Haiti cheri

ABOUT 50 Maryknoll Fathers & Brothers (some from St. T's), Sisters, Affiliates and employees gathered in the Asia room this afternoon to hear Fr. Romane St. Vil and Fr. Dennis Moorman speak about their recent humanitarian trip to Haiti.

Romane began the presentation by leading the gathering in singing "Come, Holy Ghost" and the recitation of the Lord's Prayer, Hail Mary and Glory Be.

Romane said that following the earthquake many people, especially from the Connecticut area where he works, were looking to make donations for the relief effort and they trusted Maryknoll to make sure the money got to where it was most needed. Maryknoll sent him to Haiti to access needs.

In Haiti he discovered three major needs: shelter, food and medical are still urgent and will remain for the foreseeable future.

Romane thanks the Sisters and Lay Missioners for volunteering their services.

Last month he put together a team of three doctors (including Dr. David Kim, former parishioner at St. Paul's in Queens where I help out), three nurses which originally intended to work with refugees in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, but they ran into bureaucratic obstacles so they moved their operations to Port-au-Prince. He consulted with UN, Red Cross and other agencies to see where best to offer service to the people.

He found Haiti lacked an overriding structure to coordinate distribution of tents, water and food so much aid remains at the airport.

The team stayed with Romane's brother at his house in the mountains where it was cooler, no mosquitoes and great food. They only ate the one meal each morning and worked in the city throughout the day with their mobile medical team. They treated 50~60 people each day.

Dennis then showed a slide presentation of the team, the devastation, tent communities and the Haitian people.

One million people remain homeless, although water and latrine facilities are available to most people, Dennis said.

Dennis, in addition to offering Romane moral support, was also able to use some of his training in ministering to people with emotional trauma.

On Monday, March 15th, Romane will accompany another larger group of medical volunteers into Haiti.

Fr. Dan Dolan observed it may be 20~40 years to bring Haiti back. Although we have fewer numbers, he said, Maryknoll can offer our experience in working with refugees, the most forgotten and most neglected.

Ms. Jo Albright, a Maryknoll Affiliate from New York City, said the Affiliates are looking for this kind of opportunity to help and she herself has volunteered and will be going to Romane's hometown next week.

Ms. Terri Misrwa asked if reports were true that the Haitian government was charging for relief supplies to get out of the airport. He said the government's reputation is well known but believes this is their attempt to exercise some systemic control over how supplies het out.

Fr. Joe La Mar asked what reports where given to the General Council and what was the plan going forward. Romane said he did meet with a few Council members and Fr. Ed Szendrey (internal auditor) but nothing definite has been proposed.

Fr. Kevin Hanlon wondered what would happen should patience and hope give way to unrest and chaos.

Fr. Dick McGee (Planned Giving) said he has many donors who have contributed to Haiti relief and would appreciate getting some report.

Br. Alex Walsh asked if any contact was made with Sisters of Charity or other groups. Romane said sinece many religious communities lost houses ands personnel so contact is hard. Forty Sisters of Perpetual Help died in their colapsed convent.

Fr. Joe McGahren asked if the international military could help with distribution. Romane said at this point it is enough for them to supply security, because it is still dangerous.

Dennis said Catholic Relief organizes "surprise" food drops to prevent unrest. All distribution is to women as men are prone to fight.

Fr. Mo Zerr asked if any heavy equipment is clearing areas. Again, Romane says the lack of leadership from government is frustrating.

Fr. Jerry Nagle asked who is coordinating Maryknoll's funds for Haiti. Romane said Fr. Szendrey and the Council are managing the expenses.

Fr. Bill Frazier wondered if there was a history of bad blood between Haiti and the D.R. Romane said much does get through the D.R. but it is political and they are taking advantage of the situation, such as charging NGOs $150,000 for a five-year contract on rental cars. On the other hand, the first doctors on the scene following the quake were Dominicans.

Heart of Jesus retreat

FR. Romane St. VIL will conduct a previously scheduled Heart of Jesus Retreat for the Haitian community all day Saturday (today!) at Maryknoll.

He leaves for Haiti after that. I think.

God & Haiti

A CONVERSATION about God and Haiti took place yesterday afternoon in the Africa room with about 18 men participating. Convened and facilitated by Fr. Bill Frazier, participants said it was a thoughtful and open discussion, with opinions ranging from dualistic Manichaeism separating good and evil, soul and body (See Italian religiosity) to Hinduism's Goddess of Destruction, Shiva (ask Stephen). In the end all stood under the shadow of the cross which was the perfect segue for Frazier to pass out copies of a recent paper he's worked on. The participants will re-gather next week to continue the discussion.

In related matters, Fr. Romane St. Vil has assembled a group of doctors willing to volunteer their services. The logistic obstacle is one of travel, as American Airline originally offered free seats to doctors flying into Haiti, but commercial airlines do not now fly into Port-au-Prince. Flying into the Dominican Republic costs $400, so Romane is still trying to negotiate a cheaper rate.

Help for Haiti etc.

AT A SPECIAL MASS for Haiti Wednesday, $679.63 was collected. About 170 people (Maryknollers & employees) attended. Special thanks to Ms. Betsey Guest (Media Relations) who did the first reading from the Book of Job, Ms. Barbara Osborne (Council Secretariat) who read the petitions, and Mr. Bob Ambrose (MEP) who read a special post communion meditation.

Fr. Ed Szendrey did a wonderful job leading the congregation in song, with Ms. Judy Abel on the organ. Fr. Joe La Mar emceed and Frs. Bill Coy, Jim Jackson, Dan Dolan and Joe McGahren concelebrated. I presided and preached. You can read my homily at www.baeisms.blogspot.com

We learned at the house meeting later that afternoon that Maryknollers have several options for sending funds to help Haiti. They can ask controllers to make a simple journal transfer from your M/A to the Haiti Relief Fund. Since this is technically Maryknoll's money to be used for mission works, an email or phone request will do. If you want to give from your P/A, a written, signed request is required. Note that only P/A contributions are tax deductible, since that is from your personal funds. Fr. Romane St. Vil will be Maryknoll's point man on the ground when he goes to Haiti in a week or so.

The kinks in Maryknoll's online relief effort for Haiti have finally been worked out. Go to www.maryknollsociety.org and follow the prompts to donate with a credit card. Since last week, $16,488.46 have been raised online for Maryknoll's Haiti relief. This does not include donations that are mailed in.

Catholic Relief has joined the Red Cross in allowing people to text a word via cellphone such as "Haiti" or "Relief" to a given number and a $10 donation is automatically made which appears as part of your cellphone bill. Alas, Maryknoll is so far behind the curve on this one carrier pigeons may be quicker. The irony (tragedy?) is that Maryknoll used to be on the cutting edge of mission fundraising back in the day when we organized the church date system. But that was then.

In other news: Earlier on Wednesday Ms. Linda Unger was feted as a despedida honoring her 16 years working on Revista and MARYKNOLL magazines. She is moving on to another journalistic position at the famous "God Box" north of Riverside Church. During her tenure with Maryknoll she worked wonders in upgrading the style and content of Revista and later as senior editor of both magazines, was instrumental in getting the two staffs to collaborate not only with each other but with the other branches of MEP, notably radio, video and the web. For ten years she organized a staff retreat that emphasized the spiritual nature of their work to get Maryknoll's word out. We thank her and wish her well and God's blessings.

Haiti Relief Effort

FR. ROMANE ST. VIL, M.M. will be Maryknoll's point man in Haiti to oversee distribution of donations from a special Maryknoll account still being set up. Romane is expected to leave for his homeland, perhaps in the next week, as part of a second or third wave of responders coming in from around the world.

Romane has heard from only a few relatives so far, with mixed news. His half brother and two children have died; his late mother's house and his sister living in it are OK. Many others remain to be accounted for.

Romane leaves today for Norwalk, Connecticut, where the large Haitian community is mobilizing to send aid, as well as medical personnel.

Fr. Ed Dougherty is meeting with folks in the Price Building even as I post this. Once he returns, I hope to get details of how Maryknollers and supporters might help Romane and Haitians directly. Check later today for updates!

In the mean time, if you are in the States, you can donate $10 to the Red Cross simply by texting the word 'Haiti' to 90999 on your mobile phone. Your contribution will appear on your phone bill.

You may also go online to access Catholic Relief Services where they have set up a special Haiti relief window on the upper right corner of their homepage. www.crs.org

In the mean time, pray for those still trapped in the rubble, that they find deliverance; pray for the injured, that they find healing; pray for those who mourn, hunger or thirst, that they find consolation and help; and pray that we who live elsewhere may open our hearts and realize we are all brothers and sisters on this one precious and fragile planet.