Bonjour Haiti!
Upon exiting the airplane, Soren, Anselm and I all looked at each other, noticing that it was not as hot in Haiti as in Sarasota. A dry wind swept the air, which itself was so polluted with exhaust fumes and burning fires of garbage, that a general haze surrounded us. We were met by Pastor Larry who took us on a very bumpy (and super fast) ride through Port au Prince, a city the size of Tampa with a population that of Chicago, to Hope House, the Lutheran headquarters for the Lazarus project. There we met his wife, Miss Margaret (who, with Pastor Larry, is co-director of the project) and a team of 5 members from another Lutheran church in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. We settled into our clean rooms and joined the others for dinner outside. Much to Anselm's delight, there was soda, Pepsi and Fanta, though in glass bottles which the kids had never seen before. A number of Haitian kids came around and wondered in French to me whether the boys were boys or girls, due to their long blond hair. The Weber boys quickly learned to say "garcon" (boy) when meeting other children. They played dominos with other Haitian teenagers. Strangely, there is no language barrier when you are having fun!
Besides helping set up some barbed wire around the Hope Covenant campus with our Wisconsin colleagues, Soren also helped set up a tarp over the table to keep the sun out. Overall, we were mostly involved behind the scenes of the different Lazarus Project projects, meeting Haitian workers and children. We visited Food for the Poor headquarters where they serve over 3000 meals to 3000 families a day (Soren helped serve), saw their warehouse with its diminishing rice supply (for the past 2 years Taiwan has been donating rice but with the recession, it has stopped. Rice is a staple to the Haitian diet and is supply is cause for concern). The front gates were guarded with men with rifles. We went several times to the Village of Hope School, which serves over 600 children, from kindergarten all the way to university entry. All in uniforms with fancy bows in their hair, the children were a delight and they really enjoyed seeing 2 white boys. On Sunday we went to a service at the Village of Hope, where the children belted out the hymns and sang beautifully. It was very moving. On a sadder note, we visited Little Children of Jesus which provides 24/7 care for over 100 disabled children, most of whom were bed ridden. The facility is so perfectly clean and the children so gently handled. Soren and Anselm helped feed several of them as the staff had only 26 people for all 110 children. There we played musical chairs, and laughed and giggled and hugged the children who were delighted with our visit and who particularly adore Pastor Larry. Near Hope House, there is also Marie's orphanage for girls. She had worked in Miami for over 30 years and instead of retiring in the US (she had the funds), she chose to return to Haiti to start an orphanage for young abandoned girls. We visited them often and dropped off two French sewing guide books for their sewing class.
A particularly wonderful person, Jorel, who works with the Lazarus Project and who taught himself how to play the accordion, added music, providing a festive and cheerful atmosphere EVERYWHERE: church, school and Little Children of Jesus, where he accompanied the disabled children in playing musical chairs. We visited his family and house, and we were enamored by his story of having grown up in the mountains (Haiti's highest peak is almost 6000 feet though the island is not volcanic) and how he found a school and some shoes in order to get an education. Throughout our trip, one of the most prevalent features was the eagerness with which the Haitians, young and old wish to better themselves, their families and their country. Such energy was always translated in strong focus and vision, from the school Village of Hope to Marie's orphanage and the haven for disabled children. It was truly infectious, and when our week in Haiti came to an end, Soren asked me if we could come back soon. And I said yes.
We end with this picture of a flower Soren took: in the midst of poverty and often times despair, but always dedicated to a better life, there is hope. While we saw and smelled in Haiti strong images of things gone wrong and needing fixing, we also always saw hope. May we all live in the world of hope and as a church act to make Haiti a better place both now and in the future. Join us in sponsoring children at the Village of Hope or in finding ways to fund the rice shortage.
In the big picture, the UN is currently in Haiti and we met a group of Jordanian UN workers. Bill Clinton has just been named the UN Envoy to Haiti and Haiti is on the top of the UN's list for the next 10 years for solving the bigger problems.
Think globally and act locally as I keep saying to the boys. But they did not understand the global picture until we went to Haiti. Now is the time to act.
On a local note, our church’s gifts of sheets (almost 30!) and many boxes of chalk as well as a financial gift of over $250 truly will be used with loving care and on a personal note, our church’s donation to our trips to Haiti has been a complete investment in our lives which we hope will continue to prompt all three of us to live in this experience and share the hope we saw with all those we meet.
