Nothing but faith and hope
Daniel Hale reflects on an amazing couple of days with Progressio Annual Lecture speaker Michele Pierre-Louis.
A thousand questions
Last week I hit the road with two brilliant companions. One was my colleague Jo (our press guru) and the other was Michele Pierre-Louis, a woman who, this time last year, led the government of Haiti as Prime Minister. It’s a bit like having Gordon Brown sat in the back of your car.
If I’m honest, I hadn’t thought about the long hours on the highways of England. It was my fault really – I thought it’d be great to visit groups in Birmingham, Liverpool, Leeds and Nottingham over a couple of days after Michele gave the Progressio Annual Lecture. Now, stationary on the A40 with no sign of getting anywhere very soon, I was beginning to have second thoughts.
“This traffic reminds me of Haiti,” said Michele, graciously accepting that we’d be in Birmingham far later than planned. And so it started. A thousand questions about Haiti, about the earthquake, about Catholics in the UK, about the role of the Church in development, about what it’s like being a Prime Minister.
Michele was well-used to going out to meet the people. As Prime Minister, she went out to a different community every week to find out what was happening in the country and what could be done to help people. She’s definitely one of the people, and opted to stay in Haiti when most of the educated people move to the United States in the hope of a better life.
Birmingham’s first stop was brilliant. After a radio interview with local celebrity DJ Ed Doolan (and an encounter with a life-size Dalek – oh for a camera!), we headed for Newman University College. It was a record turnout for a Wednesday afternoon, staff and students enthralled by Michele’s perspectives on the importance of higher education to development and in conversation with theologian David McLaughlin (standing in for Bishop Kenney, stranded at an airport in France). After being treated to lunch, we hit the road to Liverpool.
Goudou Goudou
There was total silence in the church as Michele recounted again the story of the earthquake. They call it ‘Goudou Goudou’ (pronounced Gudu Gudu), after the sound it made, before the ground shook and the people started to scream. A chance decision to see friends, rather than go home, probably spared her life. 58 seconds of visceral terror.
And then running, over the rubble, to see if her daughter and baby grandson were still alive. The only thing she could think of. And the relief at finding them, dazed but unharmed, in front of what was left of their home.
The first night, sleeping out in front of the stars. Too dangerous to go inside, if there even was an inside anymore. No water, no food, no electricity or gas. Nothing but faith and hope. Her community devastated by grief at the 300,000 dead (in truth, no one knows the exact number), but joyful to be alive. The prayers and singing, as if neighbourhood were singing to neighbourhood, calling on God to be with them through the night.
It’s a story that will stay with me for a long time, strains of ‘Michael row the boat ashore’ as Michele sung it to us echoing in my mind; I certainly wasn’t the only person to be deeply moved by stories of the faith of the Haitian people that night.
The potential of the young
Thursday was a day full of young people, a group Michele clearly loves. Leeds’ Cardinal Heenan Y11s in their black jackets and stripey ties learning about the beauty and potential of Haiti, a country of ancient forts and bright sandy beaches. A country with as bright a future as the students, hands raised, asking all manner of excellent questions.
The school we stood in was quite unlike anything they had in Haiti, we were reminded, a lesson in gratitude for a place many of the students might quietly wish they could see much less of! Michele and the head teacher, in deep conversation, educationalists both, committed to achieving the potential of the young.
FOKAL, Michele’s foundation in Haiti, has established 40 mini libraries all over the country, places of learning and hope. Students at Cardinal Heenan will have some connections with young people Haiti soon through Michele’s foundation.
And then to Nottingham where a diocesan youth day was considering what ‘enough’ meant. What is enough when your house falls down and all you have are the clothes you stand up in and a few things scavenged from the ruins? A story to challenge the advertising in our consumer society – we can be happy with what we have, with our relationships and ourselves.
An honour, a privilege and an unforgettable, if intense and challenging, couple of days. Michele’s a good friend to have, a person to have demonstrated what a good life is, what it means to serve others, what it means to dedicate your life to those less fortunate than yourself, and teaching me about the duties of privilege, of faith, hope and charity.
There’s a lot of hope in Haiti, a country filled with people just like Michele.
Photo: Michele Pierre-Louis and the Head Boy and Head Girl of Cardinal Heenan Catholic High School, Leeds. Patrick Sice/ Leeds Catholic Post
