We were blessed today by one of the “coolest days” we have ever had on missions—which was very welcome in our foray into summer camp today!
Led by the van of the Missionaries of Charity, we drove through the streets of Port-au-Prince and its markets, too, to arrive to St. Joseph’s School, our home base for summer camp. We had a few minutes for morning prayer and leaving our supplies in our designated classroom, and then we were off to meet our teams or get our stations ready.
The summer camp this week consists of girls, ages 5-12 who live near the St. Joseph’s School area. They were very welcoming and enthusiastic and took to us immediately (even with a language barrier!)
It was a long and tiring morning as we were “on call” almost the entire time we were with the girls—from 9 until 12:30. But in a paradoxical way, the time also seemed to pass quickly.
The Missionaries of Charity offer the girls a simple breakfast and a substantial lunch as part of the camp. Something that it shocked us to see was the girls’ choosing not to eat their food in order to save it for later or for their families back home. So, during games today we would see some of the biscuits fall from their hidden pockets and at lunch time some sneaking their hard-boiled egg away, or even forgoing drinking the cold soda that was offered! Br. Kramer invited us to reflect on how this differs from our own experience back home.
We had some time of lunch and rest back at the guesthouse and then returned to the Children’s home for the afternoon. We loved getting to see our “favorite” kids again! In an altogether short amount of time, we returned to the guesthouse for some more chillax time before our dinner, sharing, Mass and adoration.
Tomorrow we have a new adventure as we will spend the entire day at the Missionaries of Charity Home for the Dying. We look forward to encountering Christ in the people there and bringing Christ to them. Pray that we are open to this experience and lend ourselves to our greatest capacity.
Thank you for praying for our mission, please keep it up!
