Haiti Take 4: Destiny Village and Project 81

In my last posting I took you to Village 87 and through those images you saw the poverty of the children living there.  Yet, just 10 kilometers down the road there is hope!   Near village 87 is an amazing place called  Destiny Village.  It is an orphanage with 30 children.  All of these children were near death in the surrounding villages when they came to Destiny Village. But they've been given a new chance at life.  Now, they represent a hopeful future for the country of Haiti. When we first met the children I was shocked that they understood me.  All the children learn English along with their native Creole and French. They all go to church, school, and have hopes and dreams of becoming singers, mechanics, teachers; one young man even wants to be the future President of Haiti! Mark, with the bus, captured the heart of our entire group with his sweetness.  Clairemont (I'm not sure if I spelled it right!) is a little 8 year old girl who was an amazing singer and dancer.

 I hope these pictures can express how happy and healthy the kids are at Destiny Village.  The night and day difference between these kids and the ones we met just hours before in the villages was awe-inspiring.  Like I said, hope is on the horizon!  You will see several pictures of a fence and open land. Destiny Village is partnering with Project 81 (www.project81.org) with the hope of turning this open space into a gathering place with a community center, school, church, clinic, and place to get food and clean water.  It is in walking distance from Village 87, Village 81, and other surrounding villages. Project 81 wants to provide a hope and a future to the children of these villages.  We are going to be partnering with Project 81 on this vision, as well as some of the initiatives of Mayor Gayel in Port-au-Prince.  It's all in the works and I'll be sharing more soon on what we'll be doing.  My prayer is that these photos would prick your heart to help in any capacity, because great or small, the opportunity is here! 

Haiti Take 3: Village 87

Some may find these images disturbing, and honestly my goal is to illicit emotion.  And my hope and prayer is that you will not stop with just emotion, but you will be moved to action and fight against the unjust and inhumane conditions in Haiti. On the way to the small village we were to visit, we found beautiful coastlines and vistas that would rival any Caribbean country.  One unique and telling feature was that within feet of beautiful blue ocean water were cactus and dry ground.  I'd never seen that before. The images you will see below were taken of the people in a tiny place called Village 87.  It is a place that almost no one goes to and doesn't even have a name.  87 stands for its distance from Port-au-Prince, 87 kilometers. This area was devastated during the hurricanes last year and the people there don't have access to clean water or food.  The infant mortality rate is shocking, with some estimates as high 75%.  As we handed out portions of rice, it was heartbraking to see the hopelessness on the people's faces.
 
There are 2 images that stick in my head.  First look for the baby that has what looks like powder on him.  The man holding him didn't get in line to get some rice. He sat on the side and had this look of despair on his face that I will never forget.  Second, find the boy running with his bucket to the rice, holding up shorts that are several sizes too big. I don't speak Creole, but the boys were clearly asking me if I had shoes to give them and I hated that I didn't.  They don't have any, and I can't imagine walking for miles everyday with no shoes.
 
Like I said, this is a place rarely visited by outsiders, and there are 100s of villages like this all over Haiti   This is the reality of Haiti. Almost.  There is hope for Village 87.  There is hope for Haiti.  I'll show you that hope in my next posting.

Haiti Take 2: Delmas Region

Port-au-Prince has 3 mayors, each responsible for a different part of the city. On Wednesday, we had the privilege of spending the day with the Mayor of the area known as Delmas, Jean Gael. He and his advisor spoke candidly about the people, history, and challenges of Haiti. He took us to one of the slums in his region so we could see first hand both the progress and obstacles that exist. Concrete houses line the hillside as far as the eye can see. There is currently a very small clinic, church, and school for the tens of thousands of people in Delmas.

Jean showed us a new school and church that will be larger and more accessible to the people. He also took us to an empty building that will be the site of the first hospital in that entire region. It is empty right now, but his dream is to have it be a fully functioning medical facility. Many of the pictures below are from the 2nd and 3rd floor of this building. The first picture is a view of the future hospital.

As we drove, the main streets looked like a big market. I asked the Mayor how we were to get through. He said they just keep honking and eventually everyone moves! So that's what he did, and we drove right through the huge crowd of people, it was pretty amazing!!! Standing on the rooftop taking the pictures you will see below, I got lost in the sounds of barefoot kids playing in the streets, the smell of fried food cooking on the corner, and music blaring from open windows. Although I was taken back by the sadness of their circumstances, I was inspired by the resilience and hope on their faces. My next posting you will see a very different story in one of the villages we visited, so more to come!