By Cristina Cabrera Jarro -

MIAMI | Saskia Magloire waited by the large wooden doors of St. Mary’s Cathedral like a Swiss Guard waits for the pope. In her hand, the eighth-grader held the red and blue flag of her home country, the one she left five years ago: Haiti. It is the same flag that Pamela White, the U.S. ambassador to Haiti, has adopted as her own.

Taking a brief detour from her South Florida conference schedule, Ambassador White visited St. Mary’s Cathedral and School Feb. 12, where she was received by excited students, most of whom are Haitian or of Haitian descent.

“If I get a chance to talk to her, I want to know how does it feel to be chosen by the president,” said Christy Raymonvim, a fourth grader at the school.

Gean Collahuazo, Christy’s fourth grade teacher, had her students do a little bit of research on the ambassador to prepare for her visit. Their questions ranged from what would be her dream job, to her life in the Peace Corps, and the importance of balancing family life and work life.

But all the questions were saved until after the 9 a.m. school Mass.

Coincidentally, the day’s readings focused on women: first in the Book of Genesis 2:18- 25, where God creates Eve from Adam’s rib, and then in the Gospel of Mark 7:24-30, where a Greek woman begs Jesus to heal her possessed daughter.

“There is a great union between man and woman� It is a complimentary, wonderful harmony created in God’s own likeness,” said Father Christopher Marino, rector of St. Mary’s Cathedral, who celebrated the Mass.

Inspired by the readings, as well as Ambassador White’s visit, Father Marino highlighted the importance of the women God has given to the Church. Recalling Michelangelo’s fresco, the Creation of Adam in the Sistine Chapel, Father Marino noted: “Here is Adam, posed very lazily, with God reaching out powerfully. Under God’s arm, there is the face of Eve. Her face is intensive and awake� The heart of the Father is Eve.”

Together, students, faculty and staff prayed for God’s blessing over women such as Ambassador White, who work to uphold the dignity of both men and women.

While the ambassador had never visited St. Mary’s Cathedral, she was introduced to Father Marino through Archbishop Bernardito Auza, who served as Apostolic Nuncio to Haiti until a few months ago, when he was named Apostolic Representative to the United Nations.

“I’m usually bouncing around between hotels and convention centers. It was nice of Father Marino to invite me to come celebrate Mass,” said Ambassador White.

“It was perfect that she came dressed like the lovely lady in blue,” Father Marino said, alluding to the Virgin Mary who is often depicted wearing blue.

After Mass, Ambassador White addressed the fifth through eighth graders of St. Mary’s Cathedral School. She began by talking about her work as a Peace Corps volunteer in Cameroon.

“I was in this tiny village in the middle of Africa, where there was no running water, no electricity, no white people and no one who spoke English. I cried for three days,” said White, who was 21 years old at the time.

After those three harsh days of transitioning, her attitude changed, mostly because of the women from the village who, despite language barriers, came and sat with her, befriending her by simple acts of kindness, like “sharing a scrawny, African chicken which, when shared, tastes better than a fat, American turkey,” the ambassador said.

Three days turned into two years in Africa, with White and the villagers sharing their culture, their songs and their love. “It’s about how you treat other people and respect them. I thought I was going to Africa to teach them how to live. It turns out they taught me,” Ambassador White said.

After her time with the Peace Corps, she joined the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and was sent to work in Mali, a majority Muslim country where what little education exists excludes girls. White’s goal was to increase access to education, especially for girls. But first, she needed to meet with the Tuaregs � the nomadic rebels who control the northern region of Mali.

“I remember seeing about 20 camels approaching to our meet point,” Ambassador White said. “We met in this beautiful tent, and sat in a circle. With my translator, I said to the chief, ‘I’ve come because we are training people to come up here and teach the girls.’ And the chief asked me ‘Why?’”

White went on to ask how many of them could read or write. When none of them said they could, she explained the value of educating girls, and giving them the opportunity to record the culture and history of their people.

After much conversation, and many cups of tea, the chief finally approved education for girls. It marked the first time that girls in the region went to school.

Similarly, since returning to Haiti in 2012 � she previously worked there for USAID from 1985 to 1990 � Ambassador White has noted an increase in access to education, as well as other improvements in the country.

“There is lots of good that you don’t see because of how the news covers things. Kids are going to school, women are learning to read and write, infant mortality rate has gone down, so has the cases of HIV, and poverty has been reduced,” Ambassador White said. “Don’t give up on Haiti.”

After 40 years of traveling the world and working in some of the most violent-prone, poverty-stricken countries, her concluding personal advice to the children of St. Mary’s Cathedral was universally simple: “Be a public servant. Reach out to people, love people. Do one kind thing at least once a day for someone.”