Rich Gosser

Well, it's good to be in Haiti! The flight from Ft. Lauderdale was smooth enough for me to sleep most of the way! The airport in Port au Prince - once the scene of mass confusion and near chaos - presented no challenges. A pleasant "red cap" - Theodore - helped me retrieve my checked bags and load them onto a "chariot". Passing through customs went smoothly and Roody, the excellent and reliable driver for the Association of Peasants of Fondwa (APF) was there waiting for me as I exited. After a brief stop at the APF office and lunch with Fr. Joseph, C.S.Sp., the founder and coordinator of APF, Roody and I and Roody's friend Edmond were on the road heading for Fondwa!

For some time work has progressed slowly on a "bypass" around the ever-present traffic jam in "Kafou", the crowded suburb of Port au Prince towards the South West. On this trip I got to experience it for the first time. There were few other vehicles, possibly because there isn't yet much of what can pass for a road! We bumped and rattled our way around Kafou before reaching the relatively good road beyond. Soon we turned south and began the climb over the mountains that mark the region of Fondwa. My arrival there began with a joyful reunion with various friends there including Becky Newlin, a Pittsburgh teacher who's spending a year in Fondwa teaching English in the St. Atoine School and helping in the formation program of the Sisters of St. Antoine, a new, Haitian religious community of women.

My time in Fondwa is already "booked up" with activities and meetings! On the top of the list for today was visiting the construction site of the new Motherhouse of the Sisters of St. Antoine. We lunched at the APF restaurant in Tomb Gato and made our way back down the Fondwa road, detouring briefly to visit the source of water for the APF Guest Center where I'm staying. A cold-water, bucket shower felt pretty good after all the climbing we did here in the mountains of Fondwa. Tomorrow I'll make a visit to the Fatima House orphanage - another "mission" of the Sisters of St. Antoine. My thoughts now are turning towards the possibility of a cold - well, cool - Prestige, the award-winning Haitian beer!

rich • Jan-Feb 2007 1 comment