Update - April 2000
Eighteen Months Later

I embarked upon this fifth visit to Haiti not without some trepidation, after the ravages of malaria last spring. There is no escape from the reality (apart from burying one's head in the sand) that any trip to Haiti presents more than an ordinary degree of risk. Nevertheless, only with regular attention can this mission flourish. Even in the hours gripped by malaria, I was unable to arrive at any alternative to continuing the work, so long as the Lord allows.

It seems almost inevitable that the first days of any visit are all but entirely occupied simply with the business of getting one's feet on the ground and making a way to function. In theory, the establishment of a permanent Mission house (leased) should have made this much less trying for this trip... but in fact almost nothing was functioning as it should have on arrival — and even a shower had to wait four days for diagnosis and minor repairs on the water system at the house (one can only determine what is wrong when there is power so the pump can function... and for the most part power is only available at night, when there is no one to do the diagnosing!).

Nevertheless, the primary focus of this trip, the liturgical life of the Mission, got off to a good beginning with celebration of Vigil and Liturgy for the feast day of the Church of the Nativity of the Theotokos. It is evident that progress has been made in the past year in the understanding and good order of the services (bear in mind that a complete set of liturgical books in French only arrived in Haiti in February), but certainly also that there is need for continuing growth. It was with this objective in mind that this visit was planned to allow for four celebrations within the two weeks (two Sundays and two great feasts). In addition to the "practicum" of these four celebrations, work is well underway for the provision of a French version of the critical components of the Order of Orthodox Divine Services, itself an English digest of the Typicon.

The beneficial influence of the months spent in Haiti by John and Helen Heers and their daughters, as well as of a mission visit from parishioners at Mercy House ifi New York last winter, is evident in improvements in the singing of the services. The difficulties present in this situation can only be appreciated by Orthodox Americans by imagining themselves without any example to follow except that of texts sung in a language entirely incomprehensible to themselves, and without any ability to read musical notation. John (who rapidly learned Créole, the only language understood by all Haitians), at the instigation of two parishioners who live at a considerable distance from the Church, undertook a series of catechetical meetings at La Plaine (begun during my last visit). During this visit, Fr. Jean and I were able to recommence these sessions. Future plans are for the two parishioners, Jean and Amboise, to continue with weekly Sunday afternoon sessions, based on their own readings and life in the Faith, with Fr. Jean joining the sessions at least monthly for priestly guidance. The difficulties which the people of this region must face in order to attend services at the church are difficult for us in our pampered lives to imagine.  After concluding the Vigil for the Nativity, I dropped Jean and Amboise at the departure point for tap-tap service (pickup truck stuffed with people) toward La Plaine. They discovered only too late that the tap taps had stopped operating 30 minutes after dark), and required two and a half hours to walk the rest of the way home. The following Saturday, I undertook to relive a bit of my cab-driving days, so as to assure that Fr. Jean, Fr. Grégoire, and these two might arrive home at a reasonable hour... and spent two and a half hours myself driving no more than twenty miles through impossibly congested streets in light rain.  For the future, we hope perhaps to be able to arrange for a "dedicated" tap-tap to transport those from La Plaine who wish to attend services. For not only is the difficulty of transport incredible, but also the cumulative costs for poor people are insupportable.

To my pleasant surprise, upon arrival at the church for the temple feast Vigil, for the second year in a row I encountered two young men from Jacmel (four hours by private car, most of a day by common transport), one of whom I had met there at the time of my first visit. This continuing interest led to a subsequent meeting at Jacmel with several young people who express serious interest in the Faith, and grave concerns with the distortions thereof to which they have been previously subjected. At the conclusion of the session, to my astonishment, three of them expressed a desire to return with me to Port-au-Prince for the Sunday services. How many among us would give up an entire weekend (even with a free ride in one direction and transport paid for return) for the sole purpose of attending church services? These young people were ready to depart with me Saturday morning, endured with me the horrors of a series of traffic jams in Port-au-Prince (at one point, motionless for nearly a half-hour), in order to arrive at the church for Vigil. The next morning, back to church... and then at once off to make their way home via a series of tap-taps, very probably not until well after dark. Of these three, two express their desire already to become Orthodox, and the third expresses a lively interest.

In the more technical department, it is a pleasure to be able to report that the Mission's legal recognition in Haiti has finally been granted. A year of waiting, mountains of paper, several visits to the Ministry in the end bore fruit. The Mission is now legally entitled to own property (no foreigner can, though joint titles with Haitian citizens are honored), conduct banking in its own name, etc. Though this is unlikely to make a great deal of difference in the functioning of the Mission, it offers much greater security for property... and will save a substantial amount of money annually in banking charges.

Following upon the security offered by the official registration (relative security, that is, in Haiti!), Mission funds have been released for the completion of the unfortunately necessary enclosure for the church, and for the interior and exterior finishing of the walls (heretofore raw concrete block) of the church. A favorable price has been offered by the contractor who has managed previous work at the church, but this work will essentially exhaust Mission funds. Nonetheless, without these improvements the church building would remain a very rude structure, vulnerable to serious deterioration.

There is an immediate, and costly, need to finish a house in the immediate vicinity of the church, purchased to provide space for the school (which must at present utilize the nave of the church), for a nutritional program for the school children and other children of the vicinity (one of the poorest), and for a possible clinic (one of the most desperate needs in Haiti). None of these programs, of course, can proceed without personnel... but neither can they proceed without appropriate space. The house in question at present has exterior and interior walls for four rooms, but no floors or ceilings, nor preparation for second and third stories. In order to proceed with this building, we need to raise as quickly as possible $15,000, which will make the first floor completely usable and lay the groundwork for additional stories. Proceeding step by step, this will provide the immediately needed space for the school and, with the addition of a second story, space for a nutritional to and a clinic.

The school (now providing the first four levels of instruction) plans by the next school year to be self-supporting: no further Mission funds will be used for its support, other than the provision of physical facilities. Tuition fees for the students fall far short of the needs for salaries of the teachers. The difference, we hope, will be provided by revenues from the sale of church goods created by the labors of the students, teachers, and members of the parish. Initially, the Mission plans to offer baptismal gowns, hand-crafted by the faithful of Haiti, in a variety of sizes suited for infants and those of mature stature and girth. We anticipate that samples will be available for examination at the annual Southern Orthodox Missions Conference in Atlanta in November.

God willing, a considerable delegation from the Haitian Orthodox Mission will be present for this Conference, their travel expenses paid by the HOM and the missionary funds of the Southern Deanery of our church. Entirely French and Créole speaking, they will in effect constitute a mini-Haitian conference on the side. Conferees who may be even modestly capable in French are cordially invited to join the "special sessions".

Reaching out from the "home parish' in the immediate vicinity of the international airport, as previously mentioned, catechetical sessions have been instituted at La Plaine, a few miles and as much as four hours' travel from the church. On their own initiative, two laymen who live there took advances on their salaries (as instructors at the school) to make a 40% down-payment on a piece of property they deemed suitable for a church, school and clinic at La Plaine. Physically, their choice is well-founded: a substantial amount of ground, seven centièmes (about 1/4 acre), facing on what will one day be a main street, within shouting distance of the home of one of the parishioners (an important security consideration). Assuming that all legal considerations can be met, the total purchase price for this property is about $ 10,000 US. Your participation is invited!

Further afield yet, the three young men from Jacmel returned home not only with the blessing of the divine services, but also with some very rudimentary liturgical materials, which will enable them to come together on Sundays and feasts (and perhaps daily, as they live close together) for common prayers in the Orthodox tradition, together with readings from the Holy Scriptures. While purchase of property in the Jacmel area is yet premature, preliminary indications are that property in this area is far less expensive than in Port-au-Prince. This, of course, may be all the more urgent reason to go ahead with active search and purchase... before the situation changes.

While every effort is being made to develop means for the internal support of the Mission, your active assistance is greatly needed for the expansion of the Mission and the best response possible to the economically desperate situation of the people of Haiti. It would be impossible to overstate this need. There is no doubt that there are substantial numbers of Haitians who are reasonably well-off.. by Haitian standards. Few indeed are those who live in anything like the comfort expected by the poorest of our poor: reliable running water and sewage disposal, electricity throughout the day and night, telephone service which works with rare exceptions, and even (does anyone need it?!) not just one, but a selection of television distractions at any hour of the day or night. Only the richest of the rich can afford their own full-time generators, international satellite cell-phone service (the only thing which works all the time), and a private water and sewage system. And even they must navigate the streets of Port-au-Prince: imagine (this is the case) a city of 4.5 million people, with only ONE through street, often of only two lanes (if one of them isn't blocked by a wreck, a vehicle with a flat tire, or a political demonstration) from its northern to its southwestern extremity.

Add to this absurd physical impossibility a country with the least stable political history imaginable, the poorest country of the western hemisphere, and international financial difficulties beyond our imagination. Two weeks before my departure on this trip, one US dollar bought 15 gourdes; the day before departure, 21 gourdes; the day of my arrival, 24 gourdes; and by the time I was in Jacmel, 29 gourdes. Since essentially all consumer goods, and indeed a large part of all foodstuffs, are imported... the real cost of living for Haitians rose nearly 100% in two weeks. But don't suppose that their incomes rose comparably. With rare exceptions (those who have salaries committed in US dollars), their incomes rose not a bit. They simply had half as much real income at the end of the month as at the beginning.

And yet, under these frightening conditions, our brethren continue to struggle: to come to the church for services, even though the cost of tap tap transport has just recently increased 50%. We plead for your assistance to the extent of your abilities and charity: in monthly pledges, in single contributions large and small, and above all in your prayers. The struggle is great, the harvest is great, and the laborers are few. May the Lord bless your good will!