Sacred Ground/My Hero Part 1

I met Harry Mardy on 9 December 2004. Chancho and I were in Haiti for the first time. We were visiting our new son, 2 month old Loumy. We spent our first day at the orphanage and then, when it was time to take us to our hotel, Harry and his new wife, Pascal, drove with us since they lived near the hotel where we were staying in Petionville. I was feeling extremely overwhelmed--the poverty in Haiti was staggering and felt hopeless. I had already fallen madly in love with my baby and the fear of leaving him in a few days crushed down on my chest. Harry had a calm and a peace about him that was greatly comforting as we drove in the dark through the streets that were often ravaged by riots and violence. A coup had taken place several months earlier and the country was in complete disarray with an interim government that didn't have a hold on much of anything and a very small UN force that was trying to "keep the peace" but mostly failing.

At the time I was not only meeting my own child but was building Wasatch International Adoptions Haiti program and was meeting with orphanage directors, becoming acquainted with the process, and meeting other children whom clients were in the process of adopting. It was awesome but also horrible. So much sadness. So much chaos. So much hopelessness. I wondered how things could ever get better for this country.

But then Sunday came. Isson's father came to walk to church with us. It was just two blocks away from our hotel, but he wanted to make sure that we were safe. I remember walking through the gates of the Petionville ward building and onto the grounds. A feeling of peace came over me. We were a few minutes late and as we walked up the steps, I could hear the Elders' quorum singing, "Praise to the Man." This wasn't like the quiet, mumbled singing I'd heard at my ward. This was a quorum of at least 40 or 50 and they were singing at the top of their voices. My eyes welled with tears and I felt a joy and a hope that I hadn't felt all week. Although I could understand almost nothing of what was said during the next 3 hours, I basked in the Spirit and my entire outlook for the people and country of Haiti changed. I felt a hope and I felt...like I had returned home to a place I had dearly missed. So strange to explain unless you've felt it yourself. After those meetings I felt a love for the people and I knew that God loved them and that He had not given up on them and certainly I should not, either.

Here I am with little Cindy Joseph at the Petionville ward. She and I became instant friends. Standing in the courtyard that steamy afternoon I felt as if I was standing on sacred ground. A little over a year later, we had Haitian Roots up and running and Isson took a trip to Haiti to meet with our first group of children. He was trying to find a place where they could all meet together and it worked out for them to use the Petionville ward. Isson took this picture of our first children standing against one of the walls of the church (February 2006).
This photo is of Isson (on right) and one of our coordinators, Yves Carm, at the same gathering.Ever since the first time I stepped into that courtyard, I have loved that place. We have now held many meetings there and I attend church there every time I'm in Haiti (except for once, when I attended Centrale). Here are a few photos of special times I remember at the Petionville church.

I got to meet my "boys" and was able to share the moment with my own sister, Amy.
I was able to see Chareyl fall in love with Haiti for the first time, just as I was positive she would.I was able to meet my own "Haitian Daughter", Joveline.
I got to see Haitian children setting aside the difficulties of their every day lives to play carefree. I was able to see friends meet the children they had sponsored.I was able to meet my friends' sons' birth family and gave them hugs for her.

I bonded even closer to a lifelong friend while we attended church and then met two street boys in the courtyard whose example changed our lives.
I was able to see our small group of children grow and grow, and with each child came a deeper love and respect and humility.These are only a few of the wonderful things that have happened and emotions that I have felt on these particular grounds.

Having thus experienced so much joy and hope and love all in one spot, it is no wonder that when I am in Haiti, I long to stay at Kinam Hotel so I can be within walking distance of the Petionville church, for to me, it feels like sacred ground.