Seeds into Trees

After the January earthquake everyone’s attention was locked on Haiti. The world, shocked by the images coming out of Haiti, sprung into action pledging their money and support to Haiti and it’s people. It was reported that more then half of all Americans donated to some type of Haitian relief effort, which is a historical figure in and of itself. As the initial shock wore off, people began to wonder and ask if Haiti was just a pit to throw money into. Would be impossible to better a country with such a history of turmoil and corruption as Haiti? Whenever I hear this I can only think back to my own experiences with the Haiti Outreach Program.

About 6 years ago, when I was a freshman in high school, I went on my first trip to Haiti. As soon as we left Port Au Prince, the pavement stopped and it was just mountain roads of dry mud and rocks. Haiti had been in a drought so the land was dead and dusty. It took us 6 hours to get to our village of Boucan Carre on that trip. By the time we arrived it was pitch black with the exception of the Rectory where we stayed. During the week I got a chance to work on some different projects and explore the village.

A couple of days I worked in the hospital, that the Haiti Outreach Program teamed up with Partners in Health to build. I worked on the nutrition program making formula for malnourished children. Another day we worked on starting a reforestation program planting trees that would provide food and help prevent erosion. And another day we went to the Primary School, that the Haiti Outreach Program built and funds, to take pictures of all the children for our sponsor-a-student program. When I left Haiti after that first trip, I swore I would never go back because it was a hard trip for me. I had lived a very sheltered life here in the United States and was not prepared with the reality check that is Haiti.

One way or another I ended up going back to Haiti two more times where I did everything to working in the hospital, to painting a house, to organizing a soccer league, to in-home follow up visits with patients. It was on these return trips I realized that the work the Haiti Outreach Program was doing was helping to transform the village of Boucan Carre. On my last trip, 2 years ago, it took us just about 3 hours to get from Port Au Prince to Boucan Carre, because the road is now paved half way up the mountain as well as a bridge to cross the river! The seeds we planted are now trees, and it is amazing to see how they have grown. Our clinic is continues to expand with new additions to the building and even landscaping. Our primary school is thriving and growing and we now have a secondary school in the works. And the lists of accomplishments goes on!

After all I’ve seen the Haiti Outreach Program do in Boucan Carre in just a little more then a decade of work, it is obvious to me that Haiti is not a lost cause. Boucan Carre has been transformed from a little mountain village to a desirable place to live with good schools and even a hospital.

I encourage everyone to keep checking in on our progress so you too can watch our village of Boucan Carre continue grow and the lives of the Haitians improve through the work of the Haiti Outreach Program. (You can even attend our upcoming Medical Benefit on June 12th from which all proceeds go to support our hospital for the year.)

I am convinced that as long as there are people who care as passionately for Haiti as the Haiti Outreach Program does, then there is hope for Haiti.