April 6, 2018 at 1:53 p.m.
SARATOGA TO PORT-AU-PRINCE
A student's year in Haiti
At the end of Josh's spring semester of college last year, the SUNY-Geneseo student realized he needed time off. He was searching for his next step when he attended a Mass in Syracuse where a visiting priest-doctor, Rev. Scott Binet, was the homilist.
Father Binet spoke about his organization, Servants of St. Camillus Disaster Relief Services, or "SOS DRS." The Catholic group responds to disasters all over the world and has a base in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
Josh was inspired. He arrived in Haiti in January - the youngest volunteer working with SOS DRS. He had little understanding of what he'd encounter.
"My main mission there was teaching English, but when I first arrived I spent time treating cholera in Carcasse, an isolated rural area on the western coast of Haiti," Josh said. "They have no electricity, little education, and their treatment center was a tent with cots. I was confused and disoriented and a little overwhelmed."
Josh told The Evangelist that cholera "can be killed with the proper antibiotics and by making sure the person stays hydrated," but "there is little medical knowledge there."
Josh traveled elsewhere to begin teaching English. SOS DRS is based in Solino, an area lacking in relief workers.
"Right outside of our gate, there was a displaced persons' camp with over 68,000 people living there. It's usually two families to a tent, so we're talking 10 people crammed into a small tent," he said. "But the people there aren't broken and hopeless like you see on TV. The kids run around and play all day; they're smiling and the churches are filled."
Josh's 20 students came to class excited to learn and eager to teach him Haitian Creole.
"I had to learn how to teach, which is very challenging, but most of my students were very dedicated. There, if you can speak more than one language, you are more likely to get even a small job like working in a department store," Josh noted.
The volunteer's influence reached all the way back to St. Clement's. Denise Salage, administrator of children's sacramental preparation there, has known Josh since he was in first grade. She shared his travels with her 120 First Communicants.
"The children got to see firsthand what he was experiencing in Haiti and connect with children their age through Josh," said Mrs. Salage. "They prayed to Our Lady for Josh and his protection - but they also got to ask him questions, like, 'What did you eat for breakfast?'"
Through email and Josh's blog, http://ineffableideas.wordpress.com, the children became aware of conditions in Haiti, the work of a missionary, how they could help and the importance of prayer for the poor.
Just days after his return to the U.S. in June, Josh attended the parish's annual Mercy Walk at the Saratoga Race Track, an event that teaches children about Works of Mercy like sheltering the homeless.
There, the First Communicants from St. Clement's were finally able to meet their hero.
"He got his own tent and he brought pictures and posters for the kids and answered all of their questions," said Mrs. Salage. But it was evident how often Josh's thoughts turned to the suffering Haitians: "He told the kids, 'I'm here now, but they're still there in Haiti.'"
Through the First Communicants' efforts, more than $3,500 was raised to provide food, shelter and education for Haitian children. Josh "had the courage to be open to the Holy Spirit," said Mrs. Salage. "He has inspired the teachers, catechists, the school and the Church here. We were watching the transformation of a young man."
Josh is about to return to SUNY-Geneseo. He plans to organize aid efforts on campus.
He said what he misses most are the Haitian people.
"Even in such poverty, they're happy," he said. "They have a sense of hope about them that changed the way I think about happiness. I have no choice: I have to go back."
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