Signs of Healing and Hope in Haiti

I arrived mid-day yesterday in Port-au Prince with Abagail Nelson, Senior Vice President of Programs at Episcopal Relief & Development, to see our Haiti recovery program. As we descended to the airport, now a series of temporary buildings adjacent to the earthquake-damaged terminal, a large group of Pentecostals on our flight were singing and praying for the plane and pilot.

We drove into the center of town, past miles of tent camps sheltering the hundreds of thousands that remain homeless. Our first stop was the ruins of Holy Trinity Cathedral, where we were serenaded by 20 wonderfully gifted teenagers attending a music camp and practicing for a concert to be held in the ruins. The contrast of creating art in the midst of destruction was very moving.

We were greeted by Madame Duracin, wife of Bishop Jean Zaché Duracin, who has overseen our Haiti response since the January earthquake. Madame Duracin had returned to Haiti only a few days earlier, after being medevaced to the US in the days immediately after the quake. She looks well and seems fully herself.

When set against the monumental task of recovery, these small signs of healing and hope are all the more striking.