Winter
 On
our winter trip to Ouanaminthe, our purpose for being in Haiti began
to become clearer and clearer. Although we enjoyed bringing “things”
to help with the basic needs of our Haitian friends, we began to
realize that we were trying to fill an ocean of need with an eyedropper.
God began to work in our hearts to recognize that we needed a permanent
place of our own in Ouanaminthe. We could see that the pastor we
were working with was becoming disenchanted with us. No matter how
many things we brought and no matter how much we tried to help,
it was never enough. He was most happy when we gave him money and
resources that he could distribute as he wanted. He was not happy
with our desire to work both inside and outside his church group.
We also noticed that the basketball court we had financed was already
showing serious signs of disrepair. One of the basketball nets was
torn down, and the surface of the court was deteriorating. This
was not necessarily the pastor’s fault, but we learned another
valuable lesson regarding work in the Third World.
 Even
with half the economy of Haiti being supplied by Haitian expatriates,
mission groups and NGOs (non governmental organizations), there
still is not remotely enough money to even dent the surface of need
in Haiti. With an average annual salary of $350 per person in the
cities and $150 per person in the countryside, Haiti is now one
of the four poorest countries on earth! Merely “sending”
or “taking” money to Haiti to try and solve their problems
is not the best way to help. Neither is taking mission teams to
“build something for the poor.” Real ministry is a partnership
with accountability. And accountability was the problem with the
pastor we were working with. He was offended if we asked for any
accounting for resources we gave to him to distribute. We could
see the “handwriting on the wall” that the pastor was
going to totally reject our help once we branched out on our own.
However, we continued to try and make the relationship work for
two more years but to no avail.
Spring
Having learned of an old landing strip in Ouanaminthe, unused
since the days of Papa and Baby Doc Duvalier, we had an experience
of a lifetime flying across the mountains directly from Port-au-Prince
to Ouanaminthe in a small 5-seater Cessna. Mission Aviation Fellowship
did the honors in re-opening this long grass strip outside Ouanaminthe.
They had to make one low pass before landing just to check and see
that no goats, cows, or humans were in the way. Once we were on
the ground, a crowd of over 100 people quickly gathered to see the
“crazy” Americans climb off the small plane!
Summer
Our summer trip to Ouanaminthe was one of our best ever, as we
operated our best and most extensive summer day camp. Four of the
Aslan teenagers from our New Jersey programs accompanied us on this
trip, along with a number of other volunteers. Cousins, KiKi and
Alexus, were on their second trip with us to Haiti, and Cvon and
Ebony came for the first time. As always, the lives of our Aslan
youth from America are always deeply impacted by this trip.
It is a wonderful privilege to introduce our young people from
America to their African roots in Haiti. It is little known that
Haiti is the most African nation outside of Africa in the entire
world. Because Haiti established itself at the beginning of the
nineteenth century as the first free Black republic in the world,
the customs of Africa have been faithfully preserved there. In viewing
video footage from Africa and from Haiti, it is almost impossible
to distinguish where the video footage was taken. Even the topography
of Haiti is similar to many African countries.
When our young people like KiKi, Alexus, Cvon and Ebony first step
into Haiti, they see their ancient roots unfold before them. The
beauty and grace of the people of Haiti is striking, and their perseverance
in the midst of smothering poverty is inspiring to anyone whose
heart is beating. Aslan teens quickly learn to view their own needs
of poverty in American with a new “world” perspective.
As they learn of Haitian children their own ages going to school
and sitting on bare wooden benches or sometimes on the hard concrete
floor, in small concrete rooms with no electricity, no textbooks,
and oppressive heat, they inevitably return to America with a greater
and deeper desire to take advantage of the opportunities for education
that they have back home. Our teens also develop greater confidence
in their own abilities, as they become leaders in our summer day
camp activities. Watching the Haitian children express so much excitement
over the smallest things -- crayons, glitter, glue and basic arts
and crafts supplies -- is both saddening and inspiring to our young
people. Most important, however, are the wonderful and lasting friendships
and relationships that develop between Aslan kids from America and
Aslan kids in Haiti!
Our 2001 summer day camp included 3 to 4 hours each day with classes
in arts & crafts, music, sports, and (last but not least) lunch!
For the entire week of activities, Aslan hired several cooks to
prepare a sumptuous meal of rice and beans (with a meat broth).
It was truly humbling to realize that it was a rarity for the 150
Haitian children coming each day to ever be blessed with such a
large meal. Aslan also provided a T-shirt for each child, which
was the only way we could register the children and insure that
the same children came each day. It was sad to know that there were
so many children standing outside the fence each day who were wishing
they could “get in” on the blessings. Although we wish
we could have helped, we just didn’t have the resources to
do so.
One particularly sad, yet also inspiring, thing happened on the
next-to-last day of camp. I noticed a tremendous commotion among
several of the younger boys who had been playing basketball, so
I quickly walked over to see what the problem was. One of the boys
was crying hysterically, which is uncharacteristic for Haitian young
men. I finally found someone to translate and learned that this
boy had taken his Aslan T-shirt off while playing basketball and
someone had stolen it. The terror this young boy felt was visible
as he realized this would mean the end of his being able to participate.
In addition to losing his T-shirt, someone had also stolen the tennis
ball that we’d given him and all the children in the summer
camp. I quickly confirmed that the boy was indeed one of our camp
participants and I put my arms around him to comfort him. Even as
I tried to assure him. through a translator. that we would make
things right, he continued to sob and was simply inconsolable. I
grabbed his hand and we walked together several blocks to where
we were staying. I searched through a few remaining T-shirts until
I found one his size and handed it to him. Then I found another
new tennis ball to give him. As we returned to the schoolyard, he
still could not manage a smile. The trauma of this incident simply
would not allow him to do so. This story should give you a glimpse
of how very much the summer day camps mean to the children we reach
out to in Haiti. Most of these little ones have never in their lives
experienced anything as wonderful as the few days they spend with
Aslan.
With this summer camp, Aslan initiated our first sports clinic.
Each set of children (the blue, yellow, red and green group) was
given the opportunity to learn American Baseball and also play football
(soccer) and volleyball. Teaching the children baseball (with a
plastic ball and bat) was hilarious! It was really difficult to
get the boys and girls to throw down the bat once they hit the ball.
It was so funny to see them carry the bat around all 4 bases once
they hit the ball. They are so used to the rules of soccer -- where
you are not allowed to touch the ball with your hands, that it was
also very difficult for them to “allow” themselves to
touch the ball with anything but their feet! As the ball would come
to them, most of them would kick the ball up by their knee and then
kick it a second time to whatever base a child was running to. As
for soccer, they were ecstatic that they could actually play with
a real soccer ball. Only a very few individuals actually own a soccer
gall, and those who do protect it with their lives. You’ll
often see the younger kids kicking around balls that they have made
out of rags. Both the younger boys and girls were able to play with
a real soccer ball for the first time!
A highlight of summer camp this year was teaching the children
a song in English that we then performed for several hundred people
at the end of camp. The song we chose this year was “The Power
of Your Love,” and it brings tears to my eyes as I think of
how much the song meant to everyone who participated. The chorus
of this song says, “The Power of Your Love is changing me…Change
me with the Power of Your Love.” Although we tried, we could
never get the kids to roll the word “Power” into one
syllable. Because the letter “r” is not in the Creole
alphabet, the word comes out Pow-Wah. Both we and the kids laughed
and laughed over this.
What was also amazing about the 2001 summer camp was the large
number of Haitian young men and women who helped us -- Abdalla,
Ketelande, Panel, Abel, Willio, Jackie Daniest, Ganel, Roseland
and others. Some of these teens (now young adults) continue to help
us to the present each time we return to Haiti.
In addition to the summer day camp, we also operated several other
important projects during this stay in Ouanaminthe, including a
clinic for eyeglasses and a medical clinic. Three American nurses,
Colleen, Pat and Addie, spent each day ministering to the needs
of hundreds of men, women and children. They also distributed bewteen
$5,000 and $6,000 of medications and several thousand dollars worth
of eyeglasses to those in need. A highlight of both our eyeglasses
distribution and our medical mission was a trip to the remote outlying
village near the mountains outside Ouanaminthe. For several hours,
villagers came from near and far to try on pair after pair of eyeglasses
until they found one that they could actually see with. It is, once
again, very humbling to see how much a used pair of eyeglasses --
that we as Americans routinely throw away -- be treasured by someone
in Haiti like a piece of gold. It is also inspiring, yet humbling,
to watch our nurses place antibiotic crème on the simple
wound of a Haitian child or adult, realizing that what would in
America be barely a scratch is often a deadly wound to a Haitian.
Once even a simple infection begins, it is so difficult to stop
in a country like Haiti. The people have no money to purchase medications
and infections often progress from a scratch to death in a matter
of weeks!
Each night, we have de-brief and time of prayer and reflection.
The final night is always one of many tears, as we prepare to leave
our friends and family in Haiti. Even to describe our experience
in Haiti as life transforming does not do it justice. It is life-altering,
life-transforming and a million other things one simply cannot describe.
Oh, one last thing. As an afternoon of recreation for our American
teens, volunteers and our Haitian young adult volunteers, we took
an excursion south of Ouanaminthe to a real-life swimming hole.
Event though there are some things floating downstream from upriver
-- like soapsuds and donkey ? -- it is still “relatively clean”
(except for the donkey?). Anyways, it was a wonderful time to just
relax in a place where there is little opportunity to relax. Well,
we were able to relax until the thunder and lightening started.
At that point we all retreated to an abandoned concrete building
(formerly a “police station”) at the top of a hill beyond
the river. Fortunately, we had taken enough peanut butter and some
local Haitian bread so there was enough to feed everyone (including
a couple of kids who found us. As we stood and sat around on the
dirt floor, we were once again reminded of the blessings that we
too often take for granted back home in New Jersey. It was sad at
that point to remember we would be leaving Ouanaminthe in only 2
short days to return to a world so different than the one we were
in.
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