November 13, 2011

I’m starting this on Sunday late afternoon but from the way our electricity has been acting up, I may not finish it today. We’ll see. It’s all part of living in the Third World. You go for stretches with electricity and running water (which depends on having electricity) and then, all of a sudden for no reason you have none. You’re at the mercy of the electric company. Of course there are other problems as well. For example we found out that there were problems with the transformer on the utility pole outside our house and our house was not able to accept the electricity coming from the company. That had to be looked into and “fixed”. Get this! I was up at 5:20 this morning and immediately realized that there was no electricity. So I get ready to leave for a Mass at a chapel about ten miles from here and when I go out to our car it’s not there. The guys who know about our electricity and the attendant problems had called the man they are in touch with who checks out our electric problems. They got him out of bed and picked him up to come and see what this problem was all about. I find that amazing. You just call some guy, tell him you’ll pick him up and expect he’ll say yes and come to your place to work on your electric problem on a Sunday morning. Amazing! And another thing, it doesn’t cost a fortune. I can find out, but I’ll bet we paid that man no more than twenty bucks max. The word they use for any so called “professional” who deals with a specific problem – it could be an electric problem or a plumbing problem, etc. is “boss”. I think it’s both a Creole word and in French it’s “le boss”. One of the guys pointed out to me that these “bosses” are not necessarily “professionals,” in fact they are not professionals, but just anybody who knows more about the subject than you do. I keep learning and learning and learning and I find the “system” amazing. It keeps things going when there is no real overall system in place. God bless the Haitians and the people of the Third World. There is a resourcefulness about them and a resilience that has me in awe.

The weeklong visit of Fr. Claludio, the Brazilian Oblate was a big success. He didn’t speak French but he jumped right into the midst of our community and showed lots of enthusiasm. I liked him and I think he is planning to learn French in Brazil so he can come here and help out with our Oblate Haitian Foundation. Anyway, I hope so.

Not much other news. Again the seven going to Brazil for their novitiate have still not received their visas. I met with them last evening and I’ve decided to find a Portuguese teacher and get them started here on learning the language. If there is not progress by December 1st, I’m going to write and ask permission if we can have the novitiate here. I don’t know if that will fly but we’ll see. This week I also wrote to my friend Maurice Riguet, my Oblate classmate from Fribourg who is in Benin, Africa. I asked him for a copy of the First Profession of Vows ceremony in French so when the five presently in Brazil making their novitiate come back in March we’ll be prepared. Again I hope the Province does not go back on its word to have the profession ceremony here in Haiti. We should also have the first Haitian Oblate ordained here in Haiti. He was ordained a deacon in Brazil where he has been with the others since the earthquake. Some are scheduled to return now that their theology studies are finished. I wish I had more definite information but I just don’t and there has been no change in that either.

Guess that’s it for now. Thinking of you all and sending blessings and good wishes from Haiti. Tom