After the Storms: Rebuilding Lives
Author: Samuel Shillcutt, December 31, 2008

 

Introduction

Hurricanes wreaked havoc across the Caribbean and Gulf Coast in September leaving behind massive amounts of destruction and people in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. Nowhere did the blow hit harder than Haiti, which is the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere. Much of what Gustav and Hanna left intact, Ike destroyed, leaving many people without shelter or potable water, if they had it in the first place [1].   Given that many people struggle to feed their families in the best of times, urgent help from the international community is imperative to alleviate the current suffering and to create conditions that will protect the ability to live with human dignity in the longer term. A group of Christians at St Francis Episcopal Church, Macon , GA , is currently working to raise awareness and provide support to their brothers and sisters of the Haitian diocese long after the media excitement fades away.

                

St Francis is in a unique position to provide assistance to Haiti , having developed a relationship with St Marc's Episcopal Church in Trouin since 2003. The idea to pursue links with St Marc's originated from cultural materials mailed to Marcia Aldridge for her French class. These mailings described striking contrasts in the countries of the Francophone world, although a common theme through those in Africa and the Caribbean was the impoverished conditions affecting the lives of many people living there. Presenting initial ideas to fellow Christians in her Sunday school class stimulated a study of the Acts of the Apostles asking: How do we honor Jesus' command as seen in the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20) to go out to all the world proclaiming the name of Jesus Christ? Can we claim ourselves to be Christians if we are not out in the world feeding the hungry and clothing the naked?

 

With the extreme poverty in Haiti existing less than 1,300 miles from Macon , the group at St Francis was moved to action, which started a journey that has encountered real devastation, challenges to their faith, and ultimately, reason for hope. They have moved from the safety of studying about their faith to the risky business of acting through faith to become brothers and sisters in Christ with some of the poorest people in the world.

 

Haiti in context

Haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere, plagued by political violence and economic stagnation - among other conditions endemic to many parts of the world. The majority of its 9 million inhabitants descended from African slave workers of sugar and coffee plantations. Now, they continue to work largely in agriculture for an average $430 per year [2], although 54% subside on less than $1 per day [3].  Less than 50% of children are enrolled in school, and less than 2% finish secondary school [4].  Records of adult literacy are so poor that an estimate is not even attempted [5].

 

The problems of extreme poverty start from birth. 120 of every 1,000 children do not survive to their fifth birthday [5].  Many mothers simply do not have enough food to feed them. Among those that survive, malnutrition impairs proper brain development in many, stymieing opportunities for a fair chance at education before they ever enroll in school. As these children mature, and problems persist to the next generation, community development stagnates in conditions not seen in the US in over a century.

 

The name Haiti derives from a local word, which means ‘mountainous land', where the small town of Trouin is located. There, very little of the economy is based on the exchange of money . Some families harvest mangoes and other wild fruit from surrounding rainforests. Those with machetes fell trees and produce charcoal from the wood. A marginal amount of manufactured products find their way up the mountain from Port au Prince, and are sold by roadside vendors. Families invest their security in goats, which can be raised and sold to finance a child's education or provide protection against emergency. Concepts such as insurance or social security are beyond comprehension.

 

Life in Trouin is described as ‘hard' . Instead of a life of uncertainty, people understand and accept that tomorrow will be just as hard as today. There is no other option. Finding enough to survive each day is an adequate challenge, without being so overzealous as to think about what tomorrow may bring. These conditions produce an innocence in outlook among locals, and quickly reveal the illusions that baffle and shock newly arrived foreigners. The importance of resilience becomes evident, and living according to faith is not an option.

 

Educational opportunities are limited in Trouin. Children walk up to 3-4 hours to school without breakfast. Only if the school they attend has a lunch program, do they receive a meal during the day. Otherwise, they wait until they return home for a supper of goat or chicken if available; usually with rice, beans, and mangoes. Potable water does not exist, and families are sustained by drums to collect rainwater, or must carry it from unsanitary streams in which they bathe. Sometimes the boiled water left over from cooking is used for a hot bath as a true luxury.

 

Despite the intense stressors, the spirit of many of the people in Trouin is far from impoverished. The majority of people live with a quiet grace, accepting the things outside of their control, and recognizing the small pleasures of life when they appear. Groups will congregate for music, dancing, soccer, or simple fellowship. Complaining or requests of others are seldom heard. People living near their emotional boundaries are quick to respect those of others, and people often anticipate and meet each other's needs without a word being spoken. Such is life on the edge. Acknowledgement of God's presence in their vulnerable life feeds their spiritual depth, which is sometimes lost in the comfort zone. As Father Dan, now Bishop of Nevada, remarked: “We are materially rich, but spiritually poor; the Haitians are materially poor, but spiritually rich.”

 

Action

The group at St Francis organized themselves, and in June 2006, the first team of parishioners made their initial journey to Haiti . Upon arrival in Port au Prince they were greeted with a warm welcome from Father Alphonse, the priest of the local St Marc's church. He led them in the several hour trek up the carved-out dirt road through the Haitian mountains in a ‘tap-tap van'. Approaching Trouin, Father Alphonse tapped on the side, then led everyone off the van and helped them find their way to a guest house provided by Haiti Education Fund founder, Frances Landers from Arkansas . Excited to welcome them, their hostess showed them around the marble floors of the house, strangely juxtaposed against little running water, electricity only two hours a day, toilets that were flushed twice a day, sinks that fell off the walls, and no amenities beyond a permeating sense of humor.

 

Everyone awoke at daybreak to the sound of roosters crowing, and a hot breakfast of rice, black beans, and goat's meat from the local farms. Eager to become acquainted with Trouin, they ventured along the dirt path into the surrounding town past cinder-block houses dotted along the mountainside, casually linked by dirt paths, clotheslines, and occasional steps along the way. The people in town were remarkably friendly, with a clear sense of pride for their community, and St Marc's served as a clear center of community.

 

The school in Trouin is a cinder block building located adjacent to the church, which provides 250 students with the opportunity to develop their primary education. Lessons are led by teachers, most with a minimum of an eighth grade education, to a spectrum of students of different grade levels. Teachers have a few textbooks and some supplies to guide them, although the students have none, and learning is conducted through rote memorization. In the absence of influence from formal training, teachers follow the model of their predecessors, disciplining students with corporal punishment for bad behavior.

 

The students at Saint Marc's Trouin school are enthusiastic for the most part, although have not necessarily had much opportunity to this point that would add relevance to their lessons. In addition, the ever present extreme poverty provides ample distractions to their concentration. Most walk several hours to attend, and do not eat again until returning home in the evening. Before links with St Francis, the school had no school lunch program. There was every reason for children in Trouin simply to choose not to attend school, and to work as needed for their families on surrounding farms as opportunities were available. Clearly, something needed to be done.   

 

Having been made aware of the Haiti Episcopal Partnership program, St. Francis parishioners requested a partner somewhere in Haiti . Pere (Father) Alphonse, who was responsible for 24 churches and 20 schools, was in desperate need of an American partner. Little did either group anticipate the very positive impact the partnership would have on all involved. Education for these impoverished children is difficult, but no learning takes place when students' stomachs are empty. In 2006, when the first team returned from Trouin, they immediately began to raise money to build the kitchen so the students could receive at least one hot meal every day. It took a year to raise $3600 and to find an architect in Haiti who could draw up plans for the kitchen. In February 2006, with great joy for all, the kitchen began providing 250 lunches per day. The menu was simple: rice, goat's meat, and black beans – and calculations showed that each student could be fed for $30 per year, or 17 cents per school day per child.

 

The success of the school lunch program has been followed by snowballing capacity of the program and deepening relationships between Trouin and Macon. While the kitchen was being built in 2005, Saint Francis collected $2,000 and sent a year's worth of school supplies. They also spent $9,000 on school uniforms and shoes required for each of the 250 students. A contract was made in 2007 with Beyond Borders (BB) [6],  a US based organization that supports over fifty literacy centers in Haiti in which Haitians are trained to teach other Haitians. BB also provides classroom teachers with methods to discuss and analyze educational subjects and introduces motivational techniques to replace some of the harsher approaches to instruction. Reflection circles are organized in which readings are conducted in Creole rather than French, which is unfamiliar to most people living in rural areas. Since forming the Haiti Episcopal Partnership with BB, two grades have been added to the school in Trouin, making ten years of instruction now available.

 

Lessons learned

Working with their partners in Haiti has generated as many questions as answers for members of St Francis. For example, despite the peace that usually exists in Haiti , why do outbreaks of intense and brutal violence continue to ignite? Noticing the people around them, the violence did not appear to be the result of wanting material goods, but appeared to be the result of hunger and the anxiety of finding enough food for children to have a daily meal. They saw several parents in Trouin eat every other day in order for their children to have enough food to eat. During the worst times, especially after hurricanes destroy everything around them, parents are left with the impossible question: which of my children will eat today and which ones will have to wait until tomorrow?

 

Why is the unemployment rate so high in Trouin? Almost no one there had a permanent, full-time job. At any given time, 70% of the people were not working. When they do work, subsistence farming is the most common opportunity, with a modest amount of people sewing, driving tap-taps or mopeds as taxis, or teaching. The salary range for teachers is high by Haitian standards at $1,000-2,000 per annum. Any professionals such as priests, or nurses in Trouin came from elsewhere. Disease is a major factor that stymies economic catalysts and erodes momentum. No doctors are available in Trouin, and only one nurse and one small clinic provide only a few medicines. Traditional practices, such as rubbing the body down with orange slices, are often used to address the person's emotional need if not the pathological source of their illness. Ibuprofen is used for conditions such as severe arthritis and heat stroke.

 

Returning to Macon has generated questions as well. Why are religious programs to address humanitarian objectives sometimes so controversial? Recognizing that cultural divides, language differences, severely constrained budgets, and ethnic disconnect are often major obstacles to humanitarian work; Saint Francis parishioners have come to the conclusion that it is impossible to ignore God. Indeed, the results they have witnessed extend beyond what would have been possible through their individual capacities, and the benefits to their friends in Trouin have been appreciated at a fundamentally human level. Those involved have maintained their faith that religion doesn't have to be divisive, and that indeed, many non-Christians have helped them along the way towards their goals.

 

What does God have to do with it on a spiritual level? In Marcia's words ‘Every step of the way opened our hearts to God's presence and God's action in our lives. We feed them because we are called by God to do so. They provide us with a spiritual richness for which we all yearn.' In their poverty, the Haitians met in this relationship have provided an example of faith among a people whose spirit will not die. Each day makes them acutely aware of their total dependence on God's grace for daily living. Each day makes them truly grateful for daily bread.

 

Next steps

Haitian Hope is actively planning its further objectives with the support of parishioners and from within the Macon community. Shamrock Bar and Grill invests 10% of its profits on Wednesday nights in Hatian Hope. Resources from other Episcopal churches, along with generous individual donations, are bringing St Francis closer to its goal of sending $1,000 per month to Trouin in support of the lunch program; $10,000 per year for required uniforms and shoes, $3,000 per year for school supplies; $3,000 for teacher training; and $6,000 for six additional teachers' salaries.

 

The hurricanes of recent years caused major flooding in Haiti , and Haitian Hope was able to respond quickly by wiring $8,700 in 2007 and $11,104 in October to replace tin roofs on homes; provide food because crops had been destroyed for the third time this year; and repair the church roof. When mud slides invade their homes and take everything from these people who already have nothing, food and money for repairs bring hope to this remote area. Father Michaud, the new priest for Saint Marc's, purchases rice, meat, cooking oil, beans and water in Port-au-Prince . After saying the solemn Mass of Thanksgiving, everyone in need is presented with a portion of the food and some tin-roofing to take home.

 

The successes of Haitian Hope, and complimentary initiatives such as the program organized by St Joseph 's downtown, have been matched with positive overall trends at the country level. Life expectancy has increased by an astonishing 6 years in Haiti since 2003 [7].  Positive signs of economic growth are apparent, such as the emergence of local 150cc motorcycle taxis, which carry loads as extraordinary feats of efficiency, barely revealing the two tires below the mass of people and cargo.

 

Adapting to the evolving conditions is a challenge for the future. Pere Alphonse, who served as the liaison for HH and embraced its objectives, has been transferred to a new parish. The new pastor, Father Michaud, is committed to the cause and sincerely grateful for the assistance St Francis has already given and plans for the future. Beyond the lunch program, support is planned to be directed towards teacher training, crisis aid, and other community leadership and development projects. At home, Marcia Aldridge and Gail Moulton have been recruiting support for HH; for example, at the Global Missions Conference in the Diocese of Atlanta last October.

 

Conclusion

In a distant backwater far removed from the increasingly global economy, it is difficult to know what the first steps are to create opportunities for people to benefit and contribute. Indeed, the reality is that many projects can and do fail to achieve their objectives. In light of the obstacles, we are left with the question, ‘what should and can I do?' The question is resonating, particularly with the current economic crisis at home, and when friends and family have needs, get sick and die, just like people who live in poverty.

 

So what is the incentive to do humanitarian work, especially during our period of economic recession? Does the relative level of poverty and social standing determine a person's health and social outlook? Or are people driven by underlying principles and values? Basic education has been described as an overarching human right – ‘a right in itself, and indispensible for the exercise of other human rights' [8] – that benefits not only individuals but also local society and the overall global dynamic.

 

A daring challenge is to ask someone living in intense poverty, ‘What would you like to say to people who have gifts, talents, opportunities, and resources about the positive things they can do in the world?' Likewise, asking ourselves ‘What are the boundaries to entitlement, and what conditions are necessary for society to function appropriately?' Indeed, nothing can happen if we do not identify what barriers are restricting us from developing ourselves and pursuing the answers to these questions. The fact remains, that many humanitarian projects are successful,* and prove that much of the illness, death, and difficulties of life that affect people who live in poverty are preventable when positive and Christian relationships exist. Indeed, the value of efforts that seem against all odds is not always apparent in the measurable outcomes that we often expect. Alabama 's Helen Keller never regained her ability to see or hear, but she found something more cogent about herself in the process. The ultimate question is ‘how can I be my brother's or sister's brother or sister?'

 

Instead of being suffocated by concerns, St Francis developed a rigorous plan, acted on instinct and research, and has committed itself to the school lunch program and improving education with extraordinary resolve. The people who have invested in going to Haiti have spent their own resources to get there, and return with friendships forged in commitment to the hope of a better life for people in Trouin. Those that have participated vicariously through their spiritual or material support know that the opportunities they are helping create would not otherwise exist. In the end, the people of Trouin are no longer simply Haitians, but friends whose conversations, kindnesses, empathy, and wisdom are never forgotten - and can change our way of living and being in this world. As conditions improve in Trouin, life expectancies extend, education improves, and international communities develop, the spirit of those of us in Macon becomes more resilient in the process. By continuing their commitment to their friends in Trouin, members of St Francis are finding hope through sharing it with others.

 

During the global transition occurring this new year, both at home and abroad, let us remember the values which make our country strong, and the importance of our relationships within the global community. The group at St Francis strongly believes that education is a constructive, sustainable component to helping people in Trouin escape the environment to which they have become accustomed.

 

*Footnote: Similar organizations are having a positive impact in Haiti . Founded in 1981, the Haiti Education Foundation has strengthened 34 elementary schools and 7 high schools scattered around Haiti , affecting over 12,040 children. Project Teach (Konbit Pwof) has trained over 3,000 Haitian teachers and school administrators in the last ten years through professional development seminars and volunteer efforts. An individual success story can be found in Dr Isemonde Joseph MD, who grew up in a Haitian slum, but became a doctor with help from a US-supported high school.

References

 

1. UNICEF. Hurricaines and Destruction in Haiti Available from: http://www.undispatch.com/archives/2008/09/hurricaines_and.php [Accessed 22 Sep 2008]

 

2. World Bank. World Development Indicators Data Query website Available from: http://ddp-ext.worldbank.org/ext/DDPQQ/member.do?method=getMembers&userid=1&queryId=135

[Accessed 31 Aug 2008]

 

3. UNDP. UNDP calls for $18.6 million to help survivors of hurricanes in Haiti Available from: http://content.undp.org/go/newsroom/2008/september/undp-calls-for-186-million-to-help-survivors-of-hurricanes-in-haiti.en [Accessed 22 Sep 2008]

 

4. UNICEF. At a glance: Haiti Available from: http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/haiti.html [Accessed 22 Sep 2008]

 

5. UNDP. Human Development Report 2007/2007. 2008.

6. Beyond Borders. Beyond Borders website Norristown PA Available from: http://www.beyondborders.net/index.php [Accessed 30 Sep 2008]

7. WHOSIS. World Health Organization Statistical Information System World Health Organization Available from: http://www.who.int/whosis/database/life_tables/life_tables_process.cfm?path=whosis,life_tables&language=english [Accessed 31 Dec 2008]

 

8. UNESCO. The right to education. 2008.