New Life For Haiti Child Sponsorship Mission Trip

1
Marnie Van Wyk

• New Life for Haiti
• Child Sponsorship Mission Trip
• February 6-13, 2014

2
The Nation of Haiti

• Haiti is the poorest country in the western
  hemisphere.
• The average family living in the Grand Anse River
  Valley and in the mountains of Mon Milet lives on
  less than 1/day.
• Most children eat just once a day.
• Only 20 of the children can afford to attend
  school.

3
New Life for Haiti

• Founded in 2006 by Pastor Fran Leeman (Lead
  pastor of LifeSpring Community Church in
  Plainfield)
• Work in a remote and very poor river valley at
  the end of Haiti's southern peninsula
• Headquarter efforts in the village of Marfranc,
  right along the Grande Anse River.
• First couple years spent building relationships
  with people in the river villages and building a
  house for our staff and teams
• NLH has built several schools, helped farmers
  with seed after terrible hurricane floods, and
  rebuilt many homes after the 2010 earthquake
• Started child sponsorship program in 2008,
  through which children receive an education,
  food, vitamins, clothing, books and school
  supplies
• Currently sponsor 200 children
• New Life for Haiti is an approved 501c3 charity

4
My decision to go to Haiti

• Helping children in other parts of the world has
  been on my heart since the winter of 1998, when
  my husband and I spent two weeks in Russia with
  Josh McDowell ministries.
• I have prayed since 2006 that the Lord would know
  and honor my hearts desire to go to Haiti.
• The part that was missing was a journey the Lord
  took me through (this past year especially) in
  relation to GRATITUDE. I couldnt possibly have
  absorbed and learned and given everything I did
  from this trip had I not taken that journey
  first. If I had not done so, the distractions of
  physical discomfort and guilt would have probably
  been too much for me to bear all of the sadness.
• Looking back, I know that the Lord was waiting
  until I was ready for this experience.
• Give thanks, and you always find out that were
  one of the ones who GET TO GIVE. Give thanks and
  we find out that there is always more than enough
  to give. Give thanks and you always get the
  miracle the miracle of more God. And He is
  always enough.
• Gods people are Gods plan for ending poverty
  and He doesnt have another plan.

5
Arrived in Port au Prince, Haiti on February 6,
2014

• Capital city of Haiti, extremely depressed
  economy and very dirty, high crime rate

• Completely lacking infrastructure, virtually no
  paved roads, traffic free-for-all

6
Friday, February 7 Flew to Jeremie, Haiti from
Port au Prince via MAF (Missionary Aviation
Fellowship)
7
Flew over Gulf of Gonave to Jeremie, on the
northwestern coast of Haiti
http//www.newlifeforhaiti.org/
8
Haiti is very beautiful from the sky!
http//www.newlifeforhaiti.org/
9
Jeremie to Marfranc

• Drove from Jeremie to Marfranc, in the Grand Anse
  river valley over extremely bumpy, rocky, and in
  places, washed out roads, dodging many people and
  animals such as donkeys, goats, cows, pigs and
  chickens. People in Haiti carry large packages,
  baskets, sacks, or even furniture on their heads
  to get from place to place. The country has had
  a drought for the last four months, with
  virtually no rain, so everything was extremely
  dusty. Nothing but a four-wheel drive vehicle
  can handle Haitian roads, and those break down
  frequently. Almost every Haitian vehicle is a
  pick up truck with the exception of tap-taps.
  All vehicles have roll bars, bars for standing
  passengers to hold on to, and front smash guards.
  Haitian roads through towns are very narrow
  only about 6-8 feet wide. Haiti is in a constant
  state of demolition and construction, especially
  since the earthquake in 2010.

10
Marfranc, Haiti

• Our team stayed at the New Life for Haiti staff
  and teams house in Marfranc. The house is named
  Kay Bo Rivye, or House by the River in Haitian
  Creole.

11
Kay Bo Rivye

• New Life for Haiti employs a staff of five
  Haitian people. Vilex is our full-time employee.
  He is the son of Pastor Plaisir, who is the
  pastor of the Baptist church in Marfranc, part of
  the MBESH group of churches. Other part-time
  employees include Jacque-Lyn, who does
  construction for NLH, Dis (the gardener), Benit
  (cook/housekeeper), and Madame Moussan (head
  cook/housekeeper). New Life for Haiti built
  Jacque-Lyn and Vilex apartments, on the roof of
  Kay Bo Rivye. They live there, along with Malis,
  the Rhodesian Ridgeback guard dog and Bouqinet,
  Vilexs Haitian mutt. These dogs are an
  exception in Haiti, where dogs are generally
  considered filthy pest animals and are usually
  left to live outside off the land and fend for
  themselves.

http//www.newlifeforhaiti.org/
12
Friday, February 7th

• Our team of five was immediately following a
  larger team of eleven. One of the previous
  teams jobs had been to build and varnish 35
  school benches/tables for the school in Marfranc.
  On Friday, our team delivered the benches to the
  school. We attempted to drive to Chameau, far up
  into the mountains, but were unable to do so, due
  to a road blockage. The road was blocked by
  angry Haitian workers who were protesting not
  being paid for work they had done. Rather than
  try to negotiate through the road block, we chose
  to turn around, come back to Kay Bo Rivye, and
  work on cutting the fabric for over the uniforms
  for the over 200 children who are sponsored by
  New Life for Haiti for the 2014-15 school year.

http//www.newlifeforhaiti.org/
13
Friday, February 7th, continued

• All four of the team members that were with me on
  this trip had already been to Haiti before, so
  some of Saturday was also spent showing me around
  the Marfranc area, including a new suspension
  bridge that the World Health Federation built
  recently. WHF is the only other known
  organization working in this very remote part of
  Haiti. There are no known maps of the mountain
  villages surrounding Grand Anse river valley
  area, so one of Vilexs tasks has been to work on
  making a map.

http//www.newlifeforhaiti.org/
14
Saturday, February 8th

• On Saturday our team of five, along with Vilex,
  hiked way up into the mountains to the village of
  Plik. First, we had to cross the Grand Anse
  River IN the truck. This was very exciting, and
  I was thankful that the river was as low as it
  was, since the truck has gotten stuck IN the
  river before! Plik is the most poverty stricken
  area that New Life for Haiti currently serves,
  and it was an eye-opening experience. New Life
  for Haiti built the school in Plik last spring,
  and a team of teenagers from our church
  (LifeSpring Community Church in Plainfield)
  painted the school this past June. We now
  sponsor about 30 children, and are hoping to
  sponsor more soon. The next few slides contain
  pictures taken in and around the village of Plik.

15
Plik, Haiti

• The people in Plik are fortunate in only one way.
  There is a natural spring there. Unfortunately,
  there is a lack of education about care and use
  of the spring. Currently the site of the spring
  is being used to wash peoples clothes, bodies
  and dishes. It is also a place for animals to
  cool off and get water. A troubling discovery we
  made when we went to Plik this first time was
  that the people were using the area directly
  uphill from the spring for bathroom purposes.
  Each time it rains, the rain is washing all of
  that into the spring. Many, many people in Plik
  have died due to cholera, a disease caused by
  parasites in drinking water. Therefore, a
  decision was made by our team to contact an
  engineer from Unicef to see help in capping off
  the well and educating the people on proper use.

16
Plik, Haiti

• Pastor Suaver is the pastor and school director
  in Plik. He is an entrepreneurial man, running a
  bakery and advocating for the people of Plik. He
  has the only source of solar powered electricity
  in Plik. Although Pastor Suaver is very poor
  himself, he hospitably offered us coconut milk
  and coconut to eat and had a constant smile on
  his face.

http//www.newlifeforhaiti.org/
17
The children of Plik

• Most of the children in the green gingham
  uniforms are sponsored by individual sponsor
  families in conjunction with New Life for Haiti.
  In Haiti, there is no free public education. In
  towns along the one road in northwestern Haiti,
  there are what are called National Schools, and
  several private parochial schools. However, any
  child who cannot afford the tuition, supplies,
  and uniforms is not allowed to attend school.
  There are no schools in most of the mountain
  villages many pastors are also trying to teach
  children, as education is their only hope for a
  better life.

18
Sunday, February 9th

• On Sunday we had the privilege of worshipping
  with our sister church in Marfranc, where Pastor
  Plaisir is pastor. I did not understand very
  much, but the worship was beautiful and Wesley,
  the brother of Jacque-Lyn, sang, Hallelujah in
  English, just for us. He had learned the song
  from some of our previous team members.
  Fortunately, smiles around the world are a
  multi-lingual way of communicating! I was able
  to meet our sponsored child, Blandine, as well as
  Merline, who made her debut this past October via
  Skype at our New Life for Haiti annual
  fundraising gala. Many children wanted to hug us
  and have their pictures taken, which is a novelty
  in Haiti. No one there has a camera, and most
  people do not even own a mirror, so they have no
  idea what they look like! People only come to
  church if they have church clothes to wear, which
  is sad because some people do not.

19
Monday, February 10th

• On Monday, February 10th, the team had the tasks
  of photographing our 40 sponsored children at the
  school in Moron (pronounced with two long os),
  as well as feeding all of the 250 children there
  who attend that school (both those sponsored by
  NLH and those not). New Life for Haiti began the
  feeding program this year, and we are currently
  feeding the children at each school once a week.
  Rice and beans are prepared by women paid by NLH
  to cook, the children bring their own bowls, and
  lunch is served after school gets out at 1230.
  The children then go back to class for about an
  hour after the meal. It was difficult, but we
  had to turn away several hungry people who
  wandered in off the street. It was a little
  chaotic, as free food is something these kids
  arent used to!

20
Monday, February 10th, afternoon

• On Monday afternoon our team once again attempted
  to drive to Chameau, far up in the mountains. We
  did not drive on a road, but on a foot path
  instead. Normally Chameau is only accessible on
  foot via hiking in. However, since there has
  been so little rain this year, the foot path was
  actually driveable. Since the temperatures were
  in the mid-90s and very humid the week of
  February 6-13, the team was thankful to be able
  to drive! The drive to Chameau was
  breathtakingly beautiful, as was the view from
  the home and church of Pastor Estache and his
  beautiful family. We have ten children currently
  sponsored by New Life for Haiti in Chameau, and
  are hoping to add more this year. My friend Erin
  was able to read the Dr. Seuss book, Go Dog Go,
  which she had translated into Creole, to the kids
  there. Since Chameau is such a remote village,
  the people have to walk two hours up and down the
  mountain for water twice a day.

21
Tuesday, February 11th

• On Tuesday, February 11th, we went back to
  the school in Marfranc and photographed 130
  children. It was feeding day at the school, so
  we also fed over 650 children a meal! I was
  happy to see Blandine again. I also was able to
  meet Widline, who was in a very serious accident
  in which she broke her hip last year. We are
  currently helping her get the medical help she
  needs in Port au Prince and building her family a
  new home. Currently 8 people live in a 10X10
  grass hut.
• The children in Marfranc are the most
  well-off, by Haitian standards, which means many
  of them have more than one pair of shoes and
  clothes, and usually eat at least once per day.
  It is the one of two schools in the NLH network
  that has a secondary school, so some of the
  children are learning English. I was able to sit
  with a young man named Kentworth and he read Go,
  Dog, Go to me. He was very proud of his English
  reading. Only a few of these kids will go on to
  college the only colleges are in Port au Prince,
  so they will have to travel 9 hours by tap-tap to
  get there.

22
Feeding the Marfranc children

• Many of the children in Marfranc shared spoons or
  did not have spoons at all. Some of them were so
  obviously hungry that they shoveled the food in
  with their hands. In one of these pictures you
  can see a table some of the men on our team made
  for the ladies who cook, so they would no longer
  cook on the ground.
• Classrooms in Haiti are very small, with about 50
  or so children packed onto wooden benches. They
  are expected to sit still and be quiet, while a
  teacher uses only a blackboard and chalk to
  teach. Temperatures in the classrooms the day we
  were there were over 95 degrees, but the children
  sat still and quiet. The classes are divided by
  grade, with some multi-level classrooms (such as
  1st and 2nd grade combined.) Children are not
  allowed to progress to the next grade unless they
  pass a test administered at the national level.
  Many children walk an hour or two to school each
  day, and back home again in the afternoon.

23
Wednesday, February 12th

• On Wednesday our team decided to hike back up to
  Plik in the mountains with two goals. First, we
  would escort the engineer from Unicef back to the
  spring to see if Unicef would be willing to help
  cap the spring. Second, we would meet the pastor
  and children from the village of Plen Marie,
  which is even further up into the mountains. New
  Life for Haiti built the school in Plen Marie
  this past fall. Both the pastor and the school
  director hiked two hours down the mountain to
  Plik to meet us. The children were delightful,
  and had never seen a teddy bear before, nor any
  blancs for that matter (white people). They
  were full of smiles and happiness to receive the
  gifts we had brought for them, including simple
  handkerchief purses and bags the previous team
  had made.

24
Wednesday, February 12th, continued

• That day on the hike we also encountered more
  kids in the mountains living in extreme poverty.
  We were happy that we had brought shoes and
  granola bars for them, and they were very
  grateful for those gifts. The engineer from
  Unicef, who had never been that far up into the
  mountains, was obviously moved by the plight of
  the people in that area. We were excited when he
  agreed that Unicef and New Life for Haiti should
  work together to cap the spring to help the
  people there, as well as provide education on
  community sanitation and safety. It was a sad
  day for me, and I brushed away a lot of tears
  seeing how people were living in that area. I
  was reminded yet again how much abundance we have
  in the U.S. and why Jesus called us to serve the
  least of these.

25
Market Day in Marfranc

• Late Wednesday afternoon, Erin and I ventured
  into town to the weekly market in Marfranc. This
  was really an education about commerce in Haiti.
  At the market we saw everything from live
  animals, to a cock fighting ring, to freshly
  slaughtered meat, to a knife sharpening station
  powered by a bicycle tire. It was quite a
  spectacle for the people to see two blancs
  walking through the market. One of the men from
  the team the previous week had a Polaroid and had
  handed out pictures to the people who he met. It
  took Erin and I several attempts in broken Creole
  to explain to the people why we couldnt also
  give them polaroid pictures! On the way home we
  walked through the cemetery, where we met two
  young boys anxious to talk about our pastor,
  Pastor Fran Leeman, who founded New Life for
  Haiti, about seven years ago.

http//www.newlifeforhaiti.org/
26
Other things I learned about Haiti and its people

• Every day life is incredibly difficult in all of
  Haiti, let alone the remote western peninsula.
  There is no running water, no electricity, very
  limited cell service (only ATT), and virtually
  no infrastructure. The standard of living seems
  equivalent to what life might have been like in
  Pioneer days of America, with people growing and
  gathering food, washing clothing in the river,
  and cooking over open fires. The only toy I saw
  while in Haiti is pictured here, which was made
  by the NLH gardener, Dis, for his son. Daily
  children begged at the gate of Kay Bo Rivye, who
  could smell the food our cooks were preparing.
  There are almost no stores in this area, so
  weekly markets are set up to allow people to
  trade, buy and sell animals, foods and goods.

27
What I learned about God and faithwhile in Haiti

• Even though life is extremely difficult, and the
  situation is bleak, God is still alive and
  working in Haiti! I saw Him everywhere, from the
  majestic Mon Milet (dangerous mountain), to the
  sunrises and sunsets over the Grand Anse River,
  in the smiles of the Haitian people, and in their
  nightly worship songs that rang out through the
  steamy black nights in the valley. His presence
  shone through the kindness of the people and
  their welcoming attitudes toward us, some of whom
  had never seen a blanc. There are millions of
  opportunities to minister to the people of Haiti,
  which makes it a culture very open to the love
  and message of Jesus Christ. Through the love of
  Christian brothers and sisters to each other, the
  love of Christ is being spread all through the
  western peninsula and mountains of Haiti.

28
Thursday, February 13th AKA Longest day of my
life

• On Thursday, February 13th, over the course of 15
  hours, we traveled first by truck from Marfranc
  to Jeremie, then by 6 seater plane from Jeremie
  to Port au Prince. We then sat 5 hours in the
  Port au Prince airport before flying on a large
  jet to Miami, Florida. After proceeding through
  first customs, then immigration, we finally
  boarded a plane from Miami to Chicago, where we
  touched down at Ohare airport, just before
  midnight. In one day I said good-bye to my new
  Haitian friends, experienced a 100 degree
  temperature change, and left one beautiful
  terrible place behind, only to encounter another
  with problems that sometimes seem far worse than
  those of Haiti. I can only hope to return to the
  mystical and captivating island of Haiti again,
  for the children and the people there have
  captured my heart!

http//www.newlifeforhaiti.org/