November 20, 2004

Had enough, didn’t need it

Mme. Gesner is our new cook. Mme. Gesner is skinny. I’ve always wondered about a skinny cook; does it say something? Well, she is not really our cook; she is the new cook at the L’Acul CODEP guesthouse. Sharyn invests hundreds of hours training new staff, and a new cook requires even more training. The guesthouse kitchen serves authentic Haitian cuisine. But American palates don’t like all the authentic tastes. Also, electric lights, fans, gas stoves, refrigerators, freezers, running water on tap and bottled drinking water differ greatly from a smoky wood fire built between three rocks (to hold a cooking pot) in an outdoor lean-to, which serves as a typical Haitian kitchen.

It has been interesting observing Mme. Gesner as she timidly interacts with groups of American visitors. She is very quiet and gentle. A light kiss of greeting on the cheek of each group member as they sat at table the first day was something new to most. Maybe one of the most remarkable occurrences happened when she took Sharyn to the refrigerator and showed her, among other supplies, a quarter of a carrot and a half dollar sized piece of a potato-like root. Sharyn asked about the tiny piece of carrot and the morsel of root. Mme. Gesner said she thought the soup (for 12 people) had enough and it didn’t need it. She could use the rest later in the week.

With an automatic weapon in the backseat and a revolver on his hip, the assistant mayor (in French, “maire adjoint”) of Petionville, Mr. Figaro Gaston, picked up one of our leaders last week. Clement then directed him to the Siloe area. There a dozen of our leaders had gathered for a meeting. The maire adjoint introduced himself to our group, telling them he had come to see what he had been told was the best reforestation project in all of Haiti. Pretty impressive words coming from a man who helps administer three million people in Port-au-Prince and the surrounding environs. It seems the mountains above Petionville and Port-au-Prince are eroding and collapsing at a rapidly escalating rate. The maire adjoint needs some answers. And he came to CODEP. Your project.

He wanted to know why he has never seen anything on TV about this work. Why don’t we get government funds? Why haven’t we expanded throughout Haiti? How have we been so successful? And most importantly, can we go and walk through the project area now?

At the end of the several-hours-long hike, the maire adjoint was subdued and elated, amazed and challenged. He said the project was even better then he had heard and will be used as a training example for a new program to protect the mountains above Port-au-Prince. And protecting the mountains is an early step in providing more security for the people of Haiti.

The dry season has begun and much of our planting efforts are redirected to tree nurseries. Our Haitian leaders want to double the nursery trees this year to one million. I told them we cannot. Budget funds will not stretch that far. Imagine: the leaders and the peasant farmers are ready and wanting to plant and care for one million trees in the mountains of one of the world’s most deforested countries. Trees for providing firewood for cooking, for flood prevention, for providing clean drinking water. The message has been preached; the people have begun to change their ways. Truly, great things are happening.

Not just as we get up from our Thanksgiving dinners this week, but also as we approach the offering plate on Sunday, may we all remember Mme. Gesner. Pray with us that God will help many to say like Mme. Gesner, we “had enough and didn’t need it.” The excess, no matter how small, can feed others.

In Christ,

Rodney & Sharyn

The 2004 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 136

The Episcopal Church of Haiti, PCUSA, and the Haiti Fund, Inc work jointly to support the Comprehensive Development Program (CODEP) in Haiti. Additional information is available through the Haiti Fund Web site (haitifundinc.org.)