 L to R: Fr. Hugo, Saverno Borsa, Adenald Fleury and Daniel Cadet arriving at the airport in Mexico City as they prepare for their novitiate. As part of the Passionist Solidarity Network support for projects affiliated with the two U.S. Provinces, a new pilot program in Haiti designed by Fr. Hugo Esparza CP has been funded with a $5000 grant.
The grassroots initiative called Konbit Pierre Toussaint, is a program that will enable young Haitians to serve their community and to receive human, religious and professional formation. Fr. Hugo says the project is "inspired by the Passionist Volunteer programs in the USA to create the same opportunity for young Haitians. We started our pilot program with seven young men and women. All of them are formers volunteers at our Kids-Youth Program called Little Stones. All seven of them will volunteer for 10 months part time" The Project is aptly named for the now Venerable Toussaint who was born in Haiti and brought to New York City as a slave. Pierre died a free man and one of New York City’s most well-known Catholics. In New York, plantation owner Pierre Bérard made Toussaint a house slave and allowed his grandmother to teach her grandson how to read and write. It is fitting that Fr. Esparza's project in Haiti will work with young men and women as "alphabetization agents" who are aiding adults that need to learn or improve their capacity in reading and writing. Konbit is a Creole word that reflects rural life in Haiti. A Konbit is a coming together of friends and family members to work in each other’s garden or farms. Watch this video of Fr. Hugo report on his work in Haiti during the 2019 Holy Cross Provincial Chapter.
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 "In reality, rather than abstract and singular suffering, we encounter concrete suffering in men and women: we see sickness reflected in their faces and bodies. I can never forget the women crying for the losses of their children especially when they know that the child could have been saved were it not for the lack of roads or of means of transportation or of money that made them arrive too late to the hospital. They roll themselves on the ground in mourning, and their voices transform into a sorrowful refrain of “God: why?”
Fr. Enzo offers this reflection for us as we find ourselves confronted with and engaging another person's pain and illness. He says, "In sickness all relationships, with oneself, with others, with things and with God, undergo a profound change." It transforms us. "We may not know the patient we visit but we do know that it is ultimately the Christ we are helping." Click here for Fr. Enzo's reflection Yet, there are other “hurricanes” that are of greater concern to me. My thoughts go to Charlottesville, Myanmar, Las Vegas and Haiti where the violence has begun again, and for apparently different reasons in each locations. How should we respond to the violence that surrounds us?  Last year on this very day, the Feast Day of St. Francis, Hurricane Matthew began to slam into the southwestern part of Haiti. I remember the winds blowing fiercely that morning and before Mass I decided to put a statue that I bought in Assisi on the altar. The statue is very unique, and depicts St. Francis taming the wolf of Gubbio ( a small town not far from Assisi). When I purchased it, I never could have imagined using the statue for a Hurricane. I bought it on a visit to Assisi with Raphael, as a sign and reminder to us that good will never prevail over evil and that, as St. Francis himself said: "all the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the light of a single candle". My thoughts were focused on wishing for peace in Haiti. The story of the saint and the wolf is that the wolf terrorized the inhabitants of the small Italian town. The wolf not only killed and devoured livestock but it began to attack the people. All attempts to kill the wolf failed and fear took over their hearts. St. Francis heard of this and decided to confront the wolf. The huge wolf rushed toward Francis to attack but he made the sign of the cross, called the wolf “brother” and commanded him in the name of God to stop terrorizing the town. Images came to mind of people running through clouds of dust after the water trucks with buckets in their hands hoping to catch water that might spill when the trucks went up hills.  Last Sunday, while I was celebrating Mass, the words of this psalm struck me
calling my attention: “He raises the needy from the dust, lifts the poor from the ash heap”. (Psalm 113:8) At that moment, the images of people in the dusty and polluted roads of Port-au- Prince came to mind. While I recalled my own experiences there - the irritation of my eyes and throat, the dirt leaving a pattern around my sunglasses after riding on a motorbike through the streets - it paled in comparison to the images that came to mind of daily life among the citizens of that city. I recalled people walking with handkerchiefs and dust masks covering their mouths, parents carrying their children under the burning sun to the hospital in search for care, children walking to school barefoot, or in tattered sandals, or with their black dress shoes in a plastic bag to keep them shiny and clean, and of the shoe shiners located near schools and public places ready to remove the ever present dust for a few Gourdes. That same day at sunset I was coming back from the grocery store thinking that the day was over and already imagining to cook some pasta. I entered the gate and the receptionist ran towards me asking me to run inside to help a patient. I was quite confused and I was tempted to answer, "I’m not a doctor, what can I do?" But again the voices came back: wake up, do not fall asleep! In front of me was a man with an 11 year child on his side and another in his arms with his legs and head hanging down as if he had no life.  Two weeks ago I was in the U.S.A. giving mission appeals, trying to bring awareness to the conscience of people on how may brothers and sisters are suffering the lack of the fundamental needs: clean water to drink, food to eat, clothes to dress, meds, education, etc.
While I was telling true stories about what we live constantly, I felt the question arising: Is this real? Are these stories true? We all saw the tragic picture/video of the child rescued a few days ago in Syria and so many of us felt horrified, but did we need that image to realize what has been going on there for years? How many other Aleppo’s are burning in the world, at yet we continue to sleep, our consciences almost numb and unable to react. The philosopher Blaise Pascal, meditating on the Passion of Jesus, wrote: “Jesus will be in agony until the end of the world, we must not sleep during that time.” (Pensees) |
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