Pen-Pals

I missed the deadline for the Ship on The Horizon challenge. I didn't get to finish in time because I had to work extra hours. But I spent a lot of time writing it so I will share it. I hope you all like it.

Several missionaries were visiting Shelly's church and they were promoting a pen-pal project. Shelly thought it was a good idea and she was going to take part in it. The missionaries brought a large box into the church foyer that was full of letters written by people over seas they had been helping. Receiving mail or having a friend to talk to is good for the human spirit. Anyone who wanted to become a pen-pal to the less fortunate were to take a letter at random from the box and send a return letter. Shelly plucked a letter from the box. She placed it into her purse until she returned home to read it in peace and quiet of her den. She lived in a three bedroom house with a sizable back yard and a large storage shed. She lived there with her room mate Amanda who spent most of her time at work.

When Shelly returned home she changed into a pair of jeans and a T-shirt. She took the letter out of her purse and sat in her favorite chair by the window. As she opened the letter she realized it was not written in English. It was written in Haitian Creole the language of the people. Actually, Haiti's official language was French. It is used on all documents and in schools. The media also uses French. Though it is the standard administrative language, only 5% of the Haitian people use it. The most popular spoken language is Haitian Creole which is a mixture of French, Taino and West African. The minority language is Spanish. Shelly's pen- pal wrote in French.

Shelly would need a French to English translation book which she went out to purchase right away. After translating the letter she was able to read it better. It was written by a young man named Jasur Samedi.

-Hello to my new American friend. I am much happy to meet you. Please to write me quickly as I am excited to receive a letter from you. My name is Jasur Samedi. I am from Haiti. From your new friend Jasur.-

Shelly studied the translation book and began writing her return letter in the French. She told Jasur about herself and the United States and Jasur told her all about Haiti. Their new found friendship would last for the rest of their lives. All the things she learned about Haiti were overwhelming. Shelly would spend many nights crying softly into her pillow.

Starting back in colonial days the tress of Haiti have been cut down at an alarming rate. In 1988 it was recorded that only 4.4 percent of their rain forest was left. In 2016 the record shows only 0.32 percent is left. This has caused many of the animal species to go extinct and it has caused deadly landsides and massive flooding. Jasur lives in fear of these things on a daily bases. Forty-two of Haiti's 50 mountains have been stripped of their trees.

In may of 2004 Haiti had two weeks of heavy rain. Five feet of rain fell in 36 hours. Over 2,400 people died. Jasur was only five years old when this happened but he still remembers everyone going about their everyday lives in waste deep water. He remembers his father taking turns lifting him and his brother to sit on his shoulders because they would get too tired pushing through through the water. The hut his father had built for them to live in had been washed away. They managed to make it to a large tourist Hotel where they took shelter from the rains and flood waters in the Hotels stairwells. The Hotel was the only safe place in Haiti but it was owned by a cruise company that had made a deal with the Haitian Government and when the rains stopped they were made to leave. Jasur and his family had become homeless.

In September of 2004 Hurricane Jeanne devastates Haiti. Jasur lost his mother in that storm. The flood waters had swept her away. They never found her body.

In 2008 fierce storms ravaged Haiti again. The storms leave hundreds of people dead. Jasur said he had felt very lucky that he and his family were still alive. They were very weak and malnourished from hunger and did not have the strength to endure this catastrophe but somehow by the grace of God they survived.

-Hello my American friend. Ho are you? How is America? This week I was invited to eat dinner at three different houses. Everyone wants to know about my American friend. They like me to tell them the stories of the great Wal-Mart. Someday I will see the amazing place called Wal-Mart. Someday I will come there. From your Haitian friend Jasur Samedi.-

Hurricane Matthew came upon Haiti like a mega ton bomb. It killed 800,000 people. Jasur's father was one of them. His father had covered Jasur and his little brother with his own body to protect them. Something came flying out of no where in the middle of the darkness and hit his father. His head was almost taken off his body. Jasur and his little brother spent the night huddled underneath their father. They did not know he was gone. They did not know that it wasn't just the rain that soaked their clothes. When the hurricane had passed and the daylight came the horror of what had happened was exposed by the dawning of the sun. As the sun got brighter the two young boys saw. They saw their father's great sacrifice and they cried. Then they found themselves alone in the world. They had no one. There were no social services there. No orphanages, no social workers. There was NOTHING. Everyone there was suffering their own losses and hunger. Haiti became a very dangerous place. The worst of man springs forth in fear and desperation.

Jasur took jobs fishing with the men his father used to talk to but there was no compensation for his young age. Jasur had to work just as hard as the men in order to keep his spot on the fishing boat and remain working to feed himself and his little brother. Many days Jasur would have big cuts and gashes in his hands from the fishing lines and the hooks. He would work by day and by night him and his little brother would hide quietly in a heap of rubble that used to be a building. There was a small opening between the crumbled cement walls. It was just big enough for two small boys to squeeze through. They would make their way over and under debris to an open space in the middle big enough to be a sleeping quarter. They were safe in there. No grown human could get in there. It protected them from evils that came out at night. They new the evils came out at night because they could hear them. The fighting, the screaming, the crying, the rapes and the murders.

The Earthquake of 2010 was the worst day of Jasur's life. He lost his little brother in that quake. He yelled at his brother not to seek shelter in their hiding spot. Jasur knew the quake would shift the debris. He knew they could be crushed to death. His brother was too scared. He didn't pay Jasur any attention and he went into the rubble. To this day his little brothers body is still buried in rubble that has never been cleared away. 300,000 people were killed in that quake. Jasur found a new hiding place. He was alone now. He had no one.

Jasur turned 22 years old in 2010. He became sick with the Cholera. He thought the fate that had taken his family had finally come for him and now it was his turn to die. The military moved in like an invading force. They acted as if Cholera was a crime. It was dark days for everyone then. Somehow, again by the grace of God, Jasur was spared. He recovered and continued to live on and every day Haiti becomes more and more dangerous. The only safe place was the Hotel. The only safe people were the guests of the hotel that had arrived on the cruise ship. The tourists. Who came by the hundreds to look and see and take pictures and get back on the ship and leave. Helping no one. A country that has been destroyed by nature has caused Haiti to become ever more dangerous. There is terrible crime in Haiti. There is assault and murder, kidnapping, and rapes. Jasur just kept thinking about the great Wal-Mart and his friend Shelly.

One day Shelly got letter from Jasur. This letter was little different than the others.

-Hello My American Friend. It is Jasur. I am coming to see Wal-Mart!. You said you would help me if I ever made it there. I am coming! In a blue boat. My friend bought a boat and he will bring me and a couple of friends to America! You do not mind helping them too do you? They want to see this Wal-Mart too. Next time you hear from me it will be face to face! From your Haitian friend Jasur. My mother named me Jasur. It means I am courageous.-

Every day before work and every day after work Shelly went to the beach looking for the blue boat. The days passed into weeks and still no boat. She received no letters either. The weeks turned into months. Three months had passed with no word from Jasur. Shelly was beginning to think something bad had happened. That night Shelly went to the beach one last time. She had been thinking he should have been here by now.

Shelly had prepared the shed into a bedroom for Jasur and his friends but she was now thinking he didn't make it. What if he had gotten lost at sea? What if there was a storm and tipped the boat? Where was he? Shelly was about to leave when she heard yelling. Farther down the beach she saw it. It was coming up to shore. It was The Blue Boat! It was only a tiny little sail boat with a huge sail. No engine. there is no way this itty bitty boat came across the ocean! Yet, there it was. A sail boat that was very over crowded. As she walked closer Shelly could see someone jumping up and down in the front waving his arms frantically and yelling! Jasur was going to see the great Wal-Mart after all. And 30 of his friends. She would need to get more bedding and maybe another shed.

- The End -

By- Deborah Zbieronek