| Very few if any people who travel to Haiti return home without feeling profoundly changed. Here is an excerpt from a reflection written by Catherine Wynn about her trip which included a meeting with a local group of women parishioners who call themselves Fanm Vanyan (Strong Women): |
“Pastor Father Frixner told us he had invited several women to join us. It started off with five women, then there were ten, then another five, and the circle just kept getting bigger and bigger. I think there were about thirty-five women. We all sat together outside under a huge tree. All of us in our group felt very fortunate to sit with these amazing women. They were homemakers, but they were also merchants who sold pigs, goats, chickens, and other wares to earn money so they could feed their families. These women are the mainstay of this very poor country. They are the glue that keeps it all together. They are wives, loving mothers, and very hard-working women who are passionate about their place in life. In many respects, the women of Haiti are not very different from women here in the USA, except that these women are so very poor. As I looked around the circle and saw their faces… I was inspired by the women of Haiti… by their strength, their decency, and their willingness to work so hard to make a better life for their families.” |