Since 2006, the Advocate has partnered with St. Innocents Church and School on La Gonave Island. Each year a group travels to Haiti to foster friendship between the people of the two congregations. The Advocate also provides financial support for teachers’ salaries at the school. Perhaps more importantly, we come to understand that the little church on the mountain truly is our sister church. We wonder how to let our friends in America really come to know the students and congregation, as we work to live in radical community.
So much has changed since the earthquake. Some things have not. In addition to giving generously–which is crucial–we must come to understand how close we are to the people of Haiti, though our lives may seem too different to reconcile.
We might even allow this understanding to change us. To change us all.
A year ago we drove through Port au Prince to the cathedral that no longer stands. We saw houses built on houses built on houses. We saw no police. And yet we saw order, business, beauty—a bustling city. That lack of infrastructure means no safety net, no rescue workers, little equipment, and is why we must give all we can.
As Becca Bland, one of our youth, wrote, “My heart/ It’s crying/ A place I was not born to. A place to which my heart is dedicated.” So, as we give, we must understand that we are not helping a people profoundly unlike us. Instead, we might allow a fundamental shift to occur. If we can cultivate this kinship, then we can—all of us—look for some small and growing hope, even in this inexplicable tragedy.
Once a year, we gather on the mountain to worship, converse, and play. In so doing, we all help each other to understand more about. . .simply being alive in this world. We look forward and pray that when the cameras leave, our consciousness will remain there, and that yours will, too. Continued presence.
Haiti is full of complexities—some difficult to imagine, and now all the more so—but there was one beautifully simple thing; as Lisa, our priest, said, we came for them when we didn’t have to, and they came for us when they didn’t have to, and our ministry that day was to really be together. We still believe that this can be transformative—perhaps especially now.
This article was written by Beth Lassiter, who traveled to Haiti with the 2009 Advocate Mission Team. To learn more about the Advocate and Haiti, or to see links for making a contribution to the relief effort or St. Innocents, click here.
See here for Chapel Hill News coverage of the Advocate’s involvement in Haiti
La Gonave did not suffer immediate damage from the earthquake. But now the island is receiving a steady stream of refugees from Port-au-Prince who are arriving with no food, shelter or possessions.
For video click here.
Responding to Needs in Haiti – January 2010
Haiti Poem –January 12, 2010
