St. Vincent's Year-End Report 2013 from Fr. Leon Sadoni

What follows below is a year end report on the life of the school, including its great successes and its massive challenges. Please read all the way through to get a fuller picture of St. Vincent's in 2013.

Dear Friends in the US,

On behalf of the children of St Vincent, I present to you my greeting. It is an honor for me to give you some news regarding St Vincent from July to December 2013.

We ended the school year 2012-2013 with 230 children. We had a great school year. Certainly we did have some difficulties, but with the donations and expertise of our partners, our experiences, and our dedication, we overcame these situations.

As usual at the end of the school year in July, St Vincent’s students took part in the official exams organized by the government. All the 17 students succeeded in these exams! Apart from the blindness and physical challenges that will always be present at these exams, this year 6 deaf children  took part in these exams for the first time. We accomplished this goal through the training that our Canadian and American friends gave to our teachers this year.

A Donor Challenge to raise money for Food

We have an offer from a very generous donor to match contributions of money for food, up to $6090.   That is the cost of feeding the resident children and staff of St Vincents School for one month

Please take this opportunity to go to our website at wtnhaitipartnership.org and DONATE to take advantage of this tremendous offer.  All donations go directly to Pere Sadoni, the priest in charge of the school. There are no administrative costs. Thank you in advance for your support

Susan Nelson

John's Reflection-"Baby Margaret"

​I had one of those ‘ah ha’ moments while on our last trip to Haiti that is bothering me. I can’t get it out of my mind and I would like to share it with you. During this trip I took several members of our group upstairs in the school to see ‘Drew’s kids’. These are the children at St. Vincent’s who are most severely handicapped. Most of the children had actually gone to class, but baby Marguerite Vincent was there. Marguerite is now close to 4 years old, so she is really no longer a baby, but for those of us who were there when she first came to the orphanage about 3 years ago, she will always be ‘baby Marguerite’. Baby Marguerite was baptized during that trip by Ollie Rencher and Father Sadoni with Allie Russo and John Robert serving as Godparents. Marguerite was born with hydrocephalus (water on the brain) and came to the orphanage just before the earthquake. We all think of the earthquake as a terrible thing and it was, but with the extra medical help that was available after the quake, Marguerite was able to have surgery to get 2 shunts to help control the spinal fluid and relieve some of the pressure on her brain.

The LandfillHarmonic Orchestra, Music at St. Vincent's

In a slum built on a landfill in Cateura, Paraguay, a community came together to build a "Recycled Orchestra" out of so-called "trash" from the landfill. Teenagers from the community have come together to play these instruments, and the sound is pretty incredible. Watch the video below, or follow ths link to listen to the LandfillHarmonic Orchestra. Beauty and music can be made anywhere!

We may be distracted by many things when we consider our children at St. Vincent's and the people of Port-au-Prince. Visual cues, such as tent cities and unpaved roads, may lead us to negative thoughts, like clouds on a rainy day.

Thank you to our donors

Our recent trip was supported by many donors. One donor answered my appeal to help pay for plane tickets for two team members who could not afford plane/room/board for two people which would have totalled $2000.  Another donor reached into his pocket (we were at church) and handed me $40 on the Sunday before I left for Haiti.  I used this money to pay for checking a computer as an extra bag on our trip to Haiti Oct12, and delivered the computer to Dr Beauvoir, the pediatric orthopedist who works year round at St Vincents
Many folks give donations large and small to help us serve the children at St Vincents.  I hope some of you who enjoyed reading our recent posts about our October trip will consider making a donation by clicking here: wtnhaitipartnership.org/donate

Susan Nelson

Reflections from the October 2013 team

Yesterday while we were waiting at the airport in Port au Prince, I asked the team members (after they managed to find a sufficient supply of french fries from the airport restaurant) to write down the answer to 3 questions:

What is your worst memory of the trip?
What is your best memory of the trip?
Name one person you met in Haiti who made an impact on you.

I will share their responses below, (with minimal editing).

Re-Entry

Happy to return home to the arms of our families and loved ones last night.  Retrieving jars of picliz from various suitcases to take home for me and John Mutin. Unfortunately, as my husband observed, picliz "does not travel well". The smell of vinegar and pepper wafted through the Memphis airport baggage area. My apologies to Edie, whose suitcase contents appeared to be soaked in picliz. I am not sure her family will appreciate that smell on every item she brought back from Haiti!

This morning my thoughts are of the contrasts facing us as we wake up in Memphis (or Sienna in New Orleans). The glory of a hot shower. The shock of a cold floor on bare feet. Morning without bug spray. Morning without fresh sweet mango and Haitian coffee. Brushing my teeth in tap water. Wanting to turn on the heater in my bathroom.  Driving on wide open streets with traffic lights and marked lanes.   Missing the smiles and hugs of the children at St Vincents.

To my team members if you are reading this, thank you all for your warm hearts and hard working hands (and feet!) this week.  I miss Bailey's laugh and James' quiet smile.  I told you all that re-entry would be difficult, and I hope you find a way to process your experience somehow over the next few weeks. Know that you have made friends with special children in a place that will always welcome you back.

Bon Jour!

Susan Nelson

Last day at St Vincent's

After our restful day at the beach, we were all happy to see the kids again. Emily B worked with me again in clinic. Her French skills were invaluable, although by this time my Kreyol is fairly functional, at least for basic exams.   Sherye has also taught us signs to use. Every morning on the bus, she stands at the front clutching a pole and demonstrates how to say "What is your name?  My name is... Do you have pain.  Show me where ..."  St Vincent's has about 50 or more deaf students, so we all got lots of practice.  One of the deaf teachers came to me and I was able to ask him "Are you a teacher?" as well as elicit his complaints of eye problems and back pain, all without Sherye's help. I was so proud of myself! After spending a week surrounded by people who speak a different language, between Kreyol, French and Sign, it is SO gratifying to be able to communicate.