We’re looking for signs of hope in Sassier.
We’re used to looking for signs of spring.  After months of winter’s grey skies, we eagerly anticipate the first green shoots emerging from the near frozen ground – filling us with hope for spring’s flowers. Can summer be far behind?  Our spirits are lifted.
We spent yesterday visiting neighbors in Sassier, whose homes are badly damaged

or destroyed.  Later, we traveled to Jeremie, the nearby provincial capital, which much resembles a bombed out city. Weaving around massive piles of rubble, one block is worse than the previous one.  The misery of broken buildings and shattered lives hangs as heavy as February’s grey skies.

Yet, despite the blackened rubble of what was before Hurricane Matthew, green shoots are beginning to appear – just 10 days later.
  • Sassier’s new Medical Clinic team is busily treating patients, a Light in the Darkness. Remarkably, two of its solar panels are still affixed to the roof, providing electricity.
  • The sound of hammers and saws is in the morning air in Sassier today, as rebuilding of homes and lives gets off to a tenuous start.
  • Our friend and collaborator in Jeremie, Tony Magloirie, has replaced the roof on his business, an important commercial and social hub for the community. Tony hopes to be open for business this weekend.
  • 3,000 pounds of food reached Sassier yesterday purchased and shipped by Zanmi Sasye.  The Parish Council is organizing the food distribution of rice, beans, corn, spaghetti and other staples to those most in need.
  • The first green shoots have sprung here, amidst the unfathomable destruction.
When the first green shoots give us a confidence that warmth and the new life of Spring will finally arrive, we also know that rough weather often lies in between.
So it is here.  The first green shoots are signs of a new Spring in Sassier.  We know that new life can come here.
But it will not arrive without your continued assistance.
This effort is both a sprint and a marathon. We need you to help our sisters and brothers in Haiti keep up the pace. If you listen carefully, you can hear them calling out,
“MESI ANPIL!”
“Thank you very much!”