Finding God in Haiti
Posted In: Outreach
“Of all the work I’ve done with the Church and with its mission trips, our work in Haiti seems to be the one that is most God-driven”, said Silvi Pirn, Youth Director at KUC. Under the leadership of Reverend Sarah Garcia, three groups of KUC members have gone to Haiti during 2010 and 2011 to help the Haitians recover from the devastating earthquake in 2009. The most recent group was there in October 2011.
In planning the first trip to Haiti, Reverend Garcia arranged for the KUC team to work at a tent camp where thousands of people were living as well as at an orphanage nearby. It was important to Reverend Garcia that they engage in work that met the Haitians needs, that it be something they wanted. This idea of KUC partnering with the Haitians and their being engaged in the process has been a guiding principal in all three trips.
The first KUC Haiti trip occurred nine months after the earthquake. The people in the tent camp were living in horrible conditions and were totally dependent on charity. When asked what the community wanted KUC to build for them, the community wanted a building with a solid roof for a school. The KUC team of 13 people provided the funds for the materials, poured the foundation and framed the building. The Haitians finished the school after the KUC team left and were so happy to have a place on solid ground where they could gather. The tent community elected a camp president who spoke English and gave him responsibility for overseeing the school. Within a few months, the school was completed and he had hired two teachers to teach English. We had initially thought the school would be a general education school for children, but the camp leadership wanted a English Language Institute. There is very little public education in Haiti and illiteracy is quite high. The Haitians understand that speaking English will give them more opportunities and they saw the Institute as a school for adults as much as for children.
In addition to building the school, the KUC group also worked at an orphanage where 3 adults cared for 40-50 children. Since many of the children were sleeping in tents, some members of the KUC group built a small wooden shelter with a fiberglass roof for them. We also brought food to the orphanage, as there is never enough to eat. Simon McMaster, a KUC member who has gone on all three trips to Haiti, has since brought 72 breadfruit tree saplings to Haiti and planted them at the orphanages. These trees grow quickly and should begin producing fruit within three years, which can help feed the children living there.
In preparing for the second trip to Haiti in April 2011, Rev. Garcia again consulted with the Haitian tent camp leaders about what they needed. They wanted a second school building because the first one was overflowing with students. 30 KUC members went on the second trip where they cleared the space and built the foundation for the second school. They also built desks, benches and shelves, helped teach English, and spent time working with both the children and adults. After the KUC team left, the Haitians finished the second building, hired more teachers, and developed programs.
When a new KUC team returned to Haiti in October, there was now a vibrant school in the community with over 400 students and a reputation across Port au Prince as the best place to learn English. On this last trip, the KUC team continued to build things for the school, but spent a lot of time interacting with the students. They helped teach the classes, which lends credibility to the program, and it gives the students and teachers access to native English speakers, which they don’t have in Haiti.
“The teachers and students thank us and bless us and call their school ‘God’s miracle’”, said Silvi Pirn. “They now have something of quality where there was no hope. There was a young man at the school whose entire family was killed in the earthquake. Before going to the school, he had no purpose or activity in his life. He was literally sleeping his life away. This school has now given him a purpose, a sense of direction in his life.”
What people who went on these trips found most surprising was the faith, intelligence, energy, work ethic and optimism of most of the people they interacted with. The depth of their faith was inspiring. “They would praise God for waking up each morning and praise God for the blessings in their lives,” said Silvi. Leslie Holling, a KUC member who has gone on all three Haiti trips, said “The people living in the tent camps don’t have enough of anything (food, shelter, clothing, medical care). They are literally living on their faith, and they have each other. Despite how little they have, the Haitians were so gracious to us, so spiritual, they were easy to help.”
One of the biggest challenges the KUC teams experienced was the despair of not being able to do more. They asked themselves are we really making a difference given the enormity of the problem. They may not be solving Haiti’s problems on a macro scale, but their work is having a profound impact on the lives of hundreds of Haitians. Most of the KUC members who have served in Haiti have also gained much from this experience. “Being in Haiti has added much to my life spiritually” said Leslie Holling. “I don’t think I’ve ever felt closer to God. It has given me a whole new meaning for God’s love.”
So what is next for KUC and its role in Haiti? On this last trip, Silvi organized a local school board to make decisions for the future of the school. She has challenged them to take responsibility for setting direction and leading the school. Currently KUC, through its fundraising efforts, is paying for the principal and 7 teachers at the school, which costs about $12,000 per year. We’ve committed to continue to pay for this for the next few years, but funding will need to come from them in the future, some of which will come from tuition to attend the school. This is no small task, given that unemployment is over 60% in Haiti, but the school leadership is committed to find a way to sustain their school.
