PAUL'S REFLECTIONS ON HAITI

Paul Jennings wrote to tell friends and family about his experience in Haiti.  Paul agreed to publish his newsletter here.

Haiti Mission Trip – Paul Jennings Reflections

October 2013

Forest Hill Church

From the beginning I was wondering what to expect from this mission trip.  I assumed we were coming to help the people.  The entire trip was only 8 days in length.  I felt like maybe we should schedule more work and less tourism. A previous mission trip was conducted by FHC in the spring of 2012 to try to determine which organizations we should partner with, in order to be more effective in our attempts to help the people of Haiti.  On this latest trip we worked with a local group called the Little Brothers and Little Sisters of the Incarnation.  

When people ask, “what was it like?” so many thoughts come to mind that it is hard to decide what to say.  Haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere.  They suffered massive destruction in the 2010 earthquake and are still in the process of recovering from that event.  Joshua, one of our translators, told us that the majority of people in Haiti eat only one meal a day.  There are so many outside groups in Haiti trying to help, and apparently their track record is a bit mixed.  This makes it all the more important that we be vigilant in figuring out who we should be working with.

Much progress has certainly been made in rebuilding.  Visible signs of the earthquake damage have been dramatically reduced.  There are vibrant sidewalk shops everywhere, selling all types of food and other goods.  The clothing and artwork are very colorful.  There are many signs of how industrious, clever and hard-working the people are.  Although most people are walking, there are also motorcycles used as taxis and small pickup trucks with two benches and a cover in the back, that are used in lieu of buses.  Donkeys and horses are frequently used to haul things and people will often carry sizable loads on top of their head.  I suspect that this results in strong bones and very good posture!  We could use some of the health benefits of more walking, back here in the US.

We spent two days in the Port-au-Prince area.  It was quite an adventure to be driven from the airport in our van.  Due to a mix-up, it was too small, with 18 of us having to fit into a 14 passenger vehicle.  The obvious backlog of work needed on the roads gave us a whole new understanding of the term pot-hole.  The next day we rode up to the top of the mountain range south of the city and saw a very breath-taking view of the entire surrounding area with the beautiful Caribbean water and islands near the city.  We ate lunch at a Baptist Mission restaurant.  They had organized many local artisans and were selling fair trade items to help boost the local economy.  They had a variety of items including T-shirts with colorful hand painted Haitian-themed images, many wood carvings, colorfully painted metal-work items, embroidered linens, jewelry and lots more.  On Sunday we went to a church service at the Episcopal cathedral in Port-au-Prince.  The original building was lying in ruins as we worshipped in a temporary structure.  This was their first service conducted in the local Kreyol language.  Prior to that, they were always in French.  There were three separate choirs with great music.

We next drove on to the central plateau region near the city of Hinche.  The area was very green with tropical vegetation and the weather was not quite as hot due to the higher elevation.  We stayed at a very nice hotel that was built and managed by the parents of Ralph Jean-Mary, a member of Forest Hill Church.  Ralph, who was born and raised in that location, was instrumental in starting the 2010 mission trip.  He works for the Cleveland Clinic, and would have been with us this time, except that he was recently assigned to a project in Abu Dhabi.  We were hosted by the Little Brothers and Little Sisters of the Incarnation and did our work over the next five days in this area.  There were 18 of us from Cleveland, organized into 3 teams. 

The medical team mission included bringing a doctor, several nurses, and others along with some drugs and supplies to provide primary care at a rural clinic.  The team was able to serve over 400 people at the clinic.  Carline Paul-Blanc, was our team member that grew up in Haiti and is now working on her nursing degree in Cleveland.  She was like the bionic woman, doing nursing, translating, and dealing with children that were being somewhat less than “accurate” in what they said.  A nine year old boy was observing Rosanna taking blood pressure readings as he waited in line.  He finally said, “I can do that!”  So Rosanna let him try it.  And, with great attention to detail, he properly measured many other people until it was his turn to be served.  A four year old girl came to the clinic holding the hand of her elderly grandfather.  It soon became apparent that she was leading her grandfather, who was blind.  When it came time for the girl to be served, the grandfather gently grabbed the arm of our team member and said, “you be sure to take good care of my girl, now.”  Another five year old girl came in leading two younger siblings by the hand, with no adult to accompany them.  The visits to the clinic were not free.  They had to pay a small fee to the Little Brothers/Sisters that was equal to about $0.12.

The orphanage team did a great job of planning.  Their activities included taking pictures of each child, having them decorate a frame, and bringing a printer to create the pictures on the spot.  For nearly all the children, this was the first picture of themselves that they had ever seen.  It was a colorful treasured addition to the wall of their, otherwise somewhat Spartan, room.  The team taught the children how to make bracelets on a plastic loom, and provided a number of toys and games for them to play with.  One of the girls observed the looms in action and figured out how to make the bracelets by using only her fingers.  She taught many of the other girls how to do this, as well.  The children sang some remarkable songs which truly charmed our team. 

I was part of the agronomy team and we weren’t real sure exactly what we were going to be doing. We first went to see a village that was built by the Little Brother/Sisters.  The goal of these villages is to provide housing and make them self sufficient by having gardens, chicken coops, goats, wells, latrines, etc.  We thought that we might help them build another latrine there, but problems with too much sandy soil and cave-ins did not allow us to do that.  We next went to the agronomy school and helped them by working in their gardens where they experiment with new techniques and varieties of plants.  The food they produce is used to feed the 60 students and the staff at the school.  We helped to prepare the soil, planted seeds which we brought from Cleveland, and transplanted some seedlings. We drank a whole lot of water because it was very hot!  They produce their own compost for fertility, and everything was laid out so it can be irrigated at the dry times of the year.  It was interesting to see their attention to details such as putting the seedlings on the side of the little hills in such a way that they are shaded from the afternoon sun.  They even used palm branches to retain moisture and protect seeds from the hot sun while they are sprouting.  It was very interesting to see that they were learning techniques that are much more like what we call truck farming to raise produce rather than the cash cropping that we do in the US.  We also got to suit up to see them maintaining their beehives, and observed their facilities for raising goats. 

Our most interesting interaction was a question and answer session at one of the classes at the agronomy school.  It is a two year work-study program with 6 months of classes, 6 months of a project back home, and repeating that for the next year.  We explained what was being done during our mission trip and then struggled a bit with asking, “what do you need?” followed by having them ask, “what can you do for us?”  It struck me that each of them is trying to learn how to be an entrepreneur.  We discussed this further with the professor and learned that they need training, tools, and financial support including such things as text books in French, more computer equipment for better access to the internet, bee-keeping equipment, scholarships, and access to some micro-lending for their projects. 

I am reminded of the Chinese proverb that says, “Give a man a fish; you have fed him for a day.  Teach a man to fish; and you have fed him for a lifetime.”  So I guess all of us are trying to figure out how we can help teach people how to fish.

Thank you all for your interest and your support.

Paul