VinPaz and the Society of St. Vincent de Paul in Haiti 2003-2006
Eduardo Gómez, VinPaz Consultant, writes of VinPaz and the Society of St. Vincent de Paul in Haiti 2003-2006
The winter 2002, Gene Smith, President of the Council of the United States, invited me to serve on a recently created commission. The International President, José Ramón Díaz-Torremocha had inaugurated the commission and named it “Vincentians for Peace”…or VinPaz…and had asked Gene to appoint a Vincentian from the United States to serve. I was honored, but in reality had no idea what I was getting into.
“Vincentians for Peace” had been a dream of President General. He envisioned it as an arm of the Society made up of volunteers who could be called on at a moment’s notice to transport themselves into urgent or emergency situations anywhere in the world, for whatever the necessity. He described it metaphorically as a “fire department” called to “put out the fire,” wrap up its work of advisement and assistance and then depart.
A few months later while attending my first meeting of VinPaz, President General spoke of a dilemma he had encountered in Haiti when he first became international president; a problem that had ultimately obligated him – though reluctantly – to make a very difficult decision. Years of non-accountability and evidence indicating the misuse of SSVdP funds, enjoined to him to terminate Twinning support for Haiti.
The issue had been weighing heavily on President General’s conscience. Through prayer and meditation, however, he decided to present his dilemma to the newly formed VinPaz Commission. By this time, VinPaz already had in process the initiation of a “farm project” in Zambia with plans of developing others in Africa and Eastern Europe.
And so the instruction was issued and the Society of St. Vincent de Paul in the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere…perhaps the world…lost all financial support from Councils and Conferences around the world.
As the only member of VinPaz in the American hemisphere and Haiti being situated at the back door of the United States, I was assigned to investigate and seek possible solutions. In June of 2003, the time had come to pay a preliminary visit to Haiti, something I considered a total unknown and scary adventure. I think Gene Smith sensed my fears and concerns and offered to accompany me on this first voyage into uncharted waters.
General sight of Port-au-Prince with the Cathedral in the first term
The National Council of Haiti was notified of our visit, but quite frankly, we weren’t even sure that anyone would meet us at Port au Prince International Airport. You can imagine how nervous I was as our plane touched down. After passing through immigration and customs, we exited the terminal into a sea of black faces, hundreds greeting associates, friends or relatives and a large number of men whose only desire was to grab our luggage and offer to find us a taxi. After a few minutes – that seemed like an eternity – we noticed a man with a small hand-written sign that displayed the magic words…“VinPaz.”
We were guided to a pickup truck by a group of Vincentians who spoke no English, a red flag to a probable problem of language. An interpreter had been hired, who later we learned was considerably deficient in translations. We were taken to a religious house, a seminary of the Lazarist (Vincentian) Fathers, in the parish Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal in Tabarre, a suburb of Port au Prince. There we met some 40 Vincentians whose curiosity about the gathering had attracted them. Initially it was difficult communicating, but as the Holy Spirit often comes to the rescue – even when we don’t realize it – by uttering a word or two in Spanish, we discovered that one of the men who had met us at the airport was a Vincentian priest.
Indeed, Father Decilus Valcin, CM, had studied for the priesthood in the Domincan Republic, country that shares the island of Hispañola with Haiti, and where he had, by necessity, learned Spanish. He heard my few words in Spanish and thus what appeared to be shaping up as a language conundrum, to the contrary, turned very quickly into a rather simple and accommodating situation. Language no longer was a problem and to this day we are able to adjust easily to whatever communication requirements are helpful, Spanish to Kreyol to English, or vice versa.
The meeting lasted most of the day allowing the initiation of dialog and exploration of the past problems of the Society in Haiti. When Gene and I departed, I believe we felt that a good seed had been sown, a seed that might just be helpful to the Society and most especially to the poor of this God-forsaken land. We left the Vincentians with the message that if trust and accountability could be established, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul in Haiti could very well receive a new lease on life.
A sight of the market
Today, after my tenth journey to Haiti, many changes have been implemented. And since that first exploratory venture, simply a fact-finding mission at the time, the project has turned into a true labor of love. And again, without the constant guidance of the Holy Spirit, putting certain individuals in our path when they were most needed, most probably little would have been accomplished. As it is, we now have a viable, effective, exciting Society, with new leaders and members who are willing and able to carry on the true work of serving the poor.
Since that first visit, VinPaz has put together a team of volunteers, helped re-train old members, recruited and trained “formators” (trainers) and new members and guided and monitored the election of officers nationally and regionally.
In addition, a distribution committee is functioning as the deliverer of funds directly to the most needed level of the Society, the parish Conference. In order to insure that financial support reaches down to the Conferences, the distribution committee idea was introduced as an experiment and has worked well. Distributions of $5,000, $10,000 and $10,000 dollars (US) have taken place and accountability established by written receipt and signatures of Conference presidents. The councils of Spain, Canada and the United States have provided these funds and the Conference presidents approve unanimously of this new type of Twinning. In addition, financial support has been given to the national council for its operations.
I would like to especially recognize three members of our team and affirm that without them and their love for the most helpless of the Lord, we would never have reached this stage of success. They are: Denise Kelly and Catherine Behan, young Vincentians from Ireland, and Emmanuel Lubin, young Haitian who has assisted them and accompanied them to all parts of the country. These three servants of the poor have taken charge of the planning and execution of the meetings that have taken place; and in addition, given hours and hours to translating training materials into Kreyol, the language of Haití.
The newly established structure now consists of four strong Regional Councils: Ouest
Les Cayes
(central area of Port au Prince), Nord (region of Cap Hiatien in the north) Sud Cote (Les Cayes Diocese in the south) and Grand Anse (Diocese of Jérémie in the extreme west). There are other regions of the country to be organized later, but for the moment, these four are where the majority of the Conferences exist.
There have been three national assemblies in the past 3 years and four regional meetings all sponsored by VinPaz and the Councils of Canada, Spain and the United States. In February, 2005 Elismé Lesly of Port au Prince was elected national president and a new national office initiated in the capital. Each of the regions has elected new presidents and councils and the VinPaz volunteers have instituted up-to-date methods of spiritual formation and training for all members, including the translation of all instructional materials into Kreyol, the native language of Haiti. Visual presentations are being made exclusively in PowerPoint, virtually a new experience for the Vincentians there.
Our Church, without doubt, is involved in this effort. The VinPaz team and Vincentian leaders have met with the Bishops in each of the regions, Father Valcin was named Episcopal Advisor to the Society and the local clergy is always invited to the meetings, either as presiders for the Masses, presenters of workshops or just courtesy invitations to attend.
What does the future hold for the Society of St. Vincent de Paul in Haiti? The answer to that question lies in the minds and hearts of its members and elected leaders. I believe that the work done so far, by VinPaz and its supporting councils all around the world, has established a good foundation for the Society to continue to progress in Haiti, in the spirit of Vincent and Frédéric. With the prayers and support of all Vincentians, it will continue to grow and be of great benefit to the Lord’s poorest of the poor. Personally, I see a dynamic future for the Society in Haiti.
Late news: The President General, on June 9, 2006, announced new special appointments to the International Executive Committee (IEC). The IEC, or board of directors of the international organization, is made up of (1) the officers of the Society, (2) a representative of all the national councils of countries that have 1,000 Conferences or more and (3) one representative, chosen by the President General from medium sized and smaller national councils, from each continent. This latter rotating group serves on the IEC for two years and then, in turn, is replaced by new representatives.
For the next two years, beginning in October 2006, President General has honored Haiti by choosing it to be represented on the IEC from the American continent. This action is a testament to the advances the Society has made in Haiti in the past three years and the President General’s confidence in the work of the VinPaz Commission and its Haitian team. We are grateful to the President General for his continued support.