St. James Haiti Outreach

What have we learned about Haiti?

After returning from a trip to Haiti in November 2008, Ruth Anne Olson and Louise Robinson wrote a series of essays to share their observations with us.  This is the first of eight essays. See complete list here.

Exploring a Partnership in Haiti: The Church of Bonne Nouvelle

This installment written by Louise.

Processional at Eglise Episcopale et Bonne Nouvelle.
November 9, 2008

We spent the week of November 8 through November 15 in Haiti exploring a possible partnership between St. James and the parish of Bonne Nouvelle -- to consider how we might learn from each other and support its school. We are full of information, emotions, and experiences which we want to share with the parish of St. James over the next few months. 

But how to get started? It would take too long to tell the whole story all at once, so we thought a series of Sunday bulletin inserts would work.

This is where we begin … more stories will follow. 

Visiting the Parish of Bonne Nouvelle in the Village of Bigonet

Our first full day in Haiti was spent at Bonne Nouvelle Church celebrating the Eucharist with the parish and their priest, Père Kerwin Delicat.  Unexpectedly, our visit fell on their Parish Sunday, or Name Day, which meant lots of additional festivities. There were four choirs all robed and rehearsed, a rented keyboard and microphone (a luxury for them), many people visiting from nearby parishes, and a huge feast afterward. Our timing couldn’t have been better. 

And what a perfect circumstance in which to present our gift of Peace flags, made by St. James parishioners. Ruth Anne greeted the parish on behalf of St. James, and an immediate sense of warmth was generated by her ability (through a few months of study) to begin her greeting in Creole, their native tongue. I followed Ruth Anne with the presentation of the Peace Flags which they unfurled and hung between two windows behind the altar. The flags were greeted with calls of “Lapè, lapè,” (“Peace, peace”). They couldn’t have fit in more beautifully. Several of the older women in the parish continued this celebration at the end of the service by inviting Ruth Anne and me to join them dancing in the aisles of the church.

Presentation of Peace Flages from St. James to Bonne Nouvelle.

The next day we returned to visit the school. But that’s another story……

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