We were lucky to have Michael accompany us on Water Truck Day. Michael is a photographer from Minnesota who works with Healing Haiti often. He is respected by the locals and the kids love getting their pictures taken. Michael gives these hard copy photos to the kids each time he goes back to visit.
> CLICK HERE TO SEE PHOTOS FROM OUR TRIP <
Tuesday, November 28, 2017
Healing Haiti Trip // Conclusion [Brittany]
Hey friends and family,
It's Brittany again - and I am overwhelmed with gratitude, joy, and excitement coming out of the last 5 days. Our trip to Haiti was incredible, and it's hard to transition into the "Okay. We're back. Now what?" mentality that comes with re-entry after an experience like the one we just had.
First of all, THANK YOU for your prayers. These prayers were evident as we watched our anxiety fade into curiosity, and then curiosity grow into excitement for the future. Insight trips like this week are intended to change you. They're intended to stretch and push you, and then shift your mind into a space of actively asking, "What does this mean for me? How will my life be different now than it was before I left? I've seen these harsh realities of poverty... so now what? What can I do to help?"
Maybe after reading our emails, you're wondering what you can do to help, or how our experience can continue to impact the lives of those in Haiti. As you've read all week, organizations like Healing Haiti are doing amazing work to begin transforming lives throughout the country. Through job creation, education, and health + wellness development, communities and families are being changed. Healing Haiti's newest endeavor is Hope Clinic, located right in the heart of Cité Soleil.
Currently, there is virtually zero access to medical care in Cité Soleil. Every single child we encountered on water truck day had parasites, and even basic medical knowledge is non-existent (i.e.: don't drink the water you bathe in, or how to take care of an open wound so it doesn't get infected). Hope Clinic is going to change that. With our help, Hope Clinic can LITERALLY save lives... and get this - an entire medical facility, with functioning, like-new equipment, all supplies, and staff salaries can be funded for a full year on only $50,000.
An entire water truck costs only $5 to fill. That's just $5 (just one Starbucks run) to provide clean water for an entire community for several days. I say that because EVERY. LITTLE. BIT. COUNTS. No amount of generosity is too small or too insignificant. Dollars and cents add up FAST in a community like Haiti.
If you feel called to do something about the emails you've read this week, if your heart has been tugged and you've been wanting and waiting to act - this is a phenomenal opportunity that will truly be a game changer in the Cité Soleil community. More information, as well as the info to donate can be found here. I also encourage you to check out the video in the link above. If you have any questions, or if you feel led to act in a different way (go on your own trip to Haiti, etc.), please let me know!!!!! I am happy to discuss any ideas in even further detail.
You guys are amazing. Thank you so much for sticking with us this week. We love you all!!
-Brittany
Healing Haiti Trip // Day 5 [Luke]
Good afternoon friends and family!
This is Luke Couwenhoven with our 5th and final trip update. I apologize for the delay, as this should have been sent out last night. I started on my recap email during our final leg of our trip from Atlanta to Minneapolis, and am now finishing up from the comfort of my couch!
Our final morning started out with another attempt at an American breakfast by 2 amazing Haitian women. All the meals that they made us this week were quite good, but all had a unique, local twist.
After breakfast, we headed out to a local company called the Apparent Project. The Apparent Project was founded by an American woman with one goal: job creation for the local community. The AP utilizes local talent to create incredible handmade clay jewelry, pottery, screen print tee shirts, and sewn goods such as purses and stuffed animals for the kids. As we got a tour of the compound, the joy of the employees was incredible. Primarily women were employed, and the money that they earned each day often paid for their entire family’s well-being. One of the awesome things that the AP offered was child care and preschool for the women’s children up to 5 years of age. This allows employees to work full work weeks, knowing that their kids are being taken care of, and not just wandering the streets (which is very common). The AP has a gift shop attached for tourists to shop, and they also sell all of their goods both for retail and wholesale on their website. CLICK HERE to take a closer look at their website! There was also a restaurant on the top level of the facility that served a variety of drinks and meal options. It was cool to see such a thriving business that was being managed and operated by only locals.
As Americans, we often assume that the way to help a struggling country like Haiti is to bring them food and build them homes. This way of thinking can have a positive short term affect, but by a bunch of Americans bringing down supplies and building a house, you just took money and jobs away from Haitians who could have done the work themselves.
Jason, who you heard from a few days ago, and also seems to know a little bit about basically everything, gave me an awesome example of this! In 1994 the Clinton administration started shipping huge quantities of rice to Haiti in an attempt to help alleviate hunger in the country. The short term affect was positive. The poorest of the poor now had free food to eat. The long term affects were devastating. Within a short amount of time there was no market for local rice. All of the local farmers lost their jobs, homes, and land because they no longer could sell their crops. As Clinton was wrapping up his administartion, he was interviewed and asked "What is the biggest regret you have from your time in office"? His response was "Free food for Haiti."
Going into this trip I was well aware that the country of Haiti is in desperate need of help, but after this trip, my idea of help has been totally changed. The Haitian people are happy, appreciative, and hardworking people that have no opportunity to utilize their skills. Healing Haiti and their affiliates are set on creating opportunities for the people. Change comes from within!
After our visit to the Apparent Project, we had a short turn around to get packed up and head to the airport. If you like complaining about security lines, having to pay for wifi, or the lack of a delta club at your local airport. Please visit a 3rd world country's airport! Your life isn't so bad! The trip home was relatively uneventful. Everyone made it safe to their destinations.
Thank you so much to everyone who read our updates and prayed for us during this trip! It was an incredible experience for all of us! I am so appreciative to live in such an amazing country with the freedom to pursue so many different job opportunities. The country of Haiti and its people are beautiful! Their circumstances are heart wrenching. After 5 days, it is apparent to me that God has not forgotten about the poorest of the poor. God transcends all cultures and economic status. Haiti is an exceptional example. God is good!
-Luke C.
Healing Haiti Trip // Day 4 [Jason]
Hello everyone. This is Jason, reporting for email duty on Day 4 of our trip. Thank you for the prayers and support, and for being among the group of people we would have our kidnappers contact should we be held for ransom.
Today we attended a local Haitian church right after breakfast. We stayed for about an hour of worship that was in Creole, and it was a pretty awesome reminder that we all serve the same God regardless of the circumstances. God is bigger than the poverty in Haiti, and this worship service was evidence that the people here believe that. We were greeted with smiles from those we walked by as any visitor would probably be greeted. There wasn’t a lot of pointing or staring; they weren’t there for us.
It seemed like the people who went were grateful to be there, and that it was important. That was thing that struck me the most: people were present. Not present as in they showed up, but that they were there in the moment and focused. They weren’t there to socialize, they didn’t appear to be forced into going, and they weren’t constantly looking at their phones (which a lot of them do have). In fact, I only saw one phone the whole time we were there and it was because someone was taking a video of the worship team singing a song. But being present back home seems to be more of a rare occurrence. Since arriving, we have not had our phones with us during the day, which means no checking work emails, no texting, no checking the news every 30 minutes (ok that one is probably just me), and no browsing social media the instant there is a lull in conversation.
We ended the day at an orphanage close by with just the six of us and a couple people from Healing Haiti. We brought supplies with us: bubbles, jump ropes, coloring books and colored pencils, and of course a soccer ball. Surprisingly, the coloring books stole the show. We had fun coloring with 20-30 kids there, playing keep-away soccer in some rain puddles, and then letting the kids teach us some of their games. The best thing about spending time with them was the reminder that kids are kids wherever you go. They argued over which coloring books they got, hoarded the bottles of bubbles we brought (they literally disappeared in minutes), and laughed at us when we didn’t know what they were trying to tell us. But during that whole time, they were just happy we were there and that someone cared. And even if we hadn’t brought those things to play with, they would have been happy enough playing with our hair and taking turns asking, “What is your name?”
It was hard when they asked if they could keep the things we brought, because the policy at Healing Haiti is that everything comes back to their base. I’m pretty sure any one of us would’ve just offered to buy new supplies for Healing Haiti and let the kids keep everything. But we understand why they do things the way they do. Just like water truck day, we have to abide by certain rules because that is how things will change. Giving things away and getting people used to that is unsustainable, and having kids used to mission groups giving them things means future groups could not visit without getting bombarded.
A big takeaway thus far has been to build up Haiti rather than feel good about giving stuff out. Tomorrow we are making a couple stops before the airport, and I already wish we had more time here because it truly is inspiring to see nonprofits doing work that is both effective and far-sighted. We’ve all had an amazing time so far and are humbled to see joy in a situation that many of us would have a hard time finding it in ourselves.
-Jason
Healing Haiti Trip // Day 3 [Bridget]
Bridget Couwenhoven here, thriving on prayers and Dramamine.
This morning we took a 40 minute Tap-Tap ride up into the foothills of Haiti to a village named Titanyen. Along our drive we were able to see more of Haiti’s terrain and culture. We are told that as you move upward in elevation, the economic status is better. I would have thought that land along the coast would be the most desirable location, but it is the opposite of that in Haiti. The poorest slums are found near the water, where garbage and waste are bound to collect.
Today, we were somewhere in the lower-middle. Titanyen means “little nothing,” and is home to mass gravesites from political tyranny and natural disasters. We visited four homes that belonged to four elders in the community. Compared to yesterday, they each lived a more established style of home, consisting of metal or cinderblock materials and each had a small fenced yard. Their living spaces were not big, most seemed to be only one room.
Upon exiting the Tap-Tap, we were greeted with the familiar “Hey You!” chants of the children in the neighborhood. They don’t know much English, but have picked up this phrase because the reaction, without fail, is someone turning to them and giving them attention.
Our goal for visiting the elders is to pamper and pray for them. We began by washing their feet, massaging their neck and hands, and end with painting nails if they would like. (PSA if anyone needs a manicure back in Minnesota, Brock is your guy.) We had a Haitian member of Healing Haiti with us to lead songs and translate conversation/prayer.
After we had visited each elder, we continued up the mountain to a Healing Haiti compound named Grace Village. On this campus, there is a home for the long-term missionaries, a clinic, a school, and an orphanage. We received a tour of each from Don, one of the long-term missionaries residing on the compound.
The school ranges from Kindergarten to Grade 13. Kindergarten is 3 years long, so the kids can go to school for 16 years if they choose to. School is taught in French, but the kids also learn Spanish, English, and Creole. Recently, 48 new iPads were donated to the school, so the kids are learning technology and coding, and catching on fast!
The orphanage is set up as a family-style orphanage. The boys and girls are divided up into gender-specific homes that are led by an adult male/female team who are called “Mommy’s” and “Poppy’s,” teaching them how to live in a family environment. There are around 40 kids in the orphanage, or 10 kids in each home.
After the tour, we had some down time to play with the children or explore the gated area of Grace Village. The kids love playing soccer, swinging on their playground, or being held. Because Grace Village is set into a hill, the view is unbelievable. You look out over neighborhoods to the ocean with the mountains to either side of you. Truly breathtaking.
Our final stop today was a bakery/restaurant owned by Healing Haiti that employs locals and is called Fleri. “Fleri” means “flourish” in Creole, the common language of the Haitian people. A Minneapolis chef visited and created the menu, consisting of pizza and appetizers with ingredients that can all be purchased at the local Haitian markets. We ate well and enjoyed a taste of home.
-Bridget
Healing Haiti Trip // Day 2 [Karissa]
Hi all –
This is Karissa Lyle writing today’s update. As I sit here in front of the keyboard, I’m not sure how to begin today’s recap, mostly because there is way too much to say!
Today was “Water Truck Day”. After a hearty breakfast and a quick devotional, we were all anxious and ready for our 9:30am Tap Tap to journey into Cite Soleil. 9:30 Haitian time was closer to 10:15 (my kind of morning!) so this gave us some time to ask questions of the two Healing Haiti staff, Michael and Jesse, who joined the 6 of us on today’s water delivery. Cite Soleil, the “city” we were heading to, is essentially a 4-square-mile slum, divided into different neighborhoods, only 15 minutes from the Port-au-Prince airport. Cite Soleil is made up of Haiti’s “untouchables”. Much like the caste system, these people are considered unworthy of visits from even other Haitian locals, and those living in Port-au-Prince wouldn’t dare venture there. The area we are staying in is apparently considered “middle class”… What?! All of our jaws basically dropped when we heard this.
We were told of the pervasive orphan crisis in Haiti. Americans have come to Haiti, have fallen in love with the children here, and have built orphanages to house these kids as a result. It is a beautiful thing – however, there are two sides of this coin. The unemployment rate in Haiti is ~70%. In Cite Soleil, the unemployment rate rises to ~90%. This means as a Haitian parent you probably have 3 options:
- With no means to support your family, watch your children starve.
- Drop your children off at a local orphanage, knowing that they will at least have meals provided and a place to sleep at night. Strangely, orphanages here are filled with kids that still have parents.
- Sell your children into slavery to work for a family that is slightly better off and will be able to feed your children.
Child slavery runs rampant in Haiti, particularly in Cite Soleil. “Restaveks”, the name for child slaves, are given up by their parents to other families to perform all the chores for the family. Referred to as “Cinderella Syndrome”, these kids are treated as less than, performing manual labor from the time they are toddlers, are physically and verbally abused, unable to actually eat meals with their new “family”, etc. As you can imagine, this environment leaves many families and children alike feeling hopeless, worthless and destitute. These were the kids we would be encountering today.
We hopped in the Tap Tap to follow the water truck to our first of three stops in Cite Soleil. Healing Haiti does these water runs to different neighborhoods every single day, with or without volunteers. We learned quickly that volunteers are greatly needed. The Tap Tap bus stopped and we walked down the steps greeted by 20 small kids with their hands lifted above their heads, huge grins on their faces, and yelling in Creole “Hold me, hold me!” These kids were absolutely desperate for love. Many of these children were clearly restaveks. We could only go so far into the neighborhood carrying water before the child would say “Fin! Fin!” or “Finished!” Essentially, we needed to drop the bucket and turn around and go back to the truck. These kids will often get in trouble by their owners/families if they accept help doing chores. The entire day was sensory overload from beginning to end. A little girl on your back with her arms wrapped around your neck, a baby tugging at your shorts, a boy shouting at you to help him carry a bucket of water to his house, garbage everywhere, smells of sewage filling your nose, water splashing from the water truck hose, motorcycles honking for you to get out of the way…
The best word to describe today for me would be: Overwhelming. For others: Broken. Depressing. Grateful. The day was chaotic, and sad, but with glimpses of hope. There was so much despair but also so much joy.
In addition to bringing people clean water, we were able to visit Hope Church and School in Cite Soleil, which was founded by Healing Haiti. There is an area of Cite Soleil that is a garbage dump which serves as the local people’s bathroom, dump and makeshift graveyard. It is not unusual to see someone burying a baby here or sorting through trash to try and find clothes to cover themselves. Long story short, Healing Haiti had a crazy idea to build a church on this land that would be run by local Haitians. They started the build process by digging through trash – they dug 8 stories deep until they hit rock and were able to actually begin the cementing process. Many nonprofits have given up when they run into road bumps like this in Haiti. The people of Cite Soleil told staff of Healing Haiti that “Americans always make big promises but they never follow through.” So although it was an expensive endeavor, Healing Haiti followed through and built a church/school. They worked for 10 years with all the local gang leaders to eventually come together as the church elders (!) to allow the church/school into Cite Soleil. We were able to visit the dozens and dozens of little kindergarten kids at school in their white and purple uniforms with ribbons in their hair and books in their tiny hands. Hope Church/School is truly transformational for Cite Soleil. After the church was built, the local people were interviewed and were asked, “Is it the church what will change Cite Soleil?” An elderly woman responded, “No – it is the people. They needed to know they are worth building something for. They have to believe they are loved. And then they will change it.”I think that phrase perfectly depicts the hope that Healing Haiti is bringing to these people.
We also briefly visited Fleri Farms, where we got to drink from fresh coconuts chopped down with a machete. This farm was recently purchased by Healing Haiti to employ local Haitian farmers and stimulate the economy in Port-au-Prince. I could go on with all of the ways Healing Haiti is focusing on job creation, or educating children, or lifting up communities to be self-sufficient, but I’ll let someone else explain in another email. J Although today was depressing, I have hope knowing that organizations like Healing Haiti are here to empower the Haitian people and initiate change. It was an incredible first day.
-Karissa
Healing Haiti Trip // Day 1 [Brock]
Greetings Family + Friends,
This is Brock Welch in front of the keyboard this evening. As Brittany mentioned, each of us will take a turn writing to you sharing our: thoughts, feelings, experiences and gratitude for your continued support.
With that said, I/We want to thank you for your prayers and willingness to share this experience with us. Our hearts are full with your support.
We arrived safely to Haiti this afternoon with no travel issues or hold ups. Upon arriving we took a “shuttle” or well…. a caged vehicle called a Tap-Tap to our living quarters for the week. It is very clear that driving regulations are different than what we are used to-I will go as far to say there really are no regulations or rules when it comes to driving.
Upon an interesting yet safe ride to the living quarters, I was surprised to see how nice the building we are staying in is in comparison to the surrounding area and truly the expectations I had formed. We are staying in a gated complex surrounded by what can only be described as slums- crumbling infrastructure, roaming goats, wandering citizens and extreme poverty. While that was an expectation that I had, it very much has a different emotional feel being here and seeing it firsthand.
While unpacking and settling in the “Mothers” of the house prepared a Haitian meal for dinner. The meal consisted of Rice, vegetables, chicken, meatballs, and fried plantains-It was a wonderful meal.
After dinner, we had free time for the remainder of the night, starting with our devotional time. We each had the opportunity to share our initial feelings, areas of nervousness and excitement. The consensus “word of the day” was chaos; from the moment of our arrival things have been disorderly and hard to understand. From the ride to the house to the roaming goats to the wandering citizens there is a feel of chaos or disorganization. Truly a different world than what we are accustomed to.
From there we took a short walk to the “Elite club” which again is in the dead center of the slums. The hotel is gated and we were greeted by an armed guard, whose purpose can only be assumed to decide who is fit to enter the hotel grounds. From the outside you wouldn’t know, but inside the gates this is a fancy hotel with a pool, restaurant and all the fixtures you would expect at a U.S. hotel. Sitting within the walls of this “swanky” hotel there was a feeling of guilt knowing what was just outside the walls- a rocks throw away. In our first day in Haiti- here we are sitting at this hotel named the “elite club”. I imagine that many the people in the surrounding area have never been in this hotel and have likely been denied entrance many times before. Knowing that sure makes you feel undeservedly privileged.
This feeling will likely be even more apparent in the following days to come. Tomorrow our day will be dedicated to providing water to the surrounding slums. We have been told this will likely be the most challenging day during our trip from an emotional standpoint- knowing that, comes with a mixed sense of nervousness and excitement.
Thank you again for your thoughts, prayers and willingness to share our experiences! You will hear from Karissa tomorrow!
- Brock Welch
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