The Mud Factor

 

I'm going to guess that I don't know mud like Haitians know mud.

This is a space between buildings on the property known as Auberge des Vieillards in Pignon, Haiti where eleven seniors are cared for by the dedicated team of staff connected to the church there.

I do not know what season it is in this capture.  But I do know that in the rainy season, whatever looks like damp soft earth here is going to be a hot mess of mud for weeks and weeks on end.  Problem is, getting folks, especially folks with mobility issues, between those buildings will be no small feat.  Even staff and other caregivers have to maneuver through the mud. 

That's why one of the items on the projects list for A des V is cement.

I'm being this specific because it's no secret that sending money to Haiti has its understandable concerns.  And I want to be clear about what we're doing and what the funds are going to when we host our annual Haiti Dinner and Silent Auction event at Highview.

Cement pathways, of course, are only one of the projects underway on the property.  There's still some last steps to help make sure the water gets from the pump to the buildings.  There's supply rooms that need to be properly shelved and stocked.  And there's general maintenance always on the go.  We all know how it goes.  

But I wondered if it might help to give a 'concrete' example (see what I did there) in order to keep us all focused on what it is we're doing here.

Of course, it's not just about the building or the property.

There are real people here.  People who deserve the basic dignities of life in the last phase of their lives.  People who, for reasons including poverty but which also are way more complicated than just that, have no recourse for sustenance.  Who would be begging on the street otherwise.

They are the ones who need the cement walkways to take them from building to building.

They are the ones who require the care and supervision of staff.

They are the ones who need supplies properly stored.

They are the ones who need proper nutrition and medical attention.

They are the ones who happily benefit from a far-away turkey dinner with dessert, and a sometimes-slightly-competitive-but-always-fun silent auction at the end of the evening.

We're more likely to have snow than mud on February 24th.  

But either way, we'd love for you to join us.

For more information you can email me directly at rabreithaupt@hcckw.ca.
Love to hear from you!!!

The Wall Story

It's important that we keep telling the stories.  

They help connect the dots, 

bring context and meaning, 

and keep our spirits inspired.

This is a wall.

That may seem way too obvious, but it's an important part of the story.   Because, as far as our partnership with Auberge des Vieillards in Pignon, Haiti is concerned, the wall is where is all started.

The construction part, that is.  Even before the wall, there was a vision.  A vision to care for vulnerable seniors with no place to go.  That came from a Haitian Pastor named Abdon, and it was a long, long time ago.  In 1988 he began his theological studies in Cape Haitian, and would often see the elderly begging in the streets back and forth on his way to class.  The images stayed with him, wouldn't shake off, until it became a part of the very DNA of his leadership, and how he would inspire the church he and his wife Lumide would lead together in Pignon.  

Between the first inklings of that vision, and the eleven seniors now receiving care, there was a parcel of land.  And it needed a wall.  Without the wall going up first, whatever was kept or built on that parcel of land would be 'free game' for theft and destruction.  

Highview, along with Teams from other Canadian churches, helped build that wall.

In fact, a good-sized stone that got dislodged from Highview's foundation in a spring-thaw flood back in Canada, has been incorporated into the wall that now surrounds the Auberge des Vieillards property.

Oh yes.  The stories.

On Saturday, February 24, 2024 we'll be continuing the story of Highview's partnership with Pastor Abdon, Madame Lumide, and the astonishingly generous people of the Pignon Church who have freely chosen to take on the love-task of caring for people who otherwise would suffer greatly.

We'd love it if you'd join us.  

Be part of the story.

For tickets:

Brian Ogilvie  -  brian.ogilvie@obfinancial.ca

Ken Breithaupt -  kdb@ptsoft.com

For more information:

Ruth Anne Breithaupt - rabreithaupt@hcckw.ca

(Sorry no links)

 

When Your Donation of an Auction Item Goes a Long, Long Way

This is one of our seniors who lives as Auberge des Vieillards 

(Inn for the Elderly) in Pignon, Haiti.  

He needs extra care because he has a lesion on his leg 

that just won't heal.  

Every day the lesion is cleaned and dressed.  

Three times a day he eats nutritious meals.  

Every night he sleeps safely in his own bed.

These simple, basic realities are possible only because of the combined factors of the vision of Pastor Abdon, and the support of people like you.  Moved with compassion at the sight of forgotten seniors begging on the street, Pastor Abdon and his wife Lumide, who is a nurse, have gathered their small congregation around the care of vulnerable seniors in their district.  This is no small task in a country as destitute as Haiti.  Especially now, as gang violence, political confusion, and economic chaos runs rampant.

In Canada, Highview, along with others similarly inspired, have gathered to first build the residence itself, and now support the seniors who live there.  

That's what our Haiti Dinner and Silent Auction is all about.

There are many ways you can contribute.

One fun way is to donate a service or an item to be auctioned off.

Perhaps you have a business, or provide a service, and you could donate a product or your time and expertise.

We'd love to showcase your business, and of course, all proceeds go to Auberge des Vieillards through the Evangelical Missionary Church of Canada.

To donate an item please contact brian.ogilvie@sbfinancial.ca.

For tickets contact Brian (same email) or Ken Breithaupt at kdb@ptsoft.com.

For other information, and to volunteer on day of, contact me, Ruth Anne, at rabreithaupt@hcckw.ca.

(Sorry, no links, please cut and paste).

Tickets Now On Sale! Highview's Dinner and Silent Auction Saturday, February 24, 2024

 

TICKETS NOW ON SALE!!!

Reserving your tickets early helps to ensure you get your preferred seating

5:00 or 6:30 p.m.

It also helps us plan and prepare the food 

with minimal waste, 

something that is consistent with 

the values of Auberge des Vieillards, 

and our care of vulnerable seniors in Pignon, Haiti.

Tickets available in person from

Brian Ogilvie or Ken Breithaupt

starting Sunday, January 14, 2024

after our worship service

(Highview Community Church

295 Highview Drive, KIT ON N2N 2K7).

OR

by contacting Brian or Ken directly at

Brian - brian.ogilvie@obfinancial.ca

Ken - kdb@ptsoft.com

For more information about our Dinner and Auction, or about Auberge des Vieillards

contact our Missionary in Residence

Ruth Anne Breithaupt at

rabreithaupt@hcckw.ca.

For more stories keep scrolling.

Swimming, Patient Friends, Dr. Larry Mellon, and a Hospital in Haiti

Something pretty great is happening at Highview on 

Saturday, February 24, 2024

295 Highview Drive

HAITI DINNER AND SILENT AUCTION

Tickets and Information available by contacting me, 

Highview's Missionary in Residence

at rabreithaupt@hcckw.ca 

or check out www.hcckw.ca.

But what does that have to to with the book pictured here?

Well, there's a story for that.

I'm not swimming anymore.  Not as part of my regular fitness routine at least.  There are reasons, and it's all good.  But I only mention it here because it's an important part of the story, and it's going to end up in Haiti.

The thing about swimming, or any other thing you do regularly enough, is that your meet people and they become your 'that' friends.  In this case, my 'swimming' friends.  The folks I don't have any other common orbits with, but when we see each other in the change rooms or in the pool or in the jacuzzi after our swim, we're all friendly and finding out enough about each other, and what makes the world interesting because they're interesting.  But all of this is, of course, in quick conversations as we are getting in and out of the pool and drying our hair and stuff.

Maggie and Joy (not their real names) are two of my swimming friends.

Hang on.  This will actually get us to Haiti, I promise.

On my last day of swimming, I didn't know it would be my last day of swimming, so I didn't really say a proper goodbye.  It's like that, actually.  Because sometimes you don't even run into each other to chat.  But I had given Maggie my business card at one point when she expressed interest in my pashmina, and it led to the conversation about my times in Thailand.  Yes, we'll get to Haiti.

So six months after my last day of swimming I get a call from Maggie.  She wants to have a tea and invite Joy.  How lovely.  But I explain that I am heading into a rather demanding fall and it would be best if we set this up as a Christmas tea, perhaps, if that's not too far off to make such plans.  It wasn't.

So early in December, once my head stopped spinning from the jetlag return from Thailand, I sat for tea in Maggie's lovely home, and she and Joy and I found out oh so much more about each other than ever we could in the quick conversations at the pool.

For example.  Maggie, who is a very spry lady in her 90's, had many years ago spent two years as a nurse at the Hospital Albert Schweitzer at Deschapelles in Haiti.  (Told ya.)  

What?  Tell me more.  So she did.  With great respect she talked about a man named Larry Mellon who, being born into wealth, was drawn into so much more than the 'entitled' life could offer, and ended up a medical doctor in one of the poorest countries of the world.

As the name of the hospital suggests, Dr. Mellon had been inspired by the similar kind of medicine practiced by Albert Schweitzer in Africa, driven by the shared desire to "find the place of maximum need."  It's what led Mellon to build his hospital in the Artibonite Valley, a place deserted by other doctors due to the hopeless conditions in which the inhabitants lived.  

And now an aside, because more dots are connecting for me.  A quote from Brian Stiller's book "Find a Broken Wall" (2012) where he encourages Christian leaders (and all of us for that matter) to consider our 'job search' a little differently.

Instead of searching for the good places, 

rewarding salaries and benefits, 

popular communities and nice people, 

look for rundown, bankrupt communities 

in need of someone to lift and lead (29).

This is exactly what Mellon did.

Near to the end of our Christmas tea, I realized I wanted to know more about this intriguing man and his medical mission in Haiti.  So I asked if ever there was a book published or anything else I could read.  Maggie easily lent me the book pictured above, published in 1964.  I have not been disappointed.

I'm not finished the book.  And I'm still learning so much.  The hospital still exists, but I've only started to poke around to find out more.  If you're also interested, here's a possible link to information today:  Current information on the hospital.  If nothing else it will give us all a perspective on how the situation in Haiti today is affecting everything.

And it all comes back to what's happening at Highview on Saturday, February 24.

We aren't directly connected with Dr. Mellon's hospital.  But we are partners with Auberge des Vieillards (Inn for the Elderly) in Pignon.  The seniors and disabled residents there are also living midst the turmoil of a country in prolonged chaos.  It's another 'broken wall' if you will; another 'place of maximum need.'

We want to help.  

We hope you'll join us.