Sister Michelle Loisel, a Sister of Charity whom I met while working in Connecticut in 2006, recently wrote me that she was living and working in Chicago at the Mother house of her order.  Michelle is French, and for over 20 years, she lived and worked in Lebanon.  When we met, the Lebanese whom she had lived with for decades, through the civil war and its aftermath, were once again under siege. As we sat on my porch having dinner, she told me of her pain and sorrow at what was going on to people who had already suffered so much.  Shortly after our conversation, I left the East Coast to come home, and within a few months, Michelle had gotten permission from her order to return to Southern Lebanon to help in the aftermath of yet another war.  

When she returned a year later, she told me of the horrors of walking among the people who were still in a state of profound shock.  Any healing that had started to take place, had been ripped apart by the brutality and horrors of war.  She described helping victims of shellings and land mines, and described the sense of hopelessness and anger that seemed to permeate from the survivors.  After some time, Michelle returned to the U.S. where here order’s mother house is in Chicago.  We have kept in touch, writing periodically, and sending one another support and news of our lives.

The last I had heard, Michelle was in Kansas City working for her order.  It had been some time since we had last spoken, and I had been thinking of her and wanting to contact her to see if she could write a piece for a journal I publish.  Last night before sleeping, I sent off an email, hoping I’d hear from her. This morning I did.  Sr. Michelle Loisel contacted me to let me know that she is  in Cite Soleil, the poorest part of Haiti, helping out with the earthquake survivors.  It does not surprise me that Michelle is back in the middle of a place of suffering.  Being at the site of the disaster in Haiti,  she finds herself, her true purpose being  where she can reach out and help those who are in serious trouble, who suffer, and who need support. The people of Haiti are receiving help from people much like Michelle...people who are willing to give up their comfort and safety to climb into the middle of the rubble and destruction to help lift others out of their misery.   People who are giving what they have to stand by their brothers and sisters to recover a sense of human dignity and a sense of safety and healing.  

In the times in which we live, we are overwhelmed with images of war and natural disasters.  We also struggle to deal with the sense of feeling unable to help or we become innured to the destruction and violence that affects others.  As we stand at the sink grumbling about another sink full of dishes to wash, or rise at dawn to catch a bus to get to work on time, or sit in another meeting or see another patient, we may want to take some time to think about those people who are giving of their time and energy to help others. Those of us who live and work with children can be thankful for their safety, and help them understand how people are helping one another.  We can give them a way to show their support and concern in positive ways, perhaps writing letters or sending emails to children who have survived.  

It is not possible for everyone to show support by heading off to a disaster area or war zone.  We can, however,  think of the firefighters, nurses, doctors, aid workers, communication workers, military personnel, and all the other people who are responding to this disaster, and hold them in our thoughts and prayers.  We can learn more about both the survivors and victims, the responders and others who support the people of Haiti, and honor them by acknowledging their sacrifices, losses, and stories.  In future articles, these stories will continue to be told in an effort to put a human face on such a massive loss of human life.    As I hear from Michelle, I will pass on information in future articles.  Your stories are welcome as well.