Day 3 in Haiti found us sleeping in because our Mass this day wasn’t until 10:00 am! We enjoyed the extra bit of rest after our full day yesterday. By 9:00 am, we were loaded into the truck and on our way to the Home for the Dying. The scenery on the drive was spectacular as we got to see both the mountains surrounding Port au Prince as well as part of the ocean.
We arrived to the home early and saw all the kids who attend Sunday School in their classrooms with the Missionaries of Charity. Sister superior told us we could go up with the patients because Father wasn’t going to arrive until later.
Here was the moment of truth. We had to face our fears of this place head on. Up we went to the women’s ward and were promptly met by a group of smiling girls! It was still a bit awkward for us until Mary Jo remembered her nail polish, and we got started singing “Beauty School Dropout.” (No need to translate!)
The bell rang when Father arrived and we made our way down to Mass. The chapel was packed with all the Sunday School kids and we managed to pack ourselves in with them. We were impressed by the fervor with which these kids participated in Mass. They were quick to respond, sang louder each time the priest prompted them, sat still and actually paid attention during the 45-minute homily. Christina mentioned a feeling that we all shared–although we didn’t understand the homily, we were glad it was long because we were nervous about being with the people upstairs!
After Mass, sister asked us to help feed some of the patients, and we got right to it. Somehow it was a bit different from how we fed the kids at the Children’s Home. Some ate two bites, some ate two plates!
After awhile, we stepped out to have our own lunch together and then rejoined the women upstairs. Mary Kate and Christina were quickly detained by the young girls while Mary Jo and I decided to begin our room visits to the older patients. We started in one room offering lotion and a massage (and some physical therapy on the part of Mary Jo) with which we spent the next two hours or more. Meanwhile, back with the kids, Christina and Mary Kate were being treated to a spa by the girls! (Never have they had so much lotion in their hair as the girls tried to fix them up!)
Toward the end of our time there, the girls gave us a serenade, and we played several games with them. Then word got around that one of the women was dying and one of the girls took Mary Kate by the hand to go and pray with her. What a difference in the way that they approach death! The room felt almost joyful as many of the workers and patients gathered to pray around her!
Our ride came to get us before our friend passed away, and the girls followed us as we made our exit, waving to us and shouting their goodbyes.
On our way home, our driver took us on a short detour to see the ruins of the Cathedral in the city. It was destroyed in the earthquake while nearly all the seminarians were attending Mass. We stopped to pray for all the priests and seminarians who had lost their lives there, and for the rebuilding of Haiti for the Haitian people.
We ended the day tired and looking forward to a new experience tomorrow. We are helping at a nearby school…and we will see about the possibility of returning to the Wound Clinic in the afternoon.
Thank you all for your prayers, and we ask that you continue sending them our way! God bless you!
