Writing my reflections for my first trip to Haiti has proven to be a fairly difficult task.  Finding the right words to describe what I saw at the St. Clare’s programs and within the community seems almost impossible and never ending.  Instead, over the next few days I hope to highlight and describe just a few of the moments I shared and reflected on while visiting this wonderful community—

One of the most memorable moments of my trip to Haiti had to be speaking with one of the education coordinators, Berthany Wolf. Currently he is working towards his law degree at a local public university on a full scholarship (he was able to pass the national exam which only 2% of the country is able to do).  While waiting outside the church rectory, I casually started talking with this bright young man who had managed to learn conversational English on his own (without any formal instruction).  During the next ten minutes, beautiful sentences about his hopes and dreams poured out of his mouth. He described how he hopes to become a human rights attorney to serve all of the unjustly tried poor in his community and in all of Haiti.  He doesn’t understand why entitled Haitian people such as doctors and lawyers would leave Haiti when they are able to fight for the lives of the wonderful people that live in the country.  Berthany, with a smile on his face, exclaimed that without Fr. Gerry, he would not be where he is today.  All of his life, Fr. Gerry had told him that everyone must work hard together to do what they can to make Haiti a better place.  Dedicated to fulfilling this, Berthany said that he follows the well known and well repeated advice of Fr. Gerry – to work hard, study hard, and pray.  It is because of Fr. Gerry, he caringly stated, that he wants to be a better man, the best man that he can be.  It was at this moment that I really started to grasp how much of an impact Fr. Gerry has had on the lives of so many and how dedicated this small community is to fighting for a better tomorrow.