Meditating on mud cakes

Twice within the last five days I've heard people from different parts of the United States talk about the rising cost of mud cakes in Haiti. Unfortunately, this isn't a joke. As Rich Heffern explains in the story about the rising cost of food (Page 18), mud cakes made of dirt mixed with salt, sugar and shortening are a common remedy for hunger pangs. Even they are becoming unaffordable for those already living on the edge. It's a sad commentary on the state of our world, leaving us to wonder if things can ever change.

In contrast, this week's cover story is about hope. It, too, focuses on the country of Haiti. Many years ago someone asked me this question: What do we learn from the poor of the world? Is their story only one of despair or is there some quiet wisdom to be found beneath the surface of the suffering and chaos?

Our cover story provides a glimpse of poverty through the eyes of 81-year-old Immaculate Heart of Mary Sr. Martha Vanrompay. A Belgian by birth, she has lived and worked in Haiti for 26 years. She introduces us to the deeply ingrained Haitian notion of kombit, a word that describes a communal achievement of working together that goes far beyond what is understood by more popular terms like committee or team. It took Sr. Martha 20 years to understand its meaning and to realize that it holds the secret to finding a way out of extreme poverty, a goal that has eluded so many of us for so long.

How can it be that we, who have so much education, so many books and resources of every kind, must admit our need to learn from those who have so much less? Is it possible that the fullness of community can only be apprehended through the eyes of the poor?

This reversal of roles disturbs our need for control and self-sufficiency. We are so quick to say we know and we understand. Yet, Sr. Martha will tell us that the world largely misunderstands and misuses Haiti--and I think this could be applied to other countries as well. The story of the restaveks of Haiti--children in involuntary servitude--is disturbing enough, and yet we are called to struggle even more with our inability to solve what we do not fully understand. We understand injustice, but do we really understand its solution? Who and what will be our guide? Where are today's prophets, those calling us to the radical demands of the Gospel?

It is important that Sr. Martha's work and passion be shared with the world because she models an authentic Christian response to the full challenge of the beatitudes. We must confront injustice, certainly, but even more, we must also transform injustice through the practice of kombit, a nonviolent force that works through the power of the community to reshape even the most desperate of situations.

It has taken many years for me to probe the question: What do we learn from the poor of the world? Haiti's lessons are a partial answer for one who lives outside the reality of extreme poverty, but I have little doubt the issues will stay with me for the rest of my life. The good of the human family requires it.

Contact me at rlarivee@ncronline.org.

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