Unfortunately that is not the result.Almost daily, for example, boatloads of Haitians are arriving in the Bahamas.Many sink and the Haitian passengers drown in the ocean.Others are caught by the local authorities and returned to Haiti.And for those Haitians who actually do reach the Bahamas, it is very difficult for them to establish themselves or move on to the States.Both women and men are living in difficult situations.
In this letter, I would like to focus specifically on the Haitian women in the Bahamas.Who are these women?What do they do?Where and how do they live?What kinds of jobs do they have?Some of these women are wives and mothers who left their families in Haiti.Most came with the idea to find a job, make money, and go back to Haiti.Many are single mothers and others are young girls who cannot find anything to do in their country.
Allow me to share with you the story of one woman in particular:
Joslenni is a woman who sometimes comes to do housekeeping work for us.She has been in Nassau for two and half years.Her husband came first and later he sent for her.Having no documentation to stay here, her husband was picked up by the immigration authorities and deported to Haiti last August.Since that time, Joslenni has been living alone with her one and half year old baby boy.Knowing almost nothing in English and having no legal documentation, it has been very hard for her to find a job to support herself and the baby.Last January she started a housekeeping job in a Bahamian house.She irons and sometimes does other household chores once each week for only thirty dollars for an eight-hour day.
Last month, the police came to Joslenni's house early in the morning.They asked her for her legal documentation.When she told them that she didn't have any and they realized that her husband was in Haiti, they told her to get ready to go and they would be back for her later.Having no place to hide, she waited and prayed.Finally, at midnight while she was sleeping, she heard somebody knocking on the door.One of the same policemen had returned, not to arrest her, but to use her as a prostitute.Fortunately, another woman was with Joslenni in the house and helped her to deal with the police and save her from being abused.
Joslenni still does not have a good job yet.Sometimes she can spend one or two weeks without work.You cannot imagine how a person can live a life like Joslenni.My biggest concern is that there are many women like Joslenni in the Bahamas that are confronting the same situation.Many of them are trying to survive through prostitution.The big problem is that these women are very fertile and when they fall into the activity of selling their bodies, the only result is to bring babies into a world of misery. Frequently, we find many of these women in the churches, praying for relief, for a job, for legal documents, and even praying for God to open the door for them to go to Miami.
I often find myself asking, will God answer their prayers?How can we tell them that they must change the way they are living?What kind of help can we provide for them?Is there any solution to the flight of refugees leaving Haiti?Right now, the only help we can offer them is prayer.We know that we can do many things through our prayers.But we are also trying to put together a women's ministry here in Nassau that will help us to meet the physical needs of these women as well.It has been a little difficult for us to meet with the right people for these ministries, but we are praying that God will bring us together in the right time.
I would like to encourage you to pray for these women, especially for Joslenni and her son and also for her husband who is in Haiti.Pray for the situation in Haiti, that God might help the leaders to find a better way to deal with the country's problems.Finally, pray for me (Estela), that God could illuminate me and give me wisdom to work with the Haitian women in Nassau.
Travel Plans
This weekend we will be traveling to Chicago to attend the annual meetings of the American Society of Missiology.This year's conference theme is "Migration: Challenge and Avenue for Christian Mission."We hope this conference will give us new insights as we seek to identify ways in which we might more effectively work among the Haitian immigrant community in Nassau.
Thank You!
As always, we greatly appreciate the support you provide that makes our ministry in the Bahamas possible.
God Bless,
Daniel and Estela Schweissing