NPH Haiti Special Needs Programs

Fighting the good fight!
On Tues we sent a group of our ‘Special’ students, from our Special Needs School here in Kenscoff, to our pool in our rehab center in Tabarre. What was extra special was that the group not only included, our own children but we had students from the community and also their mothers.
You can imagine how special it was for them !
At a recent parent teacher meeting, these parents brought tears to our eyes when they shared their stories with us. Stories of humiliation, misunderstandings- as time and time again they were encouraged to abandon their children with disabilities.
Stories of fear and trauma when they were forced to run from their homes to escape the gangs.
Stories of sadness and despair. Stories of love and resilience.
Stories of courage and faith. Testimonies of hope and joy once they found NPH Haiti. Testimonies of attitudes changing since their children started coming to our school.
When I took that group picture and as I watched them get into our bus, I took a big deep breath, gave thanks to God and said to myself, ‘even if Haiti is being destroyed all around us, we are fighting the good fight’.
Thank you for helping us ‘fight the good fight’

Gena Heraty
www.nph-ireland.org

Jesus was born in a stable and all these years later we celebrate his birth and we celebrate the man he was-the words of wisdom he spoke, and his example of how to love unconditionally. Tis not easy to love unconditionally- take a minute and think about all the ways we put conditions on the love we give.
In Kay Christine, our residents are our biggest teachers- they give their love freely and without conditions. They are amazing!
Yesterday was a busy day- presents for all in our great big family- 57 residents and 98 staff! We had Santa, we had singing and dancing and we even had a sketch(drama). Everyone was determined to make this day special and we were all so very aware of how lucky we are to be able to do this while an hrs drive away, gunfire has replaced the Christmas music and death was the unwanted present for so many families this Christmas.

A wise teacher(Michael English) once asked us why we ever thought that life was fair. He told us we should know that life is not fair- it never was! He sure was right and our challenge is to somehow make it a bit more fair for everyone.

Another wise man- my father -James Heraty, used to say, ‘there is nothing bad that could not be worse’ and many times his words come to mind as I try to make sense of so many things! Some things will never make sense to me😉

Today is the feast of St. Stephen- the first martyr- stoned to death. Imagine! The church lands that feast day right after Christmas- I guess to remind us that while we should indeed celebrate the birth of a very special baby, we should also be very clear that there is nothing easy about trying to be agents of peace and love!
We had a super day yesterday! I hope you did too. As the year comes to an end, let’s be thankful for all the wonderful moments we had despite many challenges. Let’s appreciate how lucky we are and let’s recognise that life is very unfair for so many. Let’s recognise that even if we have difficulties and problems, we could be far worse off! Can you finish a sentence with off? I have forgotten all my grammer🙈.
Let’s work hard at loving unconditionally and let’s work hard at creating a just and peaceful world-not wishing for it- working for it.
Thank’s for all the love and support throughout 2024.
Happy New Year to you all!