Helen Johnson's Testimony Part 2

This is the SOLT Haiti Mission

We arrive at the mission and spend some time settling into the guest house. It has 4-5 bedrooms with a total of maybe 15 single beds. The kitchen is large and fairly well equipped. There is a dining room area as well as office/reception area, a front porch, and a couple of good sized storage rooms. Also waiting for us are fresh eggs, fruits & vegetables – the hospitality and generosity of the people are already beginning to show.

We’re given a tour of the mission grounds, which is “fenced in” by their own manufactured cinder block and a lot of “au natural” cactus. Also on the grounds are 18 classrooms, Fr. Glenn’s house, dining/kitchen/cafeteria building, storage silos, convent (with a chapel), church/grain storage building, a bakery/sewing building, security/staff living quarters and a staff office building.

There are also areas where the animals are raised, a citrus orchard, corn field, and various fruit trees. The mission has developed and nurtured these grounds over the years, and all of its fruits are used to feed the children and/or the destitute. Water is provided to the mission from a natural spring – known as “the source” – which is some 8 miles away. There is one corner of the mission property, which has separate faucets on the street side, where the local people can obtain fresh, clean water. It is an oasis for these people, and they have been taught over the years to respect and appreciate this gift. If they don’t, they know the mission will turn the water off – they tested Father once! When the aqueduct system had first been completed, and the water first flowed from these community spigots, there was some unruliness and misuse of the water. Father turned the water off for one week, and when he asked the people – at Sunday Mass – how they were going to resolve the issues of misuse, they came up with solutions and he let them implement their plan.

There is no electricity in the immediate area, so power at the mission is provided by solar panels which are hooked up to large batteries. When the batteries run out (and they do, usually during the early evening), there is a generator for backup. The next day, when the sun comes up, the batteries get recharged and the process starts all over.

A “Bouchere” in the Mission

Oh, oh. Fr. Glenn’s a little disappointed. He understood that the men at the mission were going to be killing a pig early in the morning before we arrived so we could have a little meat for our first supper – but they didn’t. Now, we’re on the line for a “bouchere” tomorrow morning, and we are expected to give instructions to the Haitians on how to cut-up the pig, as Fr. Glenn says they don’t do it “right”. Remember, Fr. Glenn grew up in rural South Louisiana where a “bouchere”, or pig butchering, is considered an art. Well, at least this time we don’t have to kill it! He said the Haitians usually just take as much meat off the bone as possible and then chop up the boney parts. What he really wants is to have his favorite cut – the Boston butt. Lord, help me! I attended one Bouchere Festival in St. Martinville and he thinks that makes me an expert on cutting up a pig. One interesting thing that the Haitians do to remove most of the hair after they kill the pig is lay it on the ground, cover it with dry straw, and then burn the straw – kinda like singeing.

Receiving as Well as Giving

On the morning of our arrival, the 1st reading of the mass was from St. Paul which dealt with the body, although one, having many parts, and that God has designated and given each of us certain gifts and responsibilities in order to serve Him and our fellow brethren. In arriving at the mission, we see many people, doing many things………..and I begin to wonder how does God want us to serve while we are here? On one hand, what does God want us to give to these people, and on the other hand, what does He want us to receive from them? They have the “need to give” just as much as we do. And learning how to receive is a challenge when our thought process, as “rich” Americans, normally tends to material things. God has not sent me here to receive anything material; please Lord, help me to be open and humble enough to receive your Spirit of joy, humility, generosity, and gratitude that lives in these people.