Beautiful Inside and Out

Sunday in Haiti is a quiet day. All businesses are closed, in Port au Prince, as are most in the rural areas other than the occasional roadside stands. Many Haitians go to church. I had the opportunity, to attend two services, one in Grand Goave and the other in St. Etienne where we established our initial two Fondespwa groups. This is the day, the women of Haiti dress up in their very best. They dress in gowns, that one would wear to a ball or to a black tie dinner. They look outstanding. Their hair is done perfectly, their clothes are immaculate. Really, they are beautiful. I often wonder why they dress in this fashion for church and I believe it is for two reasons. One is most likely tradition and the second, this frankly, is the only time they get to dress up. For these women, there are no date nights per se, no dinners at restaurants, no movies, no concerts, no plays, no dances, no nothing. So this is the one time they can be as feminine as each possibly can. I have been here enough to see also that all though they look impressive, I have seen these "Sunday Best" many times. They have no dress up selection. One, and that's it. But, they do it up fine. At church, they sing for about an hour and a quarter and they do it with enthusiastically, energetically, hands raised and bodies swaying. They do love singing and they genuinely enjoy themselves. As I have said before, the women are only materially poor. They have a priceless faith that believes God will protect them and be there for them if they work hard and stay true to Him. A ruthless trust. Immediately, after the Grand Goave service, we rode 30 minutes to St. Etienne, which is in the mountains where we have 47 Fondespwa members. There are spectacular views looking over the valley , onto other mountains and out to the ocean. I had spent 4 days, on my last trip, interviewing all the women in their homes. Houses, that we reached by foot on narrow paths where immediately to the left or right was a 100-200 foot drop. These women have their homes in little plots on the side of the mountain. One would have difficulty finding them until you make your way into the bush where out of seemingly nowhere one pops up then another. How their children do not fall over the cliffs is a mystery to me. Here you tell your child to look to the left, to the right, and, down. An interesting note, is the differences in the services. In Grand Goave, the music that is song is contemporary Christian while in St. Etienne it is the old, old hymns that were traditionally sung in the Baptist churches. What also stands out in the two churches is in St. Etienne the women sit on one side of the church and the men on the other. However, what they do have in common: heartfelt singing, joyfulness and they look, radiant.