Matthew 25...April 2014

By the month of April, closing in on a year of "semi-retirement," I'd had time to reflect on what to do with the rest of my life.  An April visit to Haiti, my third trip to the island nation in six months, provided an answer.  I encountered this child (photo) in a place called Jerusalem...a barren, waterless home to some 200 families...where she stood in the midday heat, observing me and other visitors.  I could not take my eyes away, could not forget, have not forgotten her.





Why should she suffer deprivation because of the chance of birth, because her forebears were brought centuries ago, against their will, to a small island that can barely sustain life for their descendants?  Haiti's woes are almost incomprehensible and the best ways forward much debated.  It's all too complex for me, but I can help this child and her playmates by helping their mothers earn some income.  They want to work!  But jobs in Haiti are very hard to come by, even for those privileged to obtain a formal education.

Women at Jerusalem learn about potential income-generating projects

                                               

Women beginning batik process in Gonaives, Haiti

The women I've worked with in Gonaives since 2006, through the Episcopal Church, are now creating large pieces of batik that can be used by the women in nearby Jerusalem to make marketable items such as pajama pants (look out, Old Navy stores!).  Debbie Couri-D'Amico, who initiated Women of Milot, is expanding her income-generating efforts with women in Gonaives, and we will work together.

Debbie observes the batik process…the dye washed out of the cloth because it was not 100% cotton (my error in not testing, with a match, the fabric I purchased in Ecuador!)

Kathy Brooks (far left) talks with women of Haitian Batik Project about collaborating with her Gonaives initiative 2nd Story Goods, which also helps generate income for Haitians

My favorite room at Matthew 25

My trips to Haiti now begin and end at Matthew 25 House in Port-au-Prince, a place that lives up to its pledge to offer "warm hospitality, comfort, and assistance to those involved in missionary and humanitarian organizations."  I've made many fruitful connections at Matthew 25, among them a friendship with Lamothe Lormier, country liaison for Gift of Water, an NGO dedicated to providing clean water for Haitians.  Lamothe, who lives adjacent to the guesthouse, eagerly shares with visitors the relatively simple two bucket filtration and chlorination system he promotes.  We've started working together on a book for those who want to help in Haiti.

Watching a soccer match from the Matthew 25 House rooftop

Journal entry:  April 17, 2014

With Lamothe Lormier, wise friend and clean water guru 

This beautiful reading from Isaiah 61: 1-3 as Easter approaches:

"The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because 

The Lord has anointed me to bring good

tidings to the afflicted:

He has sent me to bind up the broken-

hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives,

and the opening of the prison (or eyes)

to those who are bound;

To proclaim the year of the Lord's favor,

and the day of vengeance of our God;

To comfort all who mourn in Zion--

to give them a garland instead of ashes,

the oil of gladness instead of mourning,

The mantle (garment) of praise instead

of a faint (despairing) spirit;

That they may be called oaks of righteousness,

the planting of the Lord, that he may be

glorified."

I think of the women of Gonaives, praying together my last evening at the Episcopal Church, singing and dancing a song about the walls of Jericho coming down…they are like oaks, glorifying God!