reaction could put the lives of all the staff at risk. With support via radio, the shocked driver maneuvered his way out of danger and brought the injured woman to the nearest hospital.
 
It’s all about family
 
The injured woman was Mary, our cook. She cooks for not only the staff, but also the children in the wards. Her capability and her love for the children are worth more than words can express. Many parents of children receiving treatment are so poor that they can’t afford to bring food into the hospital for their children. The same evening an ambulance collected Mary and brought her to a safe place, our partner organization St. Luke Hospital in Tabarre.
 
The ambulance driver was told to take a few days off. The next day he was nonetheless at his post by the hospital entrance. He said, “This is no time for quitting. We’ll get through this together.” It’s at times like this that I have a strong feeling that we’re not just a team of staff members, but a family—the NPH family.
Ambulance on a street in Port-au-Prince
 
NPH's St. Damien Pediatric Hospital
 
People waiting for water deliveries
 

Friday, April 7, 2017

Amidst the chaos, fractured housing and penetrating unknowns, St. Damien Children’s Hospital is an oasis...

Angelo Rose is an attorney and musician from Rochester, NY. Following the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, he wrote a song to raise funds for St. Damien Hospital there. He released a second song last year in response to Hurricane Matthew: www.haitisrain.org. He recently visited St. Damien in January 2017, and below is his reflection. Click here to make a gift and support the life-saving work of St. Damien Hospital today!
 
 
Le gen lanmou, gen doule'
 
Somewhat ironically, I will start this brief reflection where physically my journey to Haiti ended…
 
Dazed and tired, I shuffled into my Ft. Lauderdale hotel and took my first shower in days. There, under the warm embrace of pulsing jets, I was overcome: The thundering guilt of having a home, a bed, clean water to bathe in and my God, the seemingly infinite power to turn the faucet to quench my thirst were collectively just too much to own. Haiti suffers at the most base levels of existence and until I experienced it first hand, its devastation remained an abstract truth. Now, there is not a day I don’t recall a face, or silently chant, “Thank you” when I drink a glass of water or sit down for dinner. It is the difference between watching a video clip of someone on a roller coaster and actually sitting in the first car of an old, wooden Skyliner as it claps along tired rails. I knew, however, that ride was going to end for me, that I would fly out and leave behind the countless children I met, the selfless people giving so much to change the norm there. They remain, twisting and turning in markedly inadequate shelter and structure, exposed to the raging elements of nature and consequence of desperation. Children and adults alike are in critical need of nutrition, education and water. The country as a whole flounders in political corruption, unknowns and hypocrisies. The weight of it all was too much and I collapsed to the perfectly tiled shower floor. Sobbing and shaking, I tried to make sense of it all…
 
Le gen lanmou, gen doule’
 
When our small group landed in Port au Prince, it was readily apparent that Haiti was strung together by the thinnest of threads. Amidst the chaos, fractured housing and penetrating unknowns, St. Damien Children’s Hospital is an oasis. The doctors, nurses, employees, volunteers and Fathers Rick Frechette and Enzo Del Brocco, tirelessly devote each day to saving lives. The hospital is a clean, incredibly well run sanctuary for an endless sea of children in dire need of medical care. Father Rick and Phadool, the Human Resources Director at St. Damien, provided a vast amount of information during daily visits to the hospital.  Clean, potable water is infinitely sparse. Quality medicines are desperately needed at St. Damien, as are funds to acquire vital medical equipment.  
 
I was awed by doctors and nurses who repeatedly, selflessly and unconditionally gave all they had. Each morning, mothers line up outside the gates to seek ambulatory medical care for their babies. As this group patiently waits to be seen, the more serious cases are evaluated and treated on the other side of St. Damien. Mothers of children who are required to have lengthy stays are relegated to sleeping in upright metal chairs or on a concrete floor underneath their cribs. Jacqueline Gautier, National Director of St. Damien, confirmed that hospital grade reclining chairs are among the vital equipment needed. The children I met radiated with love, for in the arms of St. Damien they were fed, given medicine and genuine opportunity to heal. Though I am now several weeks removed from my trip, the penetrating eyes of hope travel thousands of miles daily to visit me. A musician often moonlighting as a trial attorney, admittedly I had limited medical skills to offer. This glaring deficiency seemed to matter very little at St. Damien. What the children sought from me, I could aptly provide. Often it was simply a smile, or a hug, or a fingertip-to-fingertip touch that calmed and soothed. The doctors superbly managed the medical needs and I was at-home simply being there for anything else. My ego was consumed. Gone were daily worries about email and developing trends in recent case law. The next life-or-death argument concerning which divorcee would get the engraved soap dish took its proper place in oblivion.  
 
Le gen lanmou, gen doule'  
 
Adjacent to the hospital is the beautiful and rustic Chapel of St. Philomena, where a daily morning mass is assembled. I discovered that most of these early masses are tragically, in fact, vigils for children who died in the preceding days. The first such mass I attended was before the bodies of seven children, wrapped in light-blue paper and gently placed in reusable cardboard coffins. Of the four caskets laid before us, three contained not one, but two tiny bodies. I was overcome. Life and death in Haiti are perpetually at odds and sometimes there is simply nothing that can be done. That reality, amidst some of the finest medical professionals the world has to offer, was immeasurably painful. And yet, as mass concluded, the small congregation (often comprised of the aforementioned doctors, nurses, employees, volunteers and Phadool) breathed life into an old Creole Hymn and ferried the coffins from the Chapel to an awaiting flatbed. The bodies were then transported to a spot beyond the hospital for cremation. No family members were there to say goodbye, but there was little doubt about the reverberating weight of each loss. These daily masses are a divine opportunity to reflect upon the immense need in Haiti, the tragedy of such profound poverty and the senseless deaths of innocent children. I saw no greater demonstration of love than during the masses, where the forgotten are remembered and hearts are torn open in the remembrance of the gift and fragility of life.  
 
Le gen lanmou, gen doule’    
 
When there is love, there is pain.  
 
 

Friday, December 30, 2016

Celebrating 2016 and looking forward to 2017...

2016 was another year full of great accomplishments at NPH USA - new friends, supporters, volunteers and godparents; successful fundraising and friend-raising events; joyous trips to the NPH homes; and so much more - all to transform the lives of children in need! And it is all possible through the generosity of people just like YOU! If you have yet to make a gift to support NPH USA, please consider making a donation today, and check out the 2016 highlights from each regional office of NPH USA below as well as our Haiti Initiative/St. Damien Pediatric Hospital Fund!

Northwest Region

  • In the NW, we graduated the fifth (and welcomed the sixth) annual cohort of 6 young leaders from NPH to the Northwest for a year-long program of study and leadership development. We also published a report on the impact of the program on the first 26 graduates!
  • The NW Associate Board for young professionals sponsored a variety of fun and successful events in Seattle, including Carnaval for a Cause, Hunt for Hope, and a Trivia Night. AB members also sponsored fundraisers at their companies, including f5, which featured NPH USA during their holiday campaign, and Microsoft, where the Devices Division sponsored a soccer tournament that raised more than $20,000.
  • Support of our events grew dramatically, including our second annual NPH USA Northwest Golf Classic, and our record-breaking Gala, which raised nearly $400,000. In particular, we increased our corporate sponsorship significantly from past years.
  • We welcomed 180 new child sponsors, and 13 Northwest donors contributed $5,000 each to provide a scholarship for a university student at NPH.
  • Nine international volunteers from the Northwest did a year or more of service in one of the NPH homes in 2016.
  • Ross Egge joined our Northwest staff team, after 11 years working on the ground with NPH in our homes, and we welcomed Jacqueline Shrader as the new Program Director of the NPH Seattle Institute.
  • We moved to a new office space (same building) – come visit us!
  • We raised more than $1.7 million in general funding to support our children, plus an additional $1.7 million in legacy and restricted gifts! Thank you to all!
 (photo of Paul Sandoval, AB member!)

 
Southwest Region
  • Edwin Mehta joined the team as the SW Region's Development Coordinator, and Jarrett Ransom joined the team as the SW Region's Development Officer!
  • The SW Region hosted all of the NPHI Staff and Country Directors for meetings and fundraisers during the National Director Weekend and also celebrated the 10th Anniversary of Fr. William Wasson’s passing. It was a wonderful time had by all!
  • The SW Region hosted the Pequenos from the home in Nicaragua for three weeks of Fundraising and Events in Albuquerque, Santa Fe, and Danville and also had the 2016 SW Get Closer Gala with special guests Ismar and Marlin!
  • At the end of October and the beginning of November we had a women’s group that travelled to the NPH Home in Guatemala where 20 women had the opportunity to experience the culture and witness the life that the children have at the home in Guatemala.
  

Midwest Region
  • The pequeños from NPH El Salvador provided great music and folkloric dancing during their 18-day Pequeño Tour this past spring. The group spent most of its time in the Chicago area, staying with families in St. Michael Parish in Orland Park and Transfiguration Parish in Wauconda. They also traveled to the far reaches of the Midwest Region for a long weekend at St. Thomas the Apostle Parish in Lenoir City, Tennessee. We estimate over 3,500 people witnessed one of their many performances. Many thanks to our host families and local organizers. We couldn’t do it without you!
  • The weather cooperated this year for our Fourth Annual Golf Outing featuring NFL Hall of Famers and other football greats from years past. We moved the golf outing this year to the stately Biltmore Country Club in North Barrington, and the new venue was everything we hoped it would be and a whole lot more. More importantly, the golf outing set a new record in terms of the amount that was raised.
  • For the third year in a row, the beautiful Standard Club of Chicago was the location for the annual MW Region's Gala and After Dark events. At the Gala, the Midwest Region presented John and Cindy Shinsky with its Corazón Award, which is given to those who give their hearts to the children of NPH. John and Cindy have worked tirelessly to build and support Ciudad de los Niños in Matamoros, part of the NPH Mexico network of homes. For the third consecutive year, the Young Professionals Board of the NPH USA Midwest Region hosted the always fun Gala post-party, aptly named After Dark. A good time was had by all. Revenue for the Gala and After Dark was 10% higher than last year.
  • Thanks to the organizing and running efforts of Midwest Region Board member Chris Ambroso, in the famous Chicago Marathon Team NPH USA’s runners raised $12,500 for the children of NPH!
  • This year, the Midwest Region directed six trips to NPH homes in Guatemala (twice), Honduras, Nicaragua, Mexico and El Salvador. Participating on those trips were 135 people who were able to experience for themselves what life is like at an NPH home.
Standing outside the bishop’s residence in Knoxville, Tennessee is the group from
NPH El Salvador with the Most Reverend Rick Stika, Bishop of the Diocese of
Knoxville, in the middle.  In the upper left hand corner of the group is His Eminence
Justin Francis Cardinal Rigali.
Midwest Region sponsor Anita Lambert and her goddaughter are all smiles during
                Anita’s visit to NPH El Salvador in November.
Upper Midwest Region
  • The UPMW region celebrated Volunteer of the Year Vic Roers! Vic is valued for her dedication and her enduring amount of time and talent. She shares the NPH story with everyone she meets and wants nothing more than to ensure NPH children have a stocking for Christmas. Vic has been such a supportive and helpful volunteer and is quickly becoming a regular at NPH Honduras and El Salvador! 
  • Thank you to all the supports in our Upper Midwest region for making this year’s Cinco de Mayo 5k Run/Walk (our 10th Annual) such a success! We raised $18,593 and had 278 participants! Special thanks to our generous Sponsors: Summit Orthopedics, Valley Pain Relief and Wellness Center, HED Cycling, Modere North America, and Defining You Pilates and Fitness! 
  • This August, members from the Upper Midwest Region’s Associate Board of Directors formed a 2016 NPH USA Summer Games event that raised over $8,000! The group created fun and original contests and competed against one another for the Gold, Silver, and Bronze medals. Way to go Associate board!  
  • Thank you to the more than 360 guests who attended the 2016 Upper Midwest Gala presented by Nasseff Mechanical Contractors, which was a grand success! Through gala ticket sales, silent and live auction, games, and most importantly an anonymous match and commitments made during Fund-A-Need, we raised over $508,000 to continue Raising Children and Transforming Lives at NPH homes. We are also excited to announce 15 new child sponsors were formed. Likewise, we honored Jean Gray for his 35 years of dedication to NPH with the Rose Schaffhausen Award. A world traveler, Jean has seen the poverty that exists and destroys the potential for children. Jean has given his time, energy, and countless hours to the Fr. Wasson Legacy Endowment. Jean has embraced the NPH mission, furthered our cause and continues to cherish our NPH children.
  • In 2016, the NPH USA strategic plan addressed the importance to deepen efforts in philanthropy and restructure staffing to ensure future success. Molly Boyum was announced the Vice President of Development to oversee all of the regional offices of NPH USA, and therefore her previous position, now open, allowed for the new hire of a regional director. Stephanie Pommier, new Regional Director, joined NPH in July with 19 years of nonprofit experience, a great passion for social change, and adherence to sensitivity, collaboration, and ethics in all her fundraising. Steve Schmidt, our new Development Manager, was born and raised in Shoreview, MN and joined NPH in August sharing, “NPH is a family, and I feel as though I have found my home.”  

Mid-Atlantic/Northeast Region
  • Many parishes in the MA-NE Region united their church communities and joined NPH USA in helping those less fortunate this year! The generosity that poured out of St. Mary of the Assumption Parishes in Brookline, MA; The Parish of St. Anthony in Cohasset, MA; Most Precious Blood & St. Theresa Parish in Dover & Sherborn, MA; Good Shepherd Parish in Wayland, MA; Holy Family Parish in Duxbury, MA; St. Paul the Apostle in Annville, PA, and St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Herndon, VA resulted in over 90 children receiving new sponsorships this fall with more on the way!
  • Eight schools in Massachusetts opened their doors and hearts to the children of NPH Mexico this fall during our 2016 Pequeño Tour. Notre Dame Academy, Immaculate Conception Academy, Trinity Catholic Academy, Dexter Southfield, Hamilton – Wenham High school, Waring School, Rockport Middle School, and Shore Country Day, all welcomed the children and generously supported them in their fundraising efforts. Thank you!
  • Generous donors/supporters got together to organize events in support of NPH this year raising over $23,000 for the children of NPH. Brian Orr, Barbara Kelley, and Kara Swenson put together the Windows on the World event on the North Shore of Massachusetts. Eddie & Eileen Bernau hosted Cheers for Children at their home in Newburyport, MA. Patty Tarpey got together passionate donors and sponsors in a Cheers for Children event in Washington, DC and Deirdre & Steven Ginns, Patricia & Paul Mikus, and Charlie & Barbara Sullivan hosted the second annual Cocktails for A Cause in Hingham, MA while the pequenos were here from Mexico. Thank you to all for your support!
  • The MA-NE Associate Board and Junior Board have both had a successful year with many fun events and fundraisers in the surrounding Boston area. The associate board has expanded to include members in both NYC and DC! Reuniting returned international volunteers with passionate NPH supporters! Both groups have been helping to raise awareness and funds in support of University Education for the Pequenos.
  • The NPH USA Mid-Atlantic Northeast office facilitated many mission and donor trips to a variety of NPH homes this year, including Guatemala, Dominican Republic, Honduras, and Mexico. After seeing the direct impact of NPH and falling in love with many of the children at the homes, trip participants have become some of our most passionate advocates in raising funds and spreading awareness about NPH.
 
Haiti Initiative/St. Damien Pediatric Hospital Fund
  • We celebrated a matching grant challenge this year when a very generous foundation pledged $500k per year for three years if we could find two other donors who would join them for the same amount and duration, and thanks to two additional generous donors, we completed the challenge and received the support for St Damien Pediatric Hospital!
  • Fr. Rick and Jennifer Rayno, President of the NPH Haiti Board of Directors and Director of the St. Damien Pediatric Hospital Fund respectively, visited St. Louis Church and the community of Pittsford, NY in August. This generous and faithful community has been supporting St. Damien for over thirty years and raised nearly $60k this year through various efforts!
  • St. Damien graduated the first group of 6 new pediatricians trained at St. Damien in October! After 3 years of training, these 6 new pediatricians are ready to take care of children’s health in Haiti. There are approximately only 300 pediatricians supporting 3 million children under 5 years of age with great vulnerability in Haiti. We have retained 3 of them for our own needs. The 4th class of 6 physicians started their training October 1st.
  • St. Damien was able to offer continuous care during a 5-month strike of all governmental hospitals in Haiti from the end of March to August 2016. The hospital experienced a 2% to 25% increase across departments in the volume of the population served during the first 3 months of this strike. St. Damien proved once more that it is poised and always ready to help the Haitian community during crisis. St. Damien was recognized by the executive director of the Ministry of Health for the role it played for the country during a press conference when the strike ended.
  • The heart program at St. Damien has grown significantly. 11 children received heart surgery in February 2016. A second mission scheduled for September 2016 was postponed until January 2017 due to insecurity in the country. More than 150 children were screened during 5 visits of pediatric cardiologists from the US, France, India (from an Indian hospital established at Cayman Islands). A wonderful partnership with Haiti Cardiac Alliance, Gift of Life International and a foundation from Health City Hospital in the Cayman Islands support this program. A significant proportion of children with heart defects were dying at home or at health centers as families are not able to send them abroad for needed surgeries. St. Damien is the only hospital in Haiti able to offer heart surgery locally thanks to this support our partners. One of our own pediatricians has currently completed 6 months of a one-year training in pediatric cardiology in Martinique. The program will continue to grow offering screening, surgery, and follow up care to the children with heart disease in Haiti. There are 3 surgical cardiac missions that are scheduled at St. Damien during 2017.
 
 

Monday, March 11, 2013

The Way of the Cross by Father Rick Frechette, NPFS Haiti

It was a long, hard way that she walked, the mother of Ronel.

And like the long, hard walk of Christ, it started with a very bad verdict.
“Crucify him.”

Ronel, at 8 years old, had cancer of his kidney.

Marise was tormented, and pondered in her heart what this might mean for her little son.

So began her way of the cross.

Weeping came easy now, for this strong and weathered woman.
Like dewfall on her cheeks, and river mist shrouding her eyes.
Marise would become known for this sorrowful look.

Jeremy is very far from Port au Prince, by water or by land
(travel by air is not a choice for poor people).

Mother and Son travelled the long road, with other poor women who also hoped that Port au Prince might bring some kind of relief from their woes. 

It was a rough trip for Ronel, like being on a very bad road when your whole body aches with the flu. Christ was buffeted and stricken. Ronel was not without his literal hard knocks.  Hundreds of eyes gawked at his gaunt and pale smile . 

The journey ended, thank God, by an encounter with our team of good Samaritans at St Damien Hospital.

Help took a rough form. As Christ on the Cross was offered a sponge soaked in gall to quench his thirst, before long the bitter gall of chemotherapy became a staple for Ronel.

As Christ’s side was pierced by the sword, Ronel’s side was lanced by the surgeons spear, for the removal of the tumor.

As Christ anguished for many hours in the heat of the day, Ronel was blasted with the wild energy of radiation to burn the cancer away. 

“Thank you for helping my son,” said the bewildered Marise.

God be praised, Ronel seemed better.
And so, back to Jeremy went the world’s newest Lazarus.

Resurrection!

Long, lazy days in the family “lakou” at Jeremy. 
New memories  of sunny days and balmy breezes, of grandma working hard in the fields, looking often to see if her precious young treasure was alright, as he lounged on a hammock, held up by two coconut trees, which shaded him and gave him drink.

Paradise regained!

As Marise started to recuperate her widows mite, to renew herself with the energy of her friends, both lost during her difficult months away from the marketplace in the face of tragic illness.

The sun rose and the sun set in Jeremy
For many months.

Ronel studied and worked,
Ronel laughed and played.
Ronel began to grow tired,
Ronel started to become pale.

Marise could not NOT notice,
Try as she might.

Back to Port au Prince, guided by hope. 
Battered again in crammed busses, walking through the hospital gates to the same good Samaritans,

But this time their jaws dropped and their hearts tightened.
It was too late. Very sadly, Ronel was beyond help and was going to die.

This is when I met Ronel. He was in agony.  His eyes were like deep lakes, trying to drink in understanding. His body was skeletal, his belly bloated. Marise held him in her arms, and the weight of his body on hers, and the weight of his illness on her heart were very obvious. She was the sorrowful mother. “Blessed is the womb that bore you and the breasts that nourished you!” 

Heaven and earth were locked in an embrace, under the names of love and sorrow, under the names of Marise and Ronel. This was holy ground. Fools need not tread here.

The wish was to return to Jeremy. Marise was telling Ronel they would go back to the sunshine, to the cool breezes, to grandma and the shade of her trees. She pulled me aside to say that grandma’s hammock was the best place for Ronel to die, though she appreciated what we had done. She sobbed as she explained that if she went to Jeremy now she could start to save for a new shirt for Ronel’s burial, for a coffin to be made, for a grave to be dug.

I packed them some pain medicine. I packed some food and drink, I gave money for the tickets and to help later with the funeral. And they left after  we had a simple prayer together.

Marise had the idea, I discovered later, to be at Portail Leogane late at night, and be first in line for the morning bus. She would sleep in line, on the ground, holding her place, holding Ronel, so as to be sure of a seat on the first bus.

And so she did. She sat on the ground, against a tire, cradled her son, and fell asleep.
Marise slept lightly, but deep enough to dream. She dreamt she was flying a kite, in the calm blue sky with light winds. Birds were singing, children were laughing, an old, wizened women looking on smiled her approval and enjoyment of the scene.

The kite soared, and out-powered the string.
The string broke, and the kite was lifted by the spirit-wind higher and higher,
And became lost to her eyes in the strength of the brilliant light of the sun.

Marise woke up. Two hours to go until dawn.
Ronel was dead in her arms.

Pieta.
Stabat mater dolorosa, juxta crucem lacrimosa, dum pendabat filium.

Two hours to wait. Two hours to grieve, to ponder, to pray.
To grieve on public display in the streets.

Public transport would start up before sunrise, but would not accept a corpse.
Even if you paid two seats.

Marise made her way to us, for a third time since she began her way of the cross in Jeremy, nearly two years before. She arrived on foot, carrying the lifeless Ronel in her arms.

I was preparing for the morning mass as she walked into the chapel, and in wailing and grief, gave me her precious son, for the mass of the Resurrection, and burial.

HIS WAY was to walk our way.
He was born in a manger, on a bale of hay,
Noticed only by those who loved him
And by those others whom the Holy Word describes  as wise,
Who understood the language of  a rogue star.

HIS WAY was to walk our way,
And brighten it by the heroic witness and sacrifice,
Of mothers and of strangers,
And to quicken the way with many small resurrections
HIS WAY was to surrender to the tragedy he could not control
to conquer it, and ransom its energy, transforming its terror into healing,

HIS WAY was to be buried in a borrowed grave,
and to rise again quietly and unannounced,
leaving only the sign of the folded shroud that had covered his face….

…and when needed, for people like Marise,
the sign of the soaring kite with the broken string.

RESURREXIT SICUT DIXIT, ALLELUIA!

He has risen as he promised. God be praised.

Happy Easter to you, with shared faith!

And may God bless and reward you,
for all the Ronels and Marises who come to our doorstep
who have bee helped by your generosity.

Fr Rick Frechette CP
March 10, 2013
Port au Prince, Haiti