All Saints' Episcopal Church ::

Cathy’s Caribbean Quarterly
March 28, 2009

Dear Fr. EJ,

Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! I pray that this year is going well for you, though I know times are difficult for many! Thank you for your prayers these past few months!

I recently spent a month in Haiti, working in a rehab tech training program. While it was very good to be teaching the whole time, mostly in the classroom, it is good to be back home treating patients in the clinic. These are a few therapy staff members from the capital at an international rehab conference held in the DR in January. Between the referring doctor’s vacation in January and my time in Haiti, I am now rebuilding my caseload. I am also starting to work with folks on the continuing education workshops for this year. Two PT students from the states will be here soon for two weeks on a clinical rotation. Please pray that we find a happy medium of exchange for culture and therapy skills during their stay, both directions. Please pray for development of this year’s continuing ed. workshops!

During my time in Haiti I visited a couple of Episcopal churches, one on a normal Sunday and the other for their yearly visit by the priest. The church in La Chapelle is pictured here, on its relatively new piece of land. They are dreaming of building a church. It was a Morning Prayer service and afterwards I asked how often the priest comes. They couldn’t really say and it turns out that “their” priest is responsible for 16 missions and stations, some far from easily accessible! After three weeks without communion, the opportunity to receive the next week was something I relished. As I closed my mouth on the precious food, it hit me that it had not been 3 weeks for the rest of the people there, more like 3-12 months since they had been offered this sacred meal! Please pray for the lay leaders of these communities who have such a heavy responsibility for guiding their congregations with little ordained assistance, and for the priests of Haiti who are spread so thin!

May God bless and guide you in all you do!
Cathy Donahoe
SAMS Missionary and Physical Therapist serving in the Dominican Republic
Donations: SAMS, PO Box 399; Ambridge, PA 15003
Cards/letters: Apartado 587, San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic
Email: cathyd@turbonet.com