 In
1996, Aslan embarked on one of the most significant projects in
our rich 32-year history. During August of that year, a team of
eight adults and six youth flew to Port-au-Prince where they spent
the first night at the Palace Hotel. Once a beautiful place of lodging,
we found the Palace deteriorated and in abysmally bad condition.
That first night was our first indication of the desperate nature
of life in Haiti. The following morning all 14 of us boarded a colorfully
painted Haitian bus (know as a tap-tap) for a 12-hour drive to the
far northeastern corner of the country.
 It
is truly hard to describe this first journey. Paved roads in Haiti
are almost nonexistent. In fact, Highway 1 running from Port-au-Prince
to Gonaives and across the mountains to Cap-Haitian is the only
major road in all of Haiti, a nation of almost 8 million people.
Highway 1 is filled with potholes that can disable the most well
built truck or bus. The average “life-expectancy” of
a new vehicle in Haiti is about 5 years! Haitian drivers are continually
forced to travel from one side of the road to the other –
rarely reaching more than 40 miles per hour and constantly coming
to a complete stop to navigate the treacherous holes and barricades
in the road. We learned very quickly that good brakes and a good
horn are the two essentials that every truck and bus must have.
There are no “rules of the road” in Haiti. The idea
is to do one’s best to stay alive, moving back and forth across
the road, sometimes even passing on mountain curves with sheer drops
of hundreds of feet on the side.
At one point beyond Gonaives, our bus driver stopped at a roadside
market where we purchased bananas and mangos. The fruit was delicious,
and the experience was one-of-a-kind. The hardest part of the ride,
however, was yet to come -- just past Cap-Haitien. For it was there
that the pavement ended completely. The road was almost impassable
at times, and we actually forded a shallow river at one point where
a bridge was out. None of us shall ever forget our first time seeing
the city gates of Ouanaminthe at dusk on our second day in Haiti.
It was the beginning of a great adventure that continues to the
present. Aslan’s vision as grown each year, and we are now
putting down permanent roots in Ouanaminthe. In April of 2004, we
completed the purchase of approximately 5 acres of land in Lakajou,
about 2 miles outside Ouanaminthe. Over the coming years we will
build a ministry center, an orphanage, a medical clinic, and a Bible
school.
 Those
first 13 days in Haiti in August of 1996 forever changed the lives
of every member from Aslan who went. And the long-term impact on
the ministry has been immeasurable! That first summer we spent our
time painting the George Muller School which is sponsored by the
Baptist Church of Ouanaminthe. Team members removed wheelbarrow
loads of construction debris and swept schoolrooms clean before
painting the walls with hand-made palm leaf brushes. To honor our
hard work and time in Ouanaminthe, Pastor Cleonce Louis asked Joseph
Israel and his Majorettes to march for our group. And, we were quite
honored to watch 75 young people march in formation for 2 hours
in the hot Haitian sun on our behalf. Little did we know at that
time that Joseph Israel would one day become our first official
Aslan employee in Haiti!
 So
many friendships were forged that first year. One very special young
woman, Rose-Emmanuel, helped us clean up at the school. This stunningly
beautiful and petite young girl has become another of our dear friends
in Haiti. Everyone also fell in love with Roseland Pierre, a handsome
young man who had little hope for any future in Haiti. Over the
years, however, Aslan has sponsored Roseland (pronounced Rowland)
in school, and he is presently in his last year of high school.
Through Aslan, Roseland’s life has gone from despondency and
despair to optimism and a future. He epitomizes the hope there is
in the youth of Haiti, and he is a perfect example of the powerful
impact that Aslan has had in our small corner of this nation of
desperate poverty.
Aslan’s work in Haiti was born out of three desires:
-
To introduce young people from our ministry in New Jersey to
their African heritage and to the rich African culture of Haiti.
-
To acquaint our young people (who all come from impoverished
and extremely difficult home environments here in America) with
needs far greater than anyone experiences in the United States.
-
To offer our young people the opportunity to develop critically
important leadership and personal skills by traveling to Haiti
and providing Christian love through humanitarian aid projects.
These include building projects, running summer day camps for
Haitian children, distributing desperately needed items such
as eye glasses and medical supplies, and most importantly, to
develop close personal friendships with Haitian children and
families.
There are so many stories to tell, and tell them we will! Please
viist our other Haiti pages to learn more about Aslan’s yearly
visits to Haiti, the exciting plans we have for a permanent outreach
there, and how you can become involved in making this dream become
a reality!
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