When we were having breakfast in Mt Sackville this morning to our unexpected surprise Sr. Louis Marie and Sr. Maeve walked in.  There was complete silence for about 30 seconds and then a great cacophony of welcome and questions.

How was the trip? How were the sisters in Haiti? How were the people? What was it really like?

Fortified by a strong cup of tea they endeavoured to answer our questions.

“First off we had a marvellous trip thanks to the generosity of Denis O’Brien and his staff. The latter were initially nonplussed when they saw the Precision Heating Van loaded with aid pulling into the terminal building in Dublin Airport. The plane was already full with persons Dennis had amassed to help with the Aid effort in Haiti. There were orthopaedic surgeons and their equipment, people from the educational sector, aid agencies, architects etc.

However the staff packed in as many of the boxes as they could. Dennis came along and made sure  every available space in the plane was occupied with  a carton. We were pleased for the sisters in Haiti and the donors from our schools, parishes , staffs and others who had worked so tirelessly making the collections.

We contacted the sisters in Haiti to meet us with a van at the airport. They were there all excited but the boxes had been packed and sent to Digicel. We went home with the sisters and the boxes were to follow the next day.

We got a tremendous welcome. The yard was dotted with mats, small tents and people. You could see the sky through cracks in the walls of the house and you felt another tremor or even a vigorous push would bring the whole edifice tumbling down. The sisters made us 2 cups of tea showed us where we could have a quick wash and offered us a choice of sleeping accommodation.

We could have a small tent or a bed under the stars. We applied liberal doses of insect repellent and Louis Marie opted for the  bed under the stars- Maeve took the tent. We shared the compound with French and Martiniquan aid workers, neighbours and locals and an army of mosquitoes.

It was a typical night but the cocks crowing reminded me of the Irish countryside long ago as did the dogs barking. In the morning we picked our steps among the sleeping bodies to have sketchy ablutions and then prayer and work.

We met as many of the sisters as we could and told them it was our privilege and that of our benefactors to give them a little help in their hour of need. We then gave them the money we had and there were tears in their eyes. They could provide shelter for people but could not feed them. It was the same in their other Communities.

One of their dispensaries could only open 3 days a week – our aid meant that they now had the wherewithal to open for 6 days.  Emergencies were par for the course.   In that very compound there were 300 people sheltering and it pained the sisters to be unable to give them food or medication. They discussed the most effective way of helping people. Just then Digicel arrived with the boxes and there was joy unconfined – tears and laughter. There was also a substantial donation from Dennis O’Brien.  (more to follow)