Report of Trip to Pignon January 7-14, 2014

Day 1 - Tuesday, January 7 Left the house at 5:30 am, picked up Dave and headed for JFK and our American Airlines flight where we met John and took off about an hour late because the water line to the plane froze. It was 6 degrees, very cold with a wind chill factor of -11. Arrived in Port au Prince to an attractive newly rebuilt airport and were picked up by Sammi of Matthew 25 House, our guest house in PAP where we would spend the night. Lawrence and Steve Sundby, a newcomer to our group who is a microbiologist from Macalester University, had already arrived earlier in the day and gone straight to Pignon by truck. Vee Andre, the sixth member of our delegation and our interpreter for the last 15 years, lives in PAP now. She would meet us the next morning at the small airport.

Michelle and Fr. Domond, the new house directors, met us at the house, and we settled in at 87 degrees. Quite a change from the morning! We had the traditional Haitian New Year’s dinner, pumpkin soup with chicken and cabbage and so much more. It was delicious. Day 2 – Wednesday, January 8th The four of us took off the next morning at 8 am in MAF’s six seater Cessna and landed at 8:30 in Pignon….very convenient, but two of our bags had to come on a later flight, because we exceeded our weight limit. Father and Berteau picked us up at the airstrip in Pignon, and we headed for the rectory. There we had a cup of coffee and at 10:30 am a meeting with the delegates to the microcredit program. The following is an account of the gathering. Berteau, our microcredit manager, began the meeting by pointing out that while in Pignon, we will have the opportunity to evaluate the micro-loan program from three perspectives: from that of the women in the chapels whom we would later meet, from that of the delegates and from Berteau’s; a

thoughtful observation, I thought. We brought a MICAPPI t shirt in green with white lettering for each delegate and for the office staff and Father Mervil. Venold Toussaint, the delegate from Savane Rouge chapel, gave the first report. Venold, is a veterinarian tech that works in the Bon Secours Agrovet business with our vet, Moussanto. He is very talented and reliable. Savane Rouge has 55 groups – 275 people – receiving money for loans for a variety of market businesses; rice, cornmeal, beans and sugar cane from which they make clarin then rum. Several groups are late in paying back their loans and a few have defaulted. Under the new system Berteau is asking everyone to pay back a portion of their loan every two months. Years ago, under Father Julmice and his committee and by popular demand, people paid their whole loan off once a year. Then it was changed to twice a year and finally Berteau took over and changed it to every three months. Perhaps, they will eventually get to every month which is the Grameen method. The people of Savane Rouge also raise goats, have 141 donkey loans, and 19 oxen loans. Women pay back their loans better than men, said Venold… He also pointed out that the animals are well taken care of, but he needs a camera for his vet work; something about documenting animal deliveries. I wasn’t clear on this. Yes, he said, most of the children go to the local chapel school, and “the clinic is useful as they supply medications.” (I had decided to ask for feedback about our clinic and the school situation from all the delegates, and that was his reply). Renel St. Louis from Jean Brulé chapel was next. This is the poorest of the chapels; no cement buildings, the houses and chapel are for the most part built of sticks, mud and branches. We gave them a pump some years ago to bring water up the hill from the river for their cabbage business, but it no longer works. Today they have 44 groups of borrowers – 220 people. 3 Groups don’t pay on time, but they do pay. Four groups are waiting for loans. Their businesses are charcoal, beans, goats, rice, oil and corn meal. In addition, 30 people have turkey loans. They are one of the few chapels that still get turkey loans. They have 6 oxen loans (2 females, 4 males, and three babies.) and 87 donkey loans. Their crops were destroyed this year, first because of the drought and second by too much rain causing flooding and ultimately washing away the crops. Very sad! They are embarrassed that we gave them the pump, and they can’t fix it. Renel thinks we need an x-ray machine for the clinic, and says that about half of the children in his chapel go to school. It’s a walk of at least an hour each way, for those who have the money to go to school. Julio Apollo is the delegate from the small chapel of Sylvain which some years ago split off from La Belle Mere. They have 19 active groups of five and 2 groups of five waiting for first time loans. Of the 19 groups, two aren’t paying on time.. They have a vegetable cooperative in this chapel. The members have 22 donkey loans and are waiting for oxen loans. They would need at least two, so they can breed. Julio’s children walk 45 minutes to school each day and another 45 back. Sometimes the people of Sylvain use the clinic, but if they can’t be helped there, they go to the hospital. He thinks having a medical mission would be a good idea.

Honoré Devenir is the delegate from La Belle Mere. They have 53 groups, and he didn’t know how many people. (the others kidded him that he was not well prepared for this meeting.) 10 groups don’t pay on time, he said, but they do pay. I asked him what he saw as his job, and he said to watch what people are doing, and make sure they have a business plan. The delegates know the people best so they advise Berteau, to whom to give a loan. They also keep after people to pay back. As in most chapels many more women than men receive loans, because they are more reliable and will spend their money on their children. 250 people have donkey loans of which 47 are

late in paying. This is unusual as most people are good about paying back their donkey loans. There are no oxen loans extant which is also unusual…. They are still wishing for a manioc grinder for $40,000 but we are not prepared to help with such a large loan. 10 groups are waiting for first time loans. Most children go to the chapel school, and they are very pleased with it. Venet Pierre is the delegate from Savanette. Savanette has 60 groups of five, comprising about 300 people. 27 groups don’t pay back on time. That’s a big problem in what used to be a fairly well off area. This is the chapel where they have all the latiniere (a kind of reed) businesses to weave baskets, make brooms, etc. They also have 24 donkey loans and 17 oxen loans: 6 males and 11 cows. The cows have produced 4 female babies. They sell the milk and use the oxen for plowing and transportation: to drive their ox carts. They also sell rice and beans and other market products and complain that they need bigger loans. Most of the children go to school, but not all. Student attendance at school is getting better, Venet said, and the oxen loans are all being paid back. They have 5 groups waiting for loans. Mme Lecomte and Marmontal Pierre represented the town, the more prosperous of the areas. They have 63 groups and some individual loans for a total of 313 people. 7 groups don’t pay on time. They also have 138 donkey loans and 13 oxen loans paid off. The corn grinder is also doing well although I pointed out that they didn’t pay in December, but they say they paid three days ago. The group that runs it has about 6 more years of payments on the original $10,000 loan. Several people testified that what MICAPPI is doing for the community is more than the government has ever done for them. That it has helped them tremendously to improve their lives. And in general everyone we spoke to is super enthusiastic about the loan program. Mme Lecomte of the town, also discussed the clinic where she is the pharmacist.. She said many people come to the clinic because they trust they will get good care there. Most can pay for their visit (3 HD, which is about 40 cents US) and the blood tests (about 20 HD), but if they can’t, it is free.

Medicines are also expensive, but free to the needy. The clinic now has a woman on the staff called Rosiné, who runs a special program to care for people with tuberculosis. There is also in Pignon a vaccination program and an aids program run out of the hospital and supported by the government. There is very little cholera in Pignon, but for those who get it, there is a cholera center at the hospital. Diabetes is a problem that needs addressing. After the meeting we had a quick tour of Father’s new radio station that was launched with the help of St. Benedict’s College in Kansas, then lunch and a nap which was most needed as I was exhausted.. The radio station is quite a boon to Pignon as it broadcasts besides continuous music played by a disc jockey, advertisements from the hospital, advice from the vet and information about microcredit, plus, of course, evangelization. When I questioned whether enough people in Pignon had radios to make this worthwhile, Father pointed out that most people listen on their cell phones. The radio station is only two rooms, but state of the art with sound-proofing, comfortable furnishings and the latest technology. Then at 3:30 pm we headed to the old magazin, the store, which is now the new Bon Secours Agrovet, the vet clinic. This move has freed up the former office of the vet for Ketheline and the clinic. It is difficult to say how it is working as there is little in the building except a bunch of spades, pick axes and roofing material that Moussanto is selling…plus his pharmaceutical supplies. We did walk around the property and noticed that a portion of the wall had collapsed; maybe 10 feet that needs to be repaired (estimate $375 US). Also the well serving the vet office and corn grinder, needs a submersible pump and water tank for storage. The property does have electricity as long as the town electricity is on which is about half of the time, but over the holidays someone cut his electric line to steal the electricity, and it has not yet been repaired. Moussanto is to get us an estimate on the submersible pump, pvc pipe, and tank for water, but he thinks it might cost as much as $4 to $5 thousand US. (Important note here – through 2013 we used $8 HD for $1 US in our calculations for all salaries and projects. For 2014 we will use $8.5 HD for $1 US as it more accurately reflects the exchange rate. Also, from now on all budgets will be expressed in Haitian dollars.) We then headed out to Moussanto’s property in the countryside near Matabonite where we visited his egg, chicken and goat projects. Moussanto started with Haiti Breeders (chickens for meat), but in September he slaughtered and sold all of them, because they were becoming too expensive to feed. The goat project, for which he took a loan from us, is down to two or three goats that are cared for by local people. When they have babies, Moussanto shares the profits with them. He is learning how to empower his poverty stricken neighbors who live in desperation from day to day, and I suspect it will work out. The egg project, one of many starting all over Haiti, began with the construction of a large hen house and the purchase of 200 laying hens which now produce about 120 brown eggs a day. Unfortunately, the hens are pecking each other seriously, and 50 have died. Moussanto is considering several alternatives.

The first is selling them to a man who likes this variety of hens and is ready to buy them. He would probably let them run loose. If Moussanto does this, he will buy white leghorns instead that supposedly don’t destroy each other. The only problem is that people like the taste of brown eggs, and the leghorns’ eggs are white. The other alternative is building separators between the present hens to keep down this pecking activity. He said the problem is caused because of the lack of minerals in their diet, but then he said he introduced more minerals, and it didn’t seem to help. Perhaps a little more research is necessary. Another problem is that the chicken feed comes from the Dominican Republic and is so expensive now that it is difficult to make a profit on the egg sales. Recently the Dominican Republic raised the cost of chicken feed in Haiti, because of growing competition between the new Haitian egg producers and their own egg producers, who used to sell two million eggs a day in Haiti. He says he could grow corn and take it to the corn grinder and then mix it with pigeon peas to make his own chicken feed. However, to do that he would need a mixer, that he says would cost $2,000 for an electric one or $600 for a hand operated one. We returned to the rectory for dinner and a prayer meeting. Moussanto also has a growth of mango trees from our reforestation project, and they seem to be doing well. Mangos are one of Haiti’s largest exports. Day 3 – Thursday After breakfast we unpacked the four large suitcases of medicines that we brought with us and laid everything out on the dining room table. We had a lot of amoxicillin that they badly needed. We then sorted it and carried it to the clinic pharmacy for a tour. It was Steve’s first trip to the clinic. We took pictures of all the hospital equipment donated to us by Riverview and Bayshore hospitals and got caught up on the latest happenings. After the clinic tour we had a long meeting with Ketheline and Father Mervil about the future of the clinic. We began by talking about medicines. We had noticed the pharmacy was seriously low on medicines. I pointed out that the clinic was registered so they should be able to get the medicine from Promesse in PAP at an excellent discount. Father said that the Ministry of Health says that the only place to get discounted medicine for clinics in the Cap Haitien area is at the Justinian Hospital in Cap Haitien.

Ketheline said she needs to have a source of money on hand to buy the medicines she needs.. She also needs a medicine cabinet that can be locked, 2 IV poles, oxygen tanks, 2 file cabinets, and a doctor that works more than 3 days a week. Also needed for the dental clinic is anesthesia for tooth extractions, lidocaine 2% with epinephrine and some without, and more sealants. Ketheline also would like to hire an auxiliary nurse. Apparently, she and Father Mervil have picked the person, Katheline Prophete-Noel who could work 5 days a week for 1000 HD a month ($116). If we can afford it, she is ready to start immediately. And the last request from Ketheline was to find a way to provide the health clinic with electricity on a 24 hour basis. The town electricity is on most of the time, but not always. We had none for one whole day, and it usually, but not always, is off at night. Father is not always there to turn on the generator when the electricity fails, and because of the cost of the diesel fuel, he doesn’t like running it continuously. I suggested we get the solar panels on the roof of the rectory working once again. The batteries and inverter had died some years ago and should have been replaced. At first they laughed, but finally they realized how easy it would be to run the wire from the solar panels to the clinic as they are adjacent, so father agreed to research the cost of the batteries and a new inverter. In 1999 when we received a grant for the solar panels for $17,000 it was the only electricity available, and they took very good care of the batteries and inverter. When electricity came to town, and subsequently when we sent them a backup generator, they stopped using the solar panels and the batteries started to decay. They also need a full time doctor (the one they have at present is only there three times a week for a few hours), and they have found one, Dr Rodriquez Pierre, a Haitian from Pignon, who graduated from the Escuela Latinoamericana de Medicina in Cuba. He has recently finished his social service year and is now looking for full-time employment. We agreed to a six month probationary.

After the meeting we had lunch and took short naps. At 87 degrees, it’s a good idea. At 3:30 pm the guys went to Jean Brulé chapel to inspect the trees that had been planted, and I met with father and went over the list of secondary school students (about 143 of them)… About 15 of the secondary school students will graduate from Philo this year, and thus be off our list. We also have 16 elementary school students who will graduate from the sixth grade of St. Joseph’s school, the parish school in July. Father Mervil would like us to provide sponsors for these 16 students to go to his new Catholic High School, Notre Dame de Bon Secours, which just opened in September of 2013. (There is

no other Catholic high school in Pignon and only one other in the area and that is St. Gabriel’s in Fontaine that Pierre Louis Joizil started and that is an independent Catholic School with ties to the Xaverian Brothers. Friends of Fontaine paid for the construction and the operating expenses of St. Gabriels for their first three years.) We will also have to ask the sponsors of the 6 sixth grade students who are paying $80 to send a child to elementary school this year, to next year send their child to the secondary school at a cost of $140 or maybe even $145. Tuition in Father’s new secondary school is $142 plus $34 for books and supplies which the parents have to pay. We will have to see what we can do. Moussanto came over at 5 pm, and we reviewed the 2013 and 2014 budgets for the vet clinic and reforestation program. We noted in the August report that 7,216 seedlings had been planted and distributed including 200 in Fontaine at St. Gabriels, all of which was quite an accomplishment. We also discussed Moussanto’s 2014 vet budget, then had a late dinner and ended up going to bed early, skipping the prayer meeting and card playing. I think Father was disappointed as he loves to play rummy with us. I would have liked a hot shower and a flushing toilet, but unfortunately that is not yet where the rectory is at.. Day 4 – Friday January 10 After 6 am mass and breakfast, we had our annual Microcredit review and audit with Berteau. This took all morning; from 9 am to 1:30 pm. The new MICAPPI office (stands for Microcredit and Caritas of the Parish of Pignon) now has two big rooms and a third room they share with the rectory where people come on Saturdays to pay back their loans. The office is attached to the rectory, and thus is secure. Berteau has a huge safe, abandoned by a defunct local credit union, and we paid to have it opened and recalibrated. We also last year paid for an inverter and batteries that kick in just for the microcredit office, when the city electricity is off. This way the office always has electricity and internet service. John and Dave counted the money in the cashbox while I went over the 6 passbooks with Berteau. We have at the moment about 115 people waiting for 2nd or more loans for a total of $16,729 US. People who have paid on time usually have to wait only a week for their next loan. Also, waiting for first time loans of $115 US each are 95 people for a total of $10,925 US. We discussed that Berteau should give out donkey loans as he has enough in the passbook to give out 29 donkey loans at $125 US each ( 1000 Haitian dollars - $125 US). Donkey loans are one time loans, so always a good investment for MICAPPI and a great boon to those who receive them. Berteau also needs to give out some oxen loans as he has a list waiting.. He only has enough in the oxen account to give out 3 oxen loans, but he would like to give out 9. This is a good project for us to fund as people who get oxen loans are good payers, and it is also a one time loan of 5000 Haitian Dollars or approximately $590 US each.

In addition, Berteau would like to start a separate account for goat loans at $80 US (600 HD or 3000 GDS) a goat. It would be the same deal: 1 year loans at 2%. He would like to start with 10 goats each in three zones. (There are 7 zones, or chapels). I suggested that he give the first goat loans to the chapels (zones) that pay back their loans best. It would reward those who pay on time. He agreed to start with the chapels, because the people of the chapels are much poorer than those in town. The initial investment would be $2,400 for 30 goat loans. At the moment we are still charging only 1% interest on the microloans, but each borrower also pays 1.5% into their savings and .5% into the emergency fund for a total of 3% from the original loan. If they leave the program we give them their savings. Also they can have the savings sooner as long as the savings exceed what is still owed on the loan. For animal loans the terms are slightly different as the cost of the animals care and shots for one year is deducted from the loan. This gives Moussanto a little cash and protects the animals and their owners from disease for a year at least. We discussed what to do if someone dies. I suggested we forgive the loans, but Berteau tells us that sometimes the family or other people in her group will pay it back. In fact, Mme Boutus Charles says that’s what they did in her group. Another question that was asked is what to do about people asking for individual credit; people who do not want to be in a group of 5. We pointed out that if they have always had individual credit they are grandfathered in (may continue); any others who ask can be given an individual loan at Berteau’s discretion. Berteau or Pierre Louis continue to give a 3 hour training session to anyone receiving a first loan. At 1:30 pm we ended the meeting- then lunch, a short walk, and a nap until 3:00 pm when Henri Claude Crepin the elementary school principal in Pignon town arrived. Henri Claude is also in charge of all the elementary schools run by the church in the chapels; that includes the 998 students total from Savane Rouge, La Belle Mere, Bohoc and Fontaine, and the 800 in the town school where we give sponsorships.

He then proudly presented us with the results of the national exams given the 53 sixth grade students in the St Joseph’s, the town school in July, 2013. A passing grade in these exams qualifies them to go on to secondary school if they can afford it which most can’t. (In Haiti elementary school goes from pre-school to 6th grade (7 years), and secondary school goes from 7th to Philo, another 7 years). The grades on the sixth grade exams were outstanding. Everyone passed and out of a total of 1200 pts almost everyone was in the top 1/3, a few in the top ¼. He also gave us a copy of the Ministry of Education’s rating of all the schools on the Grande Plateau of Zone 001; the rating was based on the results of the sixth grade exams, and while we were one of the smaller schools, our rating was the highest in most of the categories and the highest overall. Then he came to his main agenda. Would we consider paying for school lunches for the 800 student elementary school in the town? Evidently, the World Vision Food Program which had been supplying lunches has withdrawn from Pignon proper and is now only providing lunches for the chapel schools which make up about another 998 students. (The chapel schools’ students are on the whole much poorer than those in the town.) He wants $1.25 US a week per student which we estimated would cost about $96,000 US a year. We told him that this was impossible; we simply don’t have the money (just as we had told him last year.) We reminded him that our mission is to give loans so people can start small businesses and send their children to school, and for the worst off we provide school sponsorships. We discussed tuition in the Pignon school with is 350 HD plus 300 HD for books and supplies for grades pre-K to 4. This is about $88 US. For grades 5 and 6 this goes up to about $94 US per student. We presently give $80 a student and their parents make up the difference. The only other school assistance that we provide is $300 a month to supplement teachers’ salaries and $3,000 a year to pay the teachers’ salaries and school up keep of the very poor chapel of Savane Rouge which we helped start many years ago. At 5 pm Moussanto showed up with Venold, and we agreed to spend a year evaluating the reforestation project. We would pay Venold, who has worked in reforestation for 16 years, a small stipend to just check on how the various trees that were planted in 2013 were being cared for/and or were surviving. Had the goats eaten them? Were they being watered? Were they flourishing as expected? He will not have to make special trips to the chapels for this, but just look things over when he is in a chapel for his veterinarian duties. Basically, it will involve very little work or time…just some observations which he can convey to Moussanto who can share these with us. After an excellent dinner, we played rummy with Father and the deacon. Day 5 – Saturday, Market Day… No mass today. Vee and I awoke at 7 and went downstairs where I started recording the past days’ events in this report. Then we found out that the meeting which I had requested with the women of the town was scheduled for 9 am so after breakfast we quickly got ready. At 9 am there were only three women present, Edeline Benjamin of Savane Rouge, Gladys Nicola from the town and Ilna Rock, a cousin of Ketheline, from the town. They have all had multiple loans from MICAPPI and are very successful mostly selling alcohol made from sugar cane for rum. I had

interviewed Edeline and Gladys last year and gave them their pictures, and since we were waiting for more people to arrive, I decided to interview Ilna Rock while we waited. Ilna Rock has six children, 25 grandchildren and 1 great grandchild. She started her first loan with rice and beans and cornmeal in 1995 and has done very well. She now takes her products as far away as St. Raphael to sell. She goes there by bus, a possibility not available just a few years ago. At the moment she has applied for an oxen loan. When one member of her group of 5 died, she and the other women got together and paid her loan back. She thinks the reason some people can’t pay their loans back, is mostly from negligence. She attributes her success to being very prudent and understanding business. We also found out from Mme Nicola that a barrel of sirop for rum now sells for 450 HD in PAP. Finally at 9:50 we started the meeting with a song, Holy God We Praise thy Name and Espri San, Desann Sou Nou, and then I explained why we were there…. The fact that the children in the 800 person school have no lunches; that many are fainting and hungry all the time. One woman quoted the parable that an empty sack can not stand.. We also learned that the school charges parents 80 HD a year for nine months of lunches, but that is under $10 US, so obviously it doesn’t go very far. She said, the food ran out about 3 months ago, so Henri Claude hasn’t charged for this year. She also told us that sometimes Henri Claude will buy food for children out of his own money. In the meantime two more women joined our group, Mme. Boutus Charles and Elimene Dorcius, both of the town. I was anxious to involve Mme. Charles as she is a very successful market woman and told me previously that she could organize anything. All the women were so enthusiastic about the loan program (MICAPPI) and said it saved their lives. They thanked us again and again for this miracle in their lives. We then read the Gospel of Mark’s account of the feeding of the 4000 and, in liberation theology style asked how they felt this parable applied to them today. One said only God can do miracles. When I suggested that perhaps when the disciples started to share the few loaves and fishes that they had, everyone dug into their pockets and also shared what they had and suddenly there was enough for everyone with food left over… They liked that. (Vee had read the story from a Creole bible for them.) We then discussed whether perhaps if everybody in the town would share their food there would be enough to feed the school children. Several of the women said that the rich won’t share… So I pointed out that in the parable it was the poor who shared… Then, I asked whether perhaps they could start an organization called, Feed Our Children, run completely by women, to discuss ways of feeding the children. They got very excited about the idea and talked among each other animatedly. They mentioned that they were the mothers, and it was there responsibility to feed their children. Then they concluded that they would have to call a big meeting of all the mothers and discuss what could be done. But first they would have to ask Father, Berteau and Henri Claude, the principal. We volunteered to talk to father, Berteau and Henri Claude for them as starters. We said we would help where we could, and that Vee living in PAP would be there connection to us.. Cell phone numbers were exchanged. The proverb was quoted that a person has two legs to walk, but sometimes he needs a cane to help.” I agreed that we would be their cane, and that they could contact me through Vee. We were willing to offer some limited help. The meeting ending with much enthusiasm and an “Our Father”, prayed each in our own language, plus M and M candies for all. We assured them that we

would be praying for them everyday in the months to come. One lady said this will be the biggest thing ever in Pignon. In the afternoon, Vee, Lawrence and I met with Berteau, Henri Claude Crepin, the principal, and Father Mervil to tell them about our experience with the market women at the morning meeting. We also re-explained that we could not afford to fund the school lunches, but we felt that there were resources in the community to do so. They were not happy about it, to say the least. Both declared that they wouldn’t have anything to do with such a plan, that the women definitely had misunderstood us and would think we would pay for it, that the women weren’t capable of such a program, and that they would ask people like Pastor Caleb for a bag of rice and make the church and school look bad. Lawrence pointed out that he thought the women understood the idea completely and Berteau, said that while he would not have anything to do with it either, he suggested that they let the women give it a try. There was no swaying Father and Henri Claude, no matter how hard we tried. We ended up by saying they didn’t have to have anything to do with it, but would they just let the women try it and not interfere. Then I asked them to pray over it and asked Father to lead the prayer, so we parted peaceably. What will happen is anybody’s guess, but I think we made our point. Father pointed out that when Jesus fed the multitude that was a one time, one day miracle, and that what I wanted was a miracle every day. We shall see what happens. I suspect we upset the power structure. Maybe we do need a miracle. We had a beautiful prayer meeting that night and then played a rousing game of rummy with Father. The issue was not discussed again. Day 6 – Sunday, July 12 There was only one mass today from 7-9 am at which we commemorated January 12, 2010, the day that the earthquake struck Haiti, producing an enormous loss of life and property and generating problems that four years later are still far from being solved. The music was beautiful, as was the liturgical dancing. While remembering a sad event, the general orchestration of the liturgy supported a very spiritual atmosphere and a sense of God’s presence in our midst. Father does a good job, and involves many lay people in the service. The church youth group sat on the sides of the altar, about 25 of them, there were several deacons and altar boys, and women did the readings and young girls the dancing. Lay people also accepted the collection. After mass we had another delicious breakfast of spaghetti and much more and toasted the appointment that morning of the first Haitian cardinal, Bishop Chibly Langlois of Les Cayes. At breakfast Father announced that he was throwing a dinner party to celebrate the 20th anniversary of our twinning program at 3 pm, and that he had invited 20 people. I also met with Ketheline and Father about developing a budget for the clinic; in fact we did so together. Ketheline had recorded a lot more information and was better organized than I expected. In the meantime, we took walks, talked, napped and worked on our computers and reports.

At 3 pm we gathered in the dining room. Present were Moussanto, Ketheline, Berteau, Pierre Louis, Kenold, and their spouses and children; also the deacon and the pastor of Savanette, plus Mr. Earnest Noel and the six of us. We had a great meal and told stories of the early days of the program, and how each person got involved. In the end we sang Happy Birthday to John, Lawrence and Cawensky all of whom had birthdays the following week. We also toasted Pope Francis and the newly appointed Cardinal Chibly. The Haitians were so excited about this first, you can’t imagine. The

party went on into the early evening. Day 7 – Monday We visited the school in the morning and picked up the list of elementary school children that we sponsor as well as their pictures. We also visited the first class of the new College of Notre Dame that is temporarily housed in one of the old sewing classrooms. It looked like there were about 30 seventh grade students. We were wondering what Father would do next year, when he had an 8th grade also, but he said he didn’t know yet. We have repeatedly told him that we can’t support or build another

school.

Today’s Leaders with their Mentors and Families Our Delegation Greets the Congregation Then, after a delicious lunch of rice and beans and fish, we took the 1:45 pm flight back to PAP. We were picked up by Vee’s cousin’s driver who drove us to visit the Sant where our present university student, Josler Noel, is housed. He is about 38 years old and is living there with 6 other university students who are probably much younger. The Xaverian brothers run this hospitality house for

students, and they run a tight ship. Everyone goes to 6 am mass after which they take a tap tap (bus) to the university. It usually takes at least an hour each way. School is from 8-3, and when he returns he has to study, then help with the cooking, have evening prayer and study some more. Brother James sat with us during the interview, and then we toured the facilities, which were very clean and roomy. The brother’s original house had been destroyed in the earthquake, and they were renting this one. By 5:30 pm we were back at Matthew 25 House after some terrible traffic and ready for dinner and an early evening. We were all leaving in the morning in various stages depending on our flight. Day 7 – January 14 – Home again – I spent the morning working on this report, and at 12 noon we headed for the airport. Our flight took off right on time at 3 pm, and we were at JFK and then home by 9:30 pm exhausted, but joyful about having seen all our friends in Pignon and about all we had accomplished and seen. It was a good trip!