Hi all, Here are two really neat emails from folks related to ST. Joseph's and Wings of Hope. The first is from Michael who has been the 'architect' behind these orphanages. Trinity House is down in Jacmel and is another orphanage/school.
The 2nd email is from Alec who is in Haiti and has been working at Wings of Hope with his sister, KC (who works there full-time).
Ben
Dear family----
I spoke with Melchi this morning. He told me they are doing great at Trinity House. Our Trinity House dancers are the hit of the Canadian military. Our dancers have performed already three times for the Canadian military and relief workers. Last night they had a performance at Trinity House for over 20 Canadian doctors. The other two performances were , one at the wharf and one at the airport. This is helping keep the spirits of the Canadians up as well as the spirit of our dancers.
The Canadians have given our guys five huge tents that they set up for them on the soccer field. Each of the five tents holds 10 people. Melchi and the guys love the new tents. Melchi said they are also receiving food assistance.
This is all wonderful news coming one month after the horrors of the earthquake. It is encouraging to know our guys at Trinity are not sulking but are still lifting others up with their dancing, doing the best they can with what they have.
Keeping the thoughts positive ----Michael
I spoke with Melchi this morning. He told me they are doing great at Trinity House. Our Trinity House dancers are the hit of the Canadian military. Our dancers have performed already three times for the Canadian military and relief workers. Last night they had a performance at Trinity House for over 20 Canadian doctors. The other two performances were , one at the wharf and one at the airport. This is helping keep the spirits of the Canadians up as well as the spirit of our dancers.
The Canadians have given our guys five huge tents that they set up for them on the soccer field. Each of the five tents holds 10 people. Melchi and the guys love the new tents. Melchi said they are also receiving food assistance.
This is all wonderful news coming one month after the horrors of the earthquake. It is encouraging to know our guys at Trinity are not sulking but are still lifting others up with their dancing, doing the best they can with what they have.
Keeping the thoughts positive ----Michael
Dear family----
Here is a beautiful message from Alec Bersch, the brother of KC. It comes one month after the Jan. 12th earthquake. -----Michael
A month ago, this evening, I was at St. Joseph's, with Christopher Henry's brother, Patrick. Pat was a visiting guest at wings, and we had gone down because the Resurrection Dance theater, made entirely of St. Joseph Family members, was performing that night on the fifth floor of the building, which is their space for performances and rehearsals. Looking back, I remember doing my normal night routine, which is relaxing on the roof, taking in the sheer beauty of the area-- a view of most of petionville, and all of port-au-prince, going all the way to the coast. It was such a haven from the chaos of Port au Prince. I slept on a balcony of the sixth story, the chapel floor, and woke up very early the morning of the 12th, as I always did at St. Joseph's, to watch the sun rise. I have seen some incredible sunrises at Michael's house, and this one was no exception to the rule. If there is one thing that I am happy about, it is that I can say for sure that I never took that building for granted-- I always loved every moment that I was in the St. Joseph's building. Little did I know that the was the last time I would see that chapel, and on that very day my life would change forever.
A month later, life moves on. The St. Joseph's Boys have moved to Jacmel, and are living at Trinity House. At Wings, we have two adjacent rental homes now, that are connected by a side gate. One of the homes is for the kids to sleep in, and for school space, and the other has tons of space for the kids to play outside, and in the house we have space for offices, storage, and rooms for adult staff and volunteers. Michael has purchased the home that is directly next to the St. Joseph's Art Center. This building is actually the home that St. Joseph's was housed in before it built the current home-- so for Michael and many longtime supporters, it is somewhat of a homecoming. The collapsed St. Joseph's will eventually be torn down and rebuilt, and so will Wings of Hope. God only knows when St. Joseph's and Wings of Hope will be resurrected to their former glory, but in the meantime, we are all safe, happy and in great shelter.
The past few weeks at Wings have been very busy, as we are in the transition to a new home. A team of engineers surveyed the Wings building, and ruled that while it is nowhere near livable, we can go in to retrieve belongings and other needed things-- which is certainly a blessing. My main project has been the beautification of the new wings, specifically in gardening. I have retrieved plants from Wings, bought others, and was even given plants from St. Joseph's by Michael. There is a huge front yard of the Wings house for adults that will make a fantastic garden and play area. Currently, it is a huge pile of dirt and weeds, but with the hard work of the staff, and even the kids, we can make into a great space. (I even received a tremendous amount of help from two wonderful ladies, Sisters Joe and Fidelius. They are Franciscan nuns who live in the southwest tip of Haiti, but are close friends of the St. Joseph's family. Srs. Joe and Fidelius spent a week at Wings, and it was fun to have them around, doing gardening work and providing great company!). My hope is that I can cover both of these rental homes with flowers, trees and other greenery. For those who had the privilege of seeing the beauty of St. Joseph's, I want reclaim that beauty and bestow it to the new wings of housing.
Haiti in general has not had much of a chance to move on from this disaster. A month ago I wrote that is Haiti was in shambles, and port au prince is destroyed. This is still true, nothing has changed. There is some work happening to tear down rubble, and recover the bodies of people who were lost in collapsed buildings, but there is so much work that this is not something that can be finished immediately. This is not just an issue of recovery-- this country has to rebuild itself from the ground up. And to add to the sadness, Carnival has been canceled! The carnival celebration in Haiti is one of the biggest parties of the year for the country, and is a massive cultural event. People dance in costumes, build parade floats, and musicians premiere new songs for a nationwide carnival competition. But most of the floats are destroyed, the areas where people would have parties are refugee camps, and most of the big Haitian musicians died in the quake. Supposedly, this is the first time in the history of Haiti's carnival celebrations that it has been canceled....it is a huge blow to the morale of people, but is necessary, I suppose.
However, in the wake of this cancellation, there is something amazing that will take its place. Apparently, a prominent Haitian pastor received a "vision from God", as she says, that on the month anniversary of the quake, Haitians need to fast for the next three days. President Preval supports the idea so much that he has encouraged all Haitians to fast. Starting tomorrow, Febuary 12th, nearly the entire population of Haiti will not eat until monday morning.However, this is not to preserve food, or to conserve supplies. For some people, this fasting is akin to giving thanks for what they already have. For some, it is to pray to God that Haiti does not receive another earthquake. Hopefully, it will raise the morale of Haitians, and give strength to very weary people. It is so admirable that in the midst of all of this devastation, the citizens of this country want to come together as one people to fast.
Please continue to pray for the future of our St. Joseph's Family, and for the future of Haiti. If you feel compelled to donate to the rebuilding of Wings of Hope, you can do so at www.heartswithhaiti.org.
Peace,
Alec
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My Blog
http://haitimedical.blogspot.com/
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