KCHS Haiti Mission Trip #7

There were eight of us total who made the trip to Boucan-Carre, Haiti from Jan. 10-17th. It was a great trip, the kids were fantastic, and we had many amazing new experiences in our time there. First, we photographed over 1200 students in both the primary and secondary schools, which is our primary way to provide people with the opportunity to adopt Haitian students each year. Each student that is "adopted," receives a year's education, uniform, and in the primary school, one hot meal each day. Through the generosity of our Cathedral Parish of Sacred Heart, and many many others, our primary school is thriving. the secondary school continues to have great need as the roof blew off of it a few months ago. the secondary school students are now meeting in three different places, including inside the sanctuary of St. Michele's Catholic Church and on the grounds of the rectory. This school will be the primary focus of our fund raising at Catholic for the next few years.

The kids spent a fair amount of time with Odette, who is the woman we built a house for last year. It was great to see her living in a solid concrete home that began as a dream of Cindy Mire, Jordan Pyda, and many of our KCHS students. Seeing the finished structure created a new pride in our projects there, past and future. The students really get fired up when they see real examples of their faith put into action. The Haiti Club at KCHS continues its explosive growth under our excited and energetic moderator, Hope Parks.

The hospital is another place we visit often when we're in the village, and the kids were treated to getting to hold the hand of a tiny infant born a month before our arrival. She was about 8' long and stole all our hearts. She lay on a bed with her mother breathing on her own but under the watchful eye of the nurses in the hospital that we support. Partners in Health continue to be our valuable partner in Boucan-Carre. Any meaningful project in Haiti begins with prayer, but quickly turns to clean water, health care, and a serious look to the poverty of the country. We are all very proud indeed to have learned so much from our friends at PIH (Zamne Lasante in Creole).

Being able to bring first time students down to Haiti continues to be a font of great joy for me. Watching the kids take it in and begin the process of trying to work out what they feel in their hearts is a special gift for me personally. In just five days, we visited the sick in the hospital, visited people in jail, received food gifts from Odette (can you imagine?), and worshiped with the community as we shared communion at the Lord's table in the holy sacrifice of the Mass, etc. the gospel is something that bites you in the face in Haiti. Haiti continues to be a huge gift that brings new attention and interest in serving the poor, and causes us all to reflect on our own blessings of family, health, and life.