I have been a few
weeks over six months in mission now.
The time is flying by and seems like I have only been here a month or
two. Work is also increasing which is
making the weeks go by so quickly. I am
so enjoying getting to know more and more people and am inspired by their hard
work and cheerfulness. Laughter is
frequently heard and children are well cared for.
I am working full
time in the accounting office. I attend
people in the mornings and do the online account system in the afternoon. My transportation is the school bus that
picks up the grade school children who attend the Catholic school where my
office is located. Now, the large school
bus is broken down so they borrowed a smaller bus and it is a challenge to get
all of the children to school. Many are
standing in the aisles. The bus driver
is very good and cautious but has never bothered to get a drivers license. Things are definitely done differently here.
Another of my jobs
is to run the parish center. Last week
we had 250 Haitians, who live here in the parish, come to get their Haitian
documents including birth certificate, identity card and passport. The church had to do a bit of finagling to
get the transport of the undocumented to the center for the event. Only the parish center was protected from
immigration raids so all the people had to stay inside the property fence. Thus, no leaving to buy food or water.
The event started
at 6:30 am and finished at 7:30 pm. We
gave water and a few crackers to all but everyone was tired (some had walked
hours to get to the road) and hungry by the end of the day. Not everyone was attended to so we repeated
the event this past weekend and had another 125 people show up. There was a meal for the Consul workers so
lots of dishes to wash and clean up. I
ended up on my feet from 6 am to 9 pm so am glad that we are not doing this
again this coming weekend. But of
course, the parish priest just texted me to inform me that a retreat for 10
people will be arriving this Friday. No
rest for the weary!
