|
A Holy Family video team traveled to Haiti in December, 2007. What follows is a journal of their experiences as they document the marvelous work of Fr. Tom Hagan in Haiti.
Fr. Tom's Haiti
We arrived at Holy Family Church at 6:00 p.m. on Friday, November 30. Four strong, we were on our way to videotape a documentary about the work of Fr. Tom Hagan, founder of Hands Together, better known at Holy Family as Mission Haiti. We knew that it was going to be an exciting venture, but we also knew that it would be a major challenge to capture the spirit of Hands Together in one short week of videotaping.
After flying all night, we arrived in Port-au-Prince at 9:00 a.m. the next morning. By 11:00 a.m., we were in the middle of Cite Soleil experiencing and videotaping the reality of the worst slum in the western hemisphere. We walk by the tin shacks through a sea of garbage, fearing that the a rusty nail or sharp piece of metal might pierce our thin sneakers. Then we saw the children, shoeless and often naked, running through the trash as if it were our beautiful artificial turf. We knew instantly that one had to be tough to exist in this frightening world, but our tentative, "Bon Jour!" always brought forth a welcoming return "Bon Jour!" and a huge smile. We were with Fr. Tom and that meant we were family.
In the slums of Cite Soleil, Fr. Tom is Pere Tom. Pere is French for Father. No one is more respected in Cite Soleil than Pere Tom. The children flock to him. The adults revere him. The needy besiege him. We felt safe walking in this forsaken but violent land because we walked with Pere Tom. Anyone who walked with Pere Tom must be a friend of the poor.
There was, of course, in Cite Soleil no running water, no electricity, no sewers, no trash disposal. The stench from the rotting garbage and sewer slime was overwhelming. We knew we were in the world of Pere Tom.
We asked the children if they go to school. They proudly pointed to a compound, completely surrounded by the slum. "This is our school! Pere Tom gave us this school." Since it was Saturday the children were not in school. But in this desolate waste, we saw the first glimmer of hope.
We chanced upon one of the shacks being built. A skeleton structure of branches, only one to two inches thick, formed the framework of the shack. The home-to-be was approximately twelve by twelve feet square, very typical of the thousands of homes that we saw surrounding us. The builder was nailing random pieces of corrugated and rusty tin to this meager framework. We marveled that he could find enough wood to hold the nails, but in the short time we were there, most of the "home" was finished and another family had at least a modicum of privacy.
Right in the middle of the slums, Pere Tom showed us another Hands Together venture, model homes to replace the tin shacks. Since Cite Soleil is situated at the mouth of a river emptying into the ocean, the slum is subject to flooding from heavy mountain downpours or tropical storms that bring a surging sea. So Pere Tom and his workers build the model homes on foundations approximately two feet high. The frameworks of the two room homes are solid 4x4s, or 2x6s with sturdy doors, tin roofs, and plastered exterior/interior walls.
The Hands Together houses are given to the poorest of the slum dwellers, often the elderly. To date, Hands Together has built 165 houses, a tiny fraction of the houses needed in this slum of one half million people. But Hands Together is modeling what needs to be done in the hope that the government or some other major agency will step forward to build the number of homes needed to transform this slum into a livable neighborhood.
Day 2 of Videotaping
Our second day in Haiti was a Sunday. At the only church in the slum of Cite Soleil, Fr. Tom celebrated Eucharist for hundreds of children and their families. The church itself is not distinctive - merely a large concrete block structure with corrugated iron sheeting for a roof. What is distinctive is that the roof is pierced by rows of bullet holes, reminding everyone of the more violent days in the past when the UN gunships targeted the gangs in Cite Soleil. But today, the community gathered in a joyful and peaceful celebration.
When we entered the church, we couldn't help but notice the paintings on the wall behind the altar. In vivid detail the upper painting depicted a bloody Christ hanging on the cross. Christ's body was that of a black person. Below the crucifixion scene was a painting similar to Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper, only the disciples were black people. Fr. Tom explained why these paintings are so special to him and the people of the slum. All the artwork was created by gang members whom Fr. Tom has rescued from the gangs and given a new life. Like true artists, they took great pride in their work.
From the church, we moved to a section of Cite Soleil where once there were rows of two story houses. During the height of the violence the houses were shelled and now only remnants remain. Squatters occupy what is left. The ruins of these houses stand in stark contrast to a series of houses which Hands Together has constructed literally across the street from the ruins. Fr. Tom calls them his housing project. Built on foundations that are at least two feet high to escape the floods of Cite Soleil, the houses are simple enough, but eminently functional. Each has at least two rooms, and each is freely given by lottery to one of the poorest families in the community. There is, of course, no running water or electricity, but to these poor people, one of Fr. Tom's houses is heaven on earth!
Fr. Tom cannot afford to build very many of these houses. So far, he has constructed 165. Each costs from $2,000 to $3,000 U.S. dollars. Fr. Tom is pointing the way for some major institution or world charity, much better funded than Hands Together, to move in and construct thousands of such houses to clean up Cite Soleil. Let us pray that such will be the case sometime in the not too distant future.
Day 3 of Videotaping
It was interesting. The video crew were all professional TV and film personnel. Paul Babb produces and directs TV commercials; Phil Browne is a lighting director for TV productions; and Ken Buckowski is both a TV director and cameraman. All volunteered their time to videotape this documentary. What was interesting upon our return to the states was that each man thanked me for including them on the crew. Thanking me for allowing them to volunteer! It could not have been a more professional, dedicated, and hard working bunch.
Our third day began in one of Fr. Tom's schools. Each school has to be walled in to keep the slum from literally engulfing the school buildings. Each school is an incredible oasis in a sea of garbage and tin hovels that is the reality of the slum of Cite Soleil.
We walked into a classroom to face a sea of bright eyes and smiling faces. We were met with a laud chorus, "Bon Jour!" and a beautiful Creole song of welcome. We were experiencing the first of many classroom visits that told us how thrilled the children were to have a school - and a tuition-free school at that! There is no charge at any of Fr. Tom's schools, but none of them is totally free. That could demean their value. The tuition, books, supplies, and the big noon-day meal are all free, but the parents and the children work to cook the meal, sew the uniforms, keep the classrooms clean, and perform all maintenance. This develops a sense of pride in the parents and children. It is their school. They feel that they own it!
Fr. Tom has eight schools in the slum of Cite Soleil, enrolling 8,000 children. We quickly realized that the schools were more than just schools. They were like community centers. At each school the grandparents and other elderly gathered. A health worker from Fr. Tom's medical clinic visited the school, cared for the children, and also ministered to the elderly infirm.
One of the many beautiful things about Fr. Tom is that he cares for the whole community. Everyone is his concern, young and old alike.
|
Day 4 of Videotaping
We knew that our fourth day of videotaping was going to be exciting. We were going to visit Ti Desdunnes, the site of the new school which Fr. Tom is building and which Fr. Tom is naming Holy Family School in thanksgiving for the support of Holy Family parish. But first we had to get there.
As we traveled north to reach Ti Desdunnes, we had to turn off the main road and drive several miles into a barren desert-like plain. (Photo 1) We passed stands of saguaro cacti and mesquite bushes. We asked Fr. Tom how in the world did he get involved in such a remote and desolate corner of Haiti and he explained that he had asked Bishop Constant of Gonaives where was the poorest place in his diocese. When the Bishop said, Ti Desdunnes, Fr. Tom said that he would like to help there. (Photo 2) All Fr. Tom could do at first was to provide potable drinking water. Then he built a nutrition center to feed 600 children a day. (Photo 3) This was several years ago, and since then the once prevalent red hair of the children (a sign of severe malnutrition) has now given way to healthy black hair and bright eyes. (Photo 4) But there was not school until Fr. Tom challenged us last May and the parish so generously responded.
When we arrived at Ti Desdunnes, the village looked almost deserted. But when we ventured into the nutrition center, we were greeted by 300 children in blushing pink uniforms. (Photo 5) They were one of two daily seatings for a nourishing meal of rice, vegetable, and beans. Thrilled to see us, they sang a welcome song and mobbed Fr. Tom and Doug Campbell.
Our greatest thrill came when we saw the progress on the Holy Family School which Fr. Tom had promised the parish. (Photo 6) Not unlike our own Vision Project a few years ago, the beginnings of Holy Family School were fraught with delays. Fr. Tom did not want to build the school without a clear title to the land. (Photo 7) It took Fr. Gerard Dormevil (a Haitian diocesan priest who works full time with Fr. Tom) several months to obtain this title, but once it was obtained, work began in earnest. (Photo 8) To date, the foundations in concrete and attractive native stone have been laid and workers are beginning to build the forms for the re-enforced concrete columns that will be the framework for the cement block school building. (Photo 9)
We were proud of the parish as we stood with Fr. Tom and saw what a marvelous thing the parish was doing so far away for such needy children!
Late in the fourth day of our documentary videotaping, we watched in awe as Hands Together drilled for water on the desert plain southeast of Gonaives, Haiti. Where once there were magnificent mahogany forests and plentiful streams in colonial times, now there are barren deserts due to the colonial plunder of the distinctive dark wood. The hope for the country of Haiti is to find water to irrigate this fertile soil washed down from the mountains and motivate the people to stay on the land to farm instead of fleeing to the cities and ending up in the slums such as Cite Soleil. Hands Together recognized this, purchased a water well drilling rig years ago, and has now drilled over 200 wells throughout Haiti (Photo 10).
It was exciting to see the drilling rig hit water as we were watching. The wells not only provide water for irrigating, they also give the people potable water for drinking which greatly improves the overall health of the community. It was thrilling to watch the water gushing from the wells pour into the miles of irrigation canals that Hands Together has constructed while at the same time the villagers filled their five gallon buckets for drinking, cooking, and washing water.
Even more thrilling was our visit a little later to the nearby village of Brunette. When Hands Together first visited Brunette a few years ago, the villagers could barely eke out existence from the parched land. The children's hair displayed a red hue, the sign of extreme malnourishment. No trees rose above the low lying scrub brush. Now, only a few years after Hands Together drilled a well for Brunette and built the school of St. Paul for them, the children's hair is a healthy jet black, twenty and thirty foot trees shade the school playgrounds, and the irrigated farmland is lush with vegetables which the community sells to Gonaives. An incredible transformation (Photo 11)!
Day 5 of Videotaping
We arrived at Bassin, Haiti, in total darkness. We knew that we were on a mountain because our vehicle labored as it climbed steep inclines. We could see small fires burning below us and a few village lights piercing the darkness, but we could not get a sense of where we were until daylight in the morning. For now, we walked some stairs to a rooftop and gazed at the sky. When has the Milky Way ever been so bright? Why did the stars seem so touchable? In this remote area on this mountain top, the night sky had never been more spectacular.
In the morning, we celebrated a memorable liturgy with Fr. Tom on that same rooftop. (Photo 12) But now we could see a vast panorama below us. A magnificent valley. The village. Groves of fruit trees. Terraced hillsides. Beautiful farms. The village church. A new school under construction. Wisps of smoke from early morning fires. It was a sight and a view that we will never forget.
We were standing on the top of the Bassin Ecological Center, the dream of Fr. Gerard Dormeville, a diocesan Haitian priest who works with Fr. Tom full-time and who is well versed in agronomy. (Photo 13) The Center is a retreat center capable of accommodating as many as 100 persons. Hands Together purchased the land, built the Center, and drilled the well. Fr. Gerard provided the vision. His dream is to revitalize Haiti by teaching and demonstrating sustainable agriculture that is ecologically friendly. He holds workshops for farmers and leaders from throughout Haiti and has founded co-operatives in the local community to model his vision for the land. It was a privilege to visit the first Catholic Ecological Center in the world and videotape the groves of trees and rich farmlands that vividly illustrate what is possible with water and a will.
It was hard to leave Bassin. It has a fascinating attraction that is deeply and spiritually alluring.
Day 6 of Videotaping
It felt like we had been in Haiti for a month, but the calendar told us we had not been there even one week. So much poverty. Destitution. Garbage. Starvation. But also some signs of hope. Free schools. Free meals. Care for the elderly. Farmer education. Co-operatives. Even some first aid.
As we visited the school of St. Aviat on our sixth day, a young girl was being treated by the health worker from Fr. Tom's medical clinic. The girl had suffered a severe cut to her ankle and the wound was badly infected. The health worker from Fr. Tom's clinic had brought along basic first aid medications. He lanced the wound which was at least three inches long and quite jagged, then stitched and bandaged the wound after pouring on some disinfectant. Meanwhile, the girl grimaced in pain, but held her leg steady as the health worker did his job.
Without Fr. Tom's clinic, that wound could well have been deadly to that little girl. There are no medical facilities, other than Fr. Tom's clinic, in the whole of Cite Soleil. 500,000 people without a hospital! No medical recourse. Fr. Tom struggles with two full-time doctors, a nurse, and eight health workers to service his eight schools and their related communities. His main clinic is located in the heart of the slum in a very unique site. Literally outside the main entrance is an open ditch, perhaps 15 to 20 feet wide, full of undescribable filth and garbage. A maze of tin shacks, also surrounded by similar garbage, is the neighborhood. Pigs nose through the garbage and flies abound in the tropical heat. Unseen until nightfall are the hundreds of thousands of rats that scurry around and invade the shacks under cover of darkness. There, they are met by the oldest boy who must stand watch at night to protect his family from being bitten by the predators. An improbable setting for a medical clinic!
There is no running water or electricity at the clinic. The pharmacy has donated medicines and first aid supplies from donors such as our friends in Phoenix. All services are totally free. Records, albeit quite simple, are kept on thousands of the poor who avail themselves of the clinic. Again, a beacon of hope in a despicable situation!
|
Photo 1: Desert surrounding Ti Desdunnes
Photo 2: Village of Ti Desdunnes
Photo 3: The most popular place in the village
Photo 4: Bright eyes!
Photo 5: Meal time!
Photo 6: Site of new Holy Family School
Photo 7: Fr. Gerard Dormeville with Fr. Tom and Doug Campbell
Photo 8: Foundations in native stone
Photo 9: Preparing for a 2 story school
Photo 10: Over 200 wells drilled
Photo 11: Hope for the land
Photo 12: A memorable liturgy
Photo 13: Fr. Gerard Dormeville
Day 6: Fr. At least first aid!
Day 6: Msgr. and Mary Nally view the improbable site
Day 6: Fr. Tom and Mary Nally with the two Haitian doctors
|
| |
|
|
