Carcasse - Last day

Sunday, 02/26/2012
The whole team attended mass, with Honore translating the Father’s homily. He talked about how Carcasse was when he first came – no school, no electricity, no internet, not many community organizations, no roads, no clinic, no cell phone network, etc…As I imagined what the town must have been like back then, it struck me that the town I had considered thus far to be about as underdeveloped as you could get, was in comparison to a few years ago very much developed. And that was in large part thanks to technical support and donations from St. Mary’s, the Father’s leadership skills, and the community’s hard work.
He also announced to everyone that I would not only be teaching English, but also French, and adult reading and writing, and joining the choir, and that I knew how to make lamps using plastic bottles (I had shown him solar bottle lights on the web earlier that week), that I knew how to cook with the sun (solar cookers), and sterilize water with the sun (the SODIS method). The
father and I had briefly discussed me doing all these things, and I had vaguely agreed I might be able to do them, but in my mind I had not made any promises as I needed to take one day at a time. So the Father’s announcement took me by surprise, and as the audience roared with applause, I vowed to make my intentions clearer next time. On the one hand, it was a good idea to publicize these technologies, but on the other hand, I didn’t want people to think I broke promises if I didn’t deliver on his statements.
He continued by imploring everyone to treat me like their sister or daughter or granddaughter and to make me feel as welcome and included as possible, as I was accepting to live under such harsh conditions as theirs. He said that he hoped that by the end of six months here, I would feel so much at home that I would not want to leave. At the end of the mass, the Father asked all the Americans to come to the altar and say a few words. We all introduced ourselves again (we had done so at the mass on Ash Wednesday), and when it came my turn to speak, I said I thought the father was probably right, that I would not want to leave, and that I already felt at home, to much applause.
The mass ended on an amusing note, when the father announced to everyone that the rumor that Natcom (a new phone company with cheaper rates) is the devil, is NOT true, and that they can safely buy and use Natcom phones and should do so in order to save money.

The Americans and the mens’ choir with Abbe Damas, the choir director, and a couple other people, then went to go to a secluded beach for a bit of care-free swimming in uncontaminated waters. It was secluded as climbing down the cliff from the road to the beach was not easy, and the younger men had to support us to make sure some of us didn’t fall. While the men’s choir sang accompanied by the guitar and bongo, improvising new songs and playing around, we relaxed in the ocean waves. After eating, playing the Frisbee, a little bit of dancing and singing, we left just in time to avoid a downpour. Once home, some took advantage of the rain falling from the tarps for showers.

For our last night in Carcasse, many people gathered outside the rectory for a small goodbye party. We came out for a little bit and listened to some beautiful creole music, with Abbe Damas leading on the guitar.