Haiti eMi Fall 2010

What Will Be Your Story?

How did this trip measure up to the last one? We’ll let’s just say there were a lot of ironies with this visit versus my time spent in Haiti during the summer. 

I loved my fellow team member's (Daniel Blaise's) shirt

This time around, I didn’t cry they way I cried over the summer.  I think there was less shock value on this trip because I has already experienced Haiti, and it wasn’t the first time.  However, I found myself asking WHY a lot more because the inequalities were ever so present.  I guess in my naive mind, I was hoping to see signs of better economic development in the northern part of the country since it was not affected by the earthquake, but unfortunately, it was just a glaring eye-opener of the despair and tumultuous existence of the country; I could now see why it’s considered the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. 

This trip gave me a renewed since of purpose to help in any way that I can.  While I think it is important for the world to see the beauty that Haiti has to offer, far too many Haitians living in Haiti don’t get to enjoy their beautiful land.  There is an abundance of beauty that the least of these will never know is in a treasure in their own background.  I want Haitians to see their own beauty, and to take pride in their country that has so much to offer if only it were more economically developed.  How do you teach the masses to appreciate their land and develop it into an economic driving force for prosperity?

Despite my constant whys, I will continue to say that Haitians have a spirit and “Joie de Vie” like no other I’ve encountered.  I’m proud to say I have Haitian blood running through my veins, because I don’t doubt that it’s my Haitian heritage that’s given be an unshakable spirit that never loses inner joy no matter what the difficult circumstances might be.

Here are a few highlights of this trip:

Cockpit with no door

Arriving in Cap-Haitien

• I learned while meeting with the university’s steering committee that I’d be working with two older brothers of my sister’s friend Sarah.  I grew up being the annoying little sister to my sister Rodeline and her friends, and I can’t believe so many years later, that I’m actually working alongside Sarah’s family to help realize such an amazing vision.  The world is such a small place, and you never know how those degrees of separation might play out.
• I flew on a small plan from Port-au-Prince to Cap-Haitien; the cockpit had no door, and a few prayers went up to God, when I saw the duck tape holding things together in there.  There are just a few things one shouldn’t see when flying.

Pastor Henoc's youngest son, Matthew; he liked picking his boogers

w/ kids from the community

Project team at future site in Berard (Cap-Haitien)

• I got to interact with a few boys in the community (in and around Berard) who didn’t come from stable homes; they would hang around the Lucien yard (Pastor Henoc Lucien and family were our gracious hosts) and run around all day because their family doesn’t have the means to send them to school; I called them “The Lost Boys”.  A few were mischievous, but children just need love and attention to help steer them down the right path.  That doesn’t always work, but it better than nothing.  I hope they appreciated my random moments with them as much as I appreciated hearing them (even when it was lies to get even more sympathy… they definitely knew how to tell some tall tales, but I figured I wouldn’t call them out on it).
• After our presentation of the schematic design to the community, I hugged and took pictures with a lot of the children from Berard.  Although some were dirty, had snotty noses and tried to swindle me out of half everything I had on that day, their smiles are infectious and you can’t help but love on them (even if I risk having to wash off all types of bacteria from lord know what they’ve played around all day.
• I survived a Cholera outbreak in Haiti that experts fear has not even come close to the severe impact it might have of fragile Haitian lives.
• I left Haiti feeling highly sought after.  I had two marriage proposals, and I’m pretty certain the Lucians were serious when they said they were going to arrange my marriage to their nephew.  I was so embarrassed, but what can a girl do.  At least I now know where to go if I need an ego boost.
• I made some awesome friends from my project team.  It amazes me how God know how to assemble just the right group of personalities to help carry out his master plan.  Let’s just say I’m happy he’s got it all under control.

Working hard... Pastor Henoc's dining room was a good office

Awesome team members

I don’t know when I’ll be back to Haiti, but I’m sure happy God’s blessed me with the opportunity to use my professional skills to help others in such a very real way.  On to the next one…

Why Haiti?

I wish I could answer that question with some level of intellect that makes sense, but the simple answer is that I can’t.  Why do I feel obligated to Haiti, why does Haiti hold a special place in my heart, why did I first go to Haiti, why did I return to Haiti so quickly, can I actually help Haiti and a whole host of other self-reflective questions come to mind, but the truth of the matter is that it is not about me; it’s about doing my part to continuously raise awareness about a country that has been in desperate need since its inception and remains the same ‘til this day.

I just returned from my second design mission trip to Haiti volunteering through an eMi project team.  This time around, my project team was master planning the site for a new university near Cap-Haitien, which is in the northern part of the country.  The university is the brain child of Henoc Lucien and is being spearheaded by the Vision of Hope Ministry (VOHM).  Just like the NGO from my previous trip this summer, VOHM is committed to the people of Haiti and improving the quality of life for Haitians. 

When I was invited to participate on this project team in late September, I didn’t immediately say yes, because I was concerned about how I was going to finance my trip costs and the amount of time I’d have to prepare myself for the trip that would be happening in a less than three weeks time.  But after a few days, it was quite clear to me that God intended for me to return to Haiti, and I just had to trust and believe in the fact that he wanted to use me for a specific purpose of that team.  After interacting with VOHM and being in Haiti, there was no doubt in my mind that I was supposed to be in Haiti again, even if I didn’t know where all the financial support would be coming from.

Unlike my previous design mission project, this project required interaction with a board of stakeholders from the US and Haiti.  This project was larger than my last and involved a lot more specific planning, which meant a lot more meetings involving a lot more people and a lot of personalities to work through.  Despite all the factors involved, I could see VOHM’s heart for this project, and I easily bought into the vision. 

While in country, I wanted to keep up with a blog like last time, but there was just way too much going on, and I had a much tighter timeline to work with for this project.  I was once again a part of the architect team and had an amazing time interacting and creating with that small subset of our larger 13 person team.  It took me no time to get comfortable with the rest of the team (especially since I was working with the same project leaders and one other person from my previous Haiti project). 

Once again, I felt completely comfortable with people, and had no problems adjusting to my surroundings.  Don’t get me wrong, there were some comforts (mostly hot showers) of home that I missed and the mosquitoes seemed to be biting with a vengeance this time around, but complaining about that seems useless when I’m just inconvenienced for a short period and knowing that the work we did in country has the potential to help so many Haitians and change their lives for the better. The new university would bring work to local artisans and laborers who would be involved with construction. It would offers students throughout Haiti another alternative to higher education than simply heading to Port-au-Prince, which is where many college students died in the earthquake.  It would also offer community development and most importantly, a new sense of pride to Haitians in Cap-Haitian and the surrounding areas. 

Some might say the vision is too grand, or that there is no way to successfully accomplish the large task ahead, but like one of the members of the university’s steering committee members pointed out “If you are going to dream, dream big”. What’s the point of dreaming the possible, when it’s the impossible that truly changes lives. He got me hook, line and sinker with that statement. 

eMi Haiti Trip Slide Show

Picture slideshow chronicling my time in Haiti...

Haiti Mission Possible: (Until We Meet Again)

So I left Haiti 2 days ago, and I can’t actually believe my 12 day trip is already over. It didn’t take long for me to get accustomed to my surroundings while in country; I’m a little torn coming home, but I know we did good work for the Real Hope for Haiti ministry. Ironically enough, despite all the hard work we as a team poured into planning the ministry’s future site, I think our entire team would say the ministry gave us far more than we gave it. The people and stories I encountered were eye opening and very touching; I can’t say there was anything I did prior to going to Haiti that adequately prepared me for the emotional roller coaster ride. As I leave, the only thing I am certain of is that this is not the last time Haiti will see me. The big question is in what capacity I come back. I leave Haiti a better person and stronger professional; I thank everyone for all the support and prayers during my time away. Take a chance to view my slideshow including many pictures that tell stories I could not adequately capture in words through this journal. Hopefully, my experience has touched you in some way. To Haiti I don’t say good-bye, but rather “see you later”.

Haiti Mission Possible: Day 11

Tuesday, July 6, 2010 – Today, I helped out around the ministry by babysitting Darlenz (DaDa); he’s one of the rescue center kids that require one-on-one attention because of his unique case. A long-term volunteer from the states, Anna (she is 21, and this is her second long-term trip as a volunteer in Haiti within three years), has been giving him that care, but she also serves as a home-school teacher to Licia’s three sons and today she was needed to focus on the boys, but she was also reluctant to leaving DaDa in the rescue center, because he is so weak. I’m so happy I volunteered to take on the assignment for a few hours.

DaDa is the most adorable boy, but his story is so sad. He was brought to the rescue center after the earthquake; both his parents were killed during the earthquake and an aunt brought him to the center to get him the proper help (apparently he was malnourished even before the earthquake). That aunt has not been back since and a 16 year-old sister has been by to visit him once in the 5 months he’s been there. They believe DaDa is 3 years old, and only weighs 16 pounds. He’s only gained 5 pounds since being at the center (he was 11 pounds when he arrived), and they do not believe he is going to make it long term. They believe his problems are far more than just the malnourishment, but they have not come up with any specific diagnosis. In just a few hours, I grew attached to this little boy; he has the greatest smile and is so loving, but it breaks my heart seeing how sick he is.

I also got to spend some time with Denny (I talked about him in a previous post) and Joel; they are the two oldest kids currently in the rescue center. They often get overlooked for attention because they appear pretty normal on the outside and there are plenty of little kids that need holding. They were jumping all over me, and though I was tired and they were heavy, these few minutes of being uncomfortable paled in comparison to the joy that was on their faces because I was focused on them. They are just one of the many reasons why this project is so important and needs to be made a reality. The ministry wants to give them and all the children a better facility, and I’m so happy to be a part of realizing this vision.

I was so excited about coming here to Haiti, but on the eve of my return home to the U.S., I’m a bit sad…I’m not sure I’m ready to go. Yes, I can’t lie; I want to get home and see my family and friends, eat ice cream, continue my job search, take a shower, wash my hair and watch T.V., but I’d be willing to stay longer. I don’t believe I’ve gotten everything I’m supposed to get from Haiti yet; there’s still so much I have to see and experience…

Haiti Mission Possible: Day 10

Monday, July 5, 2010 – Today we wrapped up our technical work on site and took the opportunity to lend a helping hand around the ministry and take in the community, but unfortunately the day started out with some bad news, two of the kids in the rescue center had died (which is actually not abnormal considering some of the severe sickness they suffer from); these were the first to die while we were on site. Though I had not directly interacted with the two children who’d passed, I still felt a sense of sadness come over me; these kids did not die because they were born with a disease or a deformity, they died because they had been severely malnourished for so long, and the rescue center just didn’t have enough time to reverse the health damages that had been already done. There was also a stomach virus going around that made most of the children sick and there was an outbreak of chicken pox that spread to 7 of the 60 kids at the center.

In that moment of hearing this information, I thought about my niece Natalia, my acquired nephews TJ and Lennox and all the children who are a part of and will enter my life in the future. These children are happy, healthy kids who can go on about the business of being children without the worry of not having their basic needs provided for. I can’t even imagine them not having food to eat or being severely malnourished. A large number of the center’s kids suffer from a form a malnutrition call Kwashiorkor (Kwash).  When a child has Kwash, they are lacking protein in their diet which first stunts their growth and then eventually causes swelling on certain parts of their body. When I first arrived, I noticed some of these children because they are so small and appear to be in so much pain; a lot of them have to have feeding tubes and/ or placed on oxygen to survive. But the most shocking thing is that these children, who appear to be infants because they are so small, are actually toddlers and young children ages 3 to 5 who can actually speak and understand conversation.

If one even spends a minute in the rescue center, you can clearly see the need for a bigger building/ facility where they can adequately care for these sick children. The ministry does the best they can with what they have, but it doesn’t mean they should accept that as the best and final solution for the needs of these children. Once again, I am amazed at the work they do with the facilities that they have. They are meeting the needs of Cazale and the surrounding communities in ways that can only be fulfilled by the grace if God.