COMMUNIQUE 92

Communiqué #092

TO MY PARTNERS in MINISTRY

to the PEOPLE of HAITI

January 19, 2012

Springing from the depths of poverty are inventive ways of making a dollar or two.  On more than one occasion, I have observed ways just how creative Haitians can be.  Much of what they have chosen to do would be beneath the dignity of someone who has not faced the day-to-day challenges of finding ways to keep your family alive.  But when starvation is a cruel reality, no task is beneath one’s dignity.

Huge freight ships from Venezuela bring large loads of cement into the waters of the Caribbean Sea near LesCayes.  The ships are too large to dock at the wharf.  They remain off-shore, while 50 lb bags of cement are hand transferred to smaller boats that will bring the commodity to the wharf where it will either be transported in trucks to the business district or purchased at the wharf to be shipped to other places in Haiti.

It saddens my heart when I hear people who do not know Haiti declare that its people are lazy.  This is so far from the truth.  I see Haitians as people who work hard given the opportunity to do so.  I see them as people who make the best of the harshest of circumstances.  I see them as people who do not wallow in despair but prosper in hope!  I see them as an example to follow!

Nora Léon                        

Missionary to Haiti & the Dominican Republic         Until next time. God willing …………