Fondwa Chronicles: Entry 4 -Mountain Winds

The last time I was really in the mountains was the summer of 2003 when I spent time in an Aeta community in Zambales, Philippines. Even then though the mountains here in Haiti are completely different from the ones I was in in the Philippines, both were inexplicably beautiful but their history and spirit are different from one another.

Zambales, Philippines

The winds here can be very demanding. The first night I was here we were kept up by pounding winds on our small house. Between the corrugated tin roof and thin wooden walls there is an opening. Wind was whipping through and against the house. I'm not sure what it was saying but it definitely caught our attention.

Fondwa, Haiti

Why am I writing a whole entry about the winds? For me the winds were communcation from the higher power. We arrived in Fondwa early on Sunday morning and I was able to go to Mass at St. Anthonys the town's Catholic church. The church used to be a cement bulding but now consists of a cement base and wooden poles the hold up a roof of corrugated tin and some type of dried thatch. There are no walls. All around are the signs o the earthquake -rubble at the edges of the floor where people stood and walked during Mass.

The whole Mass was in Kreyol so I had to pay attention to the different parts of the Mass that I know from repetition. The Mass was super long and of course it's hard to stay in tune when you don't understand the language. I was also extremely tired, hot and not used to the altitude.

During the consecration which is the most important part of the Mass many churches will ring bells to signal what is happening and the importance of that moment. Instead of bells at this Mass we had the wind. At the moment of the consecration the wind, which had been still up to that point, began to blow with such strength that it blew dust into some people's eyes. It seemed like divine artistry.

The next two days we had Mass again at the APF center since Fr. Joseph was there and there was another moment during the Mass -a prayer that was sung by the sisters. The wind picked up immensely and blew through the alter making everything in the gazebo flutter -it was like a call and response with the wind.

Some may see it as a coincidence. Some may see it as everyday. Others may not have seen it at all. But for me the harmonies were clear and it was beautiful.