Another beautiful day in Haiti. Only Sue and I walked this morning. Keith and Alix slept in – exhausted from the long day yesterday, maybe. 🙂 We did our normal 3 miles, but it was a much more quiet day on the road, as everyone was resting from their long day working at market yesterday. Since we were all moving a little slower, we didn’t meet Father Max until around 10am in Les Cayes. We followed him up the mountain to Dumont. The roads were good until we got to the road to go up the mountain and then it was just dirt roads; so we bumped along very slowly along the ruts. The village is small and the land is red dirt, full of rocks that the villagers are using to build walls, houses, etc. The school is only from 1-3rd grade and they have no school building, so the classrooms are being held in the church. There is no electricity or running water in the homes. The presbytery has a generator that can last 5-7 hours, which allows the people to have a place to meet and socialize. The toilets are just holes in the ground. I meant to take a picture, as my small bladder has experienced the toilet at every village. 🙂 Father Max spoke English, so today was a little easier on Alix in translating for us. We were privileged to meet the PPC – Parochial Parish Council – which is a group of adults from the community who work together for the good of the community. This was a very impressive group of men and women, old and young. We could tell they were very passionate about their community and it was obvious they were doing the best they could to support and advance the families in the community of Dumont. Father Max also shared that he manages 4 other parishes and holds many other roles in Haiti to assist in improving the conditions in Haiti. We toured the village and Father showed us the land that had been purchased to build a school on – if/when they get the money. We also drove down to the shore, where Father has another parish. This community was very, very poor. The worst conditions we’ve seen so far. The roads were so bad, that only a 4WD vehicle could pass and even that was very difficult. Keith could have gone faster on his mountain bike. Being so remote, makes this village so very difficult to support. The land is rocky and not much will grow, so they survive by fishing and by the Grace of God. There are no jobs, but Father Max has received money to build a church, so the locals are being paid to help build the church. This gives them a way to earn money and give back to the community.
There is such a large need in Haiti – it is very easy to get overwhelmed at the need, but I am very excited that we have made a difference in the village of Boileau and we now have the opportunity to make a difference in a new community. And all of you who are reading these posts can help as well – with your prayers, with any contributions you would like to send and if you are interested in joining a committee to help us out – we would welcome it. We need volunteers to help with communications, with fundraising, with improving our website, and the list goes on. If you are interested in helping – please let me know. The Haitian Pilgrims charity is a 501c3 and we serve the poorest of the poor in Haiti and do not discriminate on race, gender, or religious affiliation of those who request help.
– MaryLynn Hilton