Letter from Gene Heraty

Hi Father Kenny and all in the parishes,

I hope ye are all well and getting ready to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. As I write that, I find myself wondering how many people will actually think of St. Patrick himself on the day! He sure did pick a cold enough spot to do his 40 day retreat😉. I have always loved the song Hail Glorious St. Patrick and Lennie Grimes singing it is the real deal!

Here we are all doing well thank God. It's really a case of taking it day by day, night by night. We now describe our days/nights in relation to shooting - a good day is when we have no shooting and we can move freely on the grounds and our family can be outside. A good night is when we don't hear any shooting and we all sleep. The last week has been great as we have not had any night shooting and very little during the days so we are all happy out. Our children/young adults are all adapting well to life in the heat and while we adults, moan about the heat, the flies and the mosquitoes, they never complain. They are amazing. We have 57 in our big Kay Christine family and believe it or not we are accepting two more young children- both were abandoned in the hospital( the hospital is part of the organization I work for-Nos Petits Frères et Soeurs

Our other programs are also going well. We have a steady flow of children coming for Physio every day and an equally steady flow of Adults- mainly stroke patients -coming. So many people under 50 having strokes. Tis scary. The other night, I had pins and needles in my hand, and I thought O God, I hope I am not going to have a stroke😊

These patients and their families give us a real insight into life in Haiti and all the struggles. Many of the stories are heart breaking, others are outright terrifying. Just watching a stroke patients, or a mother with a severely disabled child, get on a motor bike terrifies me, not to mention the fact that many are living in areas that are surrounded by gangs. Bear in mind that there is no social welfare in Haiti and access to health care is very difficult. If you have no money, you are left to suffer. You can imagine how hard it is when someone gets sick or has an accident. When you have a child with disabilities, everything becomes more challenging.

Our school is going well - as long as our school buses are on the road, the parents are happy to send their children. Without the buses, it would be too difficult for them- remember no one has cars here and public transport is painful - to put it mildly😉. It is so wonderful to see them coming in every morning and the joy they bring with them makes everyone feel good. Their parents are very proud of their achievements and always so appreciative of our efforts.

Apart from our regular work we have been busy supporting very vulnerable cases. I will give a few examples. One single mother of two children- a baby and a child with disabilities- nearly gave me a heart attack. She came one morning and when I asked where her children were, she said home alone- she gave them sleeping tablets so they would not wake up and cry. Apparently this is a common practice for some mothers. The good news is that we have been able to rent a little place for her and we have given her money so she can sell stuff. Plus we give her support every month so she can feed the children. She is a new woman and always thanking us.

A woman came yesterday - she had a pin/rod in her leg- after a break, and now had no money for the operation to take it out. The same woman has a son, that had a stroke and lost the use in his arm. He used to come for PT. Somehow she is managing to send him to college. Can't be easy. Anyway, we sent her off with a check (1000Euro) and tears of gratitude in her eyes.

A few weeks ago, a guy did a sponsored cycle from Dublin to Westport. He sent us the money €9k and the very next week we organized a food distribution for over 175 families - all families that used to live up in the mountains close to where we were. Rice beans and cooking oil. Nothing fancy BUT a massive contribution to people that have lost everything. Sadly, lots of people are hungry every day. People that have been displaced due to gangs are really struggling. Never underestimate the value of every Euro ye send our way. €3 will buy a decent meal - rice bean soup and vegetables. With €6 we can buy Rice and Beans that will feed 8-10 people.

There is no sign of an end to all the violence. We have a new, transitional government and they promise elections this year. They also promise to end the reign of the gangs. Promises and promises. We wait and see.

Probably this is long enough. Thanks to all of you for all your prayers and please do continue to pray for us. Those of us that were kidnapped are working away as always and doing well. We frequently talk about our experience and we continue to pray for those that we met during that whole long month of August. It seems a life time away now- sadly the gangs are still up in the hills, still burning homes and killing innocent peasants. Will spare ye the details.

Love to everyone. Keep doing good whenever and wherever you can. Keep smiling and keep spreading kindness. The good fight is always a worthy fight and kindness and goodness are always key elements in the good fight😊. Happy St. Patricks Day. I will be wearing the green.

Up Mayo wherever you go.

Gena