Fr. Jean and his Mother in Furcy

Fr. Jean and his mother in their home village of Furcy.

Furcy is beautiful. It is about 2 hours drive from Port-au-Prince. Some of the roads are paved, some are not. The roads are not great, but much better than the roads from Cap Haitian to Fort Liberte.

Here there is a good bit of agriculture. Gladiolas and beautiful flowers grow wild. Next to Fr. Jean's mother's home were a huge avocado tree, peach trees and other trees growing all around. It is truly paradise, except you don't have running water, electricity or any of the comforts we are used to in America.

Fr. Jean's mother still walks 30 minutes a day to teach in the nearby school. She walks each day to get water and to say her daily rosary at the parish church. Fr. Jean credits his mother's deep faith with his vocation to the priesthood. I really liked his mother. Even though we could not really communicate, you could tell she is a very special women. Fr. Jean's father disappeared years ago when Fr. Jean was a young boy. It was a time of great political unrest, and it is believed that he was killed by the people in power.

Fr. Jean had not been home for one year because of his work schedule. He typically works 7 days a week! He was filled with joy at seeing his family, his home, the villagers he grew up with and the feeling of just being home! It was a joy to see!!

I wish you could have seen Fr. Jean as we came down the mountain, greeting all the villagers by name. The villagers faces light up with joy at being recognized and greeted by Fr. Jean. He would yell their names and they would run to the car to greet him, really a joyous sight to see.

The Haitian people are wonderful. The joy that they have in the midst of such poverty is an example to all of us. The show such joy when greeting each other. They have a great sense of humor and love to laugh and joke around with each other. They laugh much more heartily that we do, maybe that's how they can stand the situation they live in. In spite of everything, they have a deep faith and love for their country and their people.