Last Saturday evening we were saddened to receive the news that Senor Dipy Metilus, age 54 passed away after a brief illness in his home in villa Esperanza. Many of our teams who have worked in villa Esperanza are familiar with this kind, gentle man who was the local tailor and an upstanding member of the church, in a community where less than 10% of the people believe in God. His wife passed away a few years earlier and his two girls Dilcia and Janeli are now orphans.
This was our first experience in actually participating in a Haitian burial service which usually takes place within 24 hours of death. Since Giuseppe was away on holidays, we offered to use our pickup truck to transport the casket and many mourners to the graveside. There were so many people packed into the back of the truck that the tires were almost flat. The procession proceeded ever so slowly; our truck, two gua gua’s with at least 30 people in each, 2 cars, and numerous motorcycles proceeded slowly to the cemetery in Montellano so the people walking could keep pace also on this approximately 5 km trip. 
The keening and wailing of some of the mourners grew especially loud when the graveside service was concluded, the casket lowered into the ground and with each man taking a shovelful of dirt to fill the grave. Upon our arrival back to the truck we discovered that it was filled to the brim with mourners waiting for a bola (a free ride) back up to the village.
Dilcia had just finished her first year of university in Santo Domingo and must now decide if she can continue to study there while taking care of her younger sister. Please pray for these young ladies in their time of sorrow.
This was our first experience in actually participating in a Haitian burial service which usually takes place within 24 hours of death. Since Giuseppe was away on holidays, we offered to use our pickup truck to transport the casket and many mourners to the graveside. There were so many people packed into the back of the truck that the tires were almost flat. The procession proceeded ever so slowly; our truck, two gua gua’s with at least 30 people in each, 2 cars, and numerous motorcycles proceeded slowly to the cemetery in Montellano so the people walking could keep pace also on this approximately 5 km trip. The keening and wailing of some of the mourners grew especially loud when the graveside service was concluded, the casket lowered into the ground and with each man taking a shovelful of dirt to fill the grave. Upon our arrival back to the truck we discovered that it was filled to the brim with mourners waiting for a bola (a free ride) back up to the village. Dilcia had just finished her first year of university in Santo Domingo and must now decide if she can continue to study there while taking care of her younger sister. Please pray for these young ladies in their time of sorrow.Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Matthew 5:4
1 comment:
So sorry to hear about Dipy. I have a permanent reminder of him and his daughter Yeleni. We were talking together while I worked on one of my drawings on wood and I asked her how she spelled her name. She wrote it for me on my drawing along with her fathers name "Dipy" and our names "Dabid y sandi" . I love that art piece and it has a special place on my wall.
Dipy also agreed to tailor some of the clothes for the older men for us as everything we had brought for them needed to be taken in because they are very thin. He also provided the balloons for a going away party we had for the kids before we left.
He was a really solid Christian citizen of the village and I know he will be missed.
Dave and Sandy
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