At the end of August 2010, I had the opportunity to go on a mission work trip to Haiti with some other members of my church. Our group was made of members of our Men’s Ministry organization at my church, members from a charity group here in Indianapolis called Kids First and others from the North Carolina area. We were lead by a pastor from my church who spent 2 years in Haiti as a missionary. He and his wife continue to work with the missionary group that organized the trip, Family Health Ministry, and go back to Haiti 4 times a year.
This trip had special meaning for me. When the earthquake devastated Haiti in January 2010, my church had folks on a work trip in the country. When natural disasters like the earthquake, Hurricane Katrina or the Tsunami in Southeast Asia happen, my heart goes out to those affected. However, this situation had my staying power for my wife Leslie and I. I felt like this mission trip was a real opportunity for me to be able to help in ways that dollars sometimes fall short.
Our trip was 7 days in length. We flew to Miami on Sunday afternoon and then left early the next morning for Port-Au-Prince. When each packed two duffel bags filled to their 50 pound limit with supplies. For our trip, that meant that we were able to take 1500 pound of tools and supplies. The flight from Miami to Port-Au-Prince was only 2 hours. When we landed, we exited to a terminal that was similar to the terminals that we all see when travelling in the states. However, that is when the similarities ended. We were bused to different building that was really a large airplane hanger. This is where we cleared customs.
After clearing customs and grabbing our supplies, we exited the terminal area and loaded everything into a truck and van. We had 2 hours ride from the airport to the community. Once we left the airport area, there was an immediate assault on the senses. For me, sight, sounds, smell and touch were all put into overdrive. We were immediately confronted with sights of tents cities like I had seen on television. About every third building looked to have been destroyed in some way by the earthquake. The traffic was busy noisy and full of diesel fumes. Along with the diesel, I could also smell and see trash piles. Some of the trash piles were burning. And as we moved out of Port-Au-Prince and moved into the mountains, I was able to get a real sense of the beauty of Haiti. Despite the beauty, I was constantly reminded of the poverty and devastation from the earthquake.
The community that we went to is called Fondwa. It is located about 35 miles southeast of Port-Au-Prince. When I thought of a community or a village, I assumed that most of the residents were located in one central area. However, the island that Haiti is on is quite mountainous. The community of Fondwa is really a small village area at the top of a valley. There are around 8000 people that live throughout the valley.
The group that organized the trip, Family Health Ministries, helps support a school and orphanage in the community. The kids in the orphanage attend the school, but the school also serves the community as a whole. Some of the students walk 90 minutes each way to get to school. The area where we stayed and had meals was part of a community center. This are also contained the temporary housing for the children in the orphanage. We were quickly greeted by lots of happy smiling children excited to show us their dormitory.
Unfortunately both the school and the orphanage building were destroyed in the earthquake. The two big projects that our group was going to help with were painting some temporary wooden structures and help complete a temporary school. Painting the structures would add years to their useful life. By completing the school, we were able to created 8 classrooms.
One of the exciting parts of working on these buildings was the help we had. The kids from the orphanage helped us paint. You could see a real sense of pride in their work as the painted their dormitory. At the school site, we had some of the adult men in the community helping us. For some of the men, this was an opportunity for them to learn carpentry skills that they would be able use later on with other building projects. Most of the men on the trip took tools and supplies from their homes to use in the construction of the school. When the school was completed, each and every one of us present one of the Haitian workers with our tools. The smiles from these men was fulfilling beyond words.
While the work we did and what we were able to complete was rewarding, the real value for me was in the relationships I was able to make. On two different mornings, we enjoyed coffee with one of the families in the community. The is nothing quite like coffee when the beans are grown on the bushes five feet away from where you are enjoying it. One family also wanted us to enjoy some food with them. It happened to be raining the night we went so they insisted we come into their house to stay dry. Now, their house was an eight person tent. Their previous house was destroyed in the earthquake. So, imagine 15 people in tent. While it would seem cramped and unwelcoming, it was quite the contrary. The hospitality of this family, made us all feel welcomed. We were served pate, which is a fried dough pocket filled with chicken and onions. It was my favorite meal of the trip.
We had another opportunity to experience the hospitality of the community. Dave, our group leader, took eight of us to visit the family of one of his friends, Paulette. Paulette’s family also had their home destroyed in the earthquake. The home we visited consisted of a pole structure wrapped in US Aid tarps. The structure was barely big enough to hold their double bed. Yet, they welcomed us in with opened arms. Seeing how this family of eight lived and how they welcomed us was another highlight of my trip.
On our last full day, we took most of the orphanage kids to the beach in a town south of Fondwa called Jacmel. Imagine an open air truck filled with 25 kids and 8 adults. The kids sang the whole way to the beach entertaining us along the way. While they tried to teach us Haiti songs, we taught them numbers like, “Who let the dogs out?” and “You’ve lost that loving feeling”. The kids don’t get an opportunity to go to the beach very often so this was a real treat for them. They loved the water, but don’t know how to swim, so each of us had at least one child clinging to us the entire time. The laughter and joy of that day was overwhelming and it was the perfect way to end my trip.
We travelled home on Sunday. As we traced our way back through Port-Au-Prince to the airport, I was greeted by another assault on the senses. This time the experience sunk in a little deeper. It is hard to comprehend how so many people live in the conditions we saw as we travelled through the streets.
The Men’s Ministry group I am part of has an annual Fish Fry in October. Because a handful of the members of that group went on the trip to Haiti, we elected to use the funds from the Fish Fry to help rebuild a house for a family in Fondwa. The money we raised, along with some funds from the Kids First Foundation are going to help rebuild Paulette’s house. The work on this house will begin in early March, and it incredibly rewarding to see the progress on this project and get updates from the groups that return to the community.
The T3 foundation at T2 help offset the cost of my trip and I am very grateful that I work for a company that values this kind of effort and is willing to help fund it. My experience has had an impact on me and I hope that I am able to do something like this on small and large scales on an ongoing basis.
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