the Truth series part 3: h a i t i

Haiti.

I never knew how much a tee-tiny little country could capture so much of your heart so easily. I had been to 3 other countries by the time I got to Haiti for the first time in 2016, but something happened that moment our plane touched down on the runway in Port-au-Prince and I was met with the heaviness of the heat that comes in and takes your breath away. There is no way to describe the heat, it crazy and like nothing I have ever experienced.  I have grown up in the South where it is 90% humidity, but in Haiti, it is just downright hot.  As we drove through the city the next morning and into the mountainous ocean side, I was overwhelmed with the beauty of this little country. 

Yes, Beauty. It's counter-culture to the way a majority of the world would describe it. When you think of Haiti, I am sure you, like I do, think of it being one of the poorest countries in the western hemisphere. Which is true. Statistics say that 58.6% of the 10.85 million people live in poverty, and another 24.7% percent live in extreme poverty. 

I can not even fathom extreme poverty. What does that even look like

 

On this island, where poverty rages, Governments are corrupt, and where it has been battered by natural disasters, you have to be strong in order to survive.  It's been a week since the 8th anniversary of the 7.1 magnitude earthquake that killed anywhere around 46,000 to 316,000 people. We are unsure of the exact number because most bodies were buried in mass unmarked graves outside of the city that were dug mainly by hand. It is said that everyone in the whole country knows at least one person that died in the earthquake. In Haiti, you have to fight for yourself because usually, no one else will. I have seen the effects of this mindset in even the kids, who aren't afraid to beat up another kid over something as simple as a plastic water bottle. One of my team leaders who is a medic had to give a kid stitches while we were there because he got beat up in a fight. I have sat in a circle of women who have asked the question, "How do I stop the witch doctor in our town to from putting spells on my babies that kill them." Witchcraft exists, along with human trafficking majority of the victims being children, especially orphans. Even in the midst of the corruption, poverty, and evil, I see so much beauty in this little place. 

I have known I wanted to go to Haiti since I was 9 years old. It was actually because of the earthquake that really sparked a flame of interest and a desire to go to Haiti one day, somehow. I realized very soon to not talk about this dream with others, because I learned quickly other people, much like president Trump, had some very different options on where I should be spending my time and energy. I was told by a teacher that I "shouldn't concern myself with Haiti because it was the equivalent of the devil's armpit. Nothing good ever came from Haiti."  I was stunned. I have never forgotten her words in the 7 years since that day. Her words rang in my ears the whole time I fundraised the first time I went to Haiti, which to be honest created a lot of fear and uncertainty in my heart about going. But then I met friends in my church who had gone before and when I asked about it, they started crying because they loved it so much.  I told my student pastor I was interested in going, and he was like "Oh you would love it. Haiti is incredible." There were so many different voices giving me two different options about what it would be like, that I had no idea of what to actually expect. I decided that I just would have to go and see for myself. Was Haiti just a hopeless island or was there beauty? 

The beauty of this place, in these people, that I discussed earlier comes from within. Though they have been taught that they have to fend for themselves in order to survive, I have gotten to watch the love and freedom Christ gives completely transform lives, into people who serve each other with their whole hearts. In a little mountainous community called Piatr'e, they are giving resources and sacrificing whatever they can to help make a clinic in their own community possible. Their desire to and passion to leave their community better than they found it for their children, is just breathtaking. This small little community is filled with children who just want to learn. One of my favorite memories is sitting with a little boy named Lovensky, who brought me one of the dry erase boards, sat down next to me and showed me all the numbers he could write that he had learned from previous teams. We sat together for a long time as I watched him then helped him write more numbers and letters. 

I have met people who are in the extremely small group of people who are quite wealthy but yet still live in Haiti for the most part. One community leader in Jeanton who has done very well in life spends half the year in Haiti and half the year with his family in North America. He has a family, he has wealth, and yet he still spends a majority of his time in his birth country. In his own community. But not only does he live there, he gets up early in the morning to drive into the mountains, the bed of his truck full of water containers, to the water spring where he fills all the containers up and brings them back down into community so that they can have water. Because this community does not have a good clean water source. He does this free of charge. This community is filled to the brim of people who do just that in their own way, they serve and love the people around them with no regard for themselves. When Jesus said, "Love each other as I have loved you" in John 15, this is what it is supposed to look like. 

On this last trip, there was one day I had really bad heat exhaustion and so I had to stay at the hotel with one of the leaders and missed being in the community for the day. When you only have 4 days to spend in the community, to begin with, you treasure and soak up every single moment you can because the time FLYS by. I spent that day resting, then thankfully was well enough to go with my team on a hike into the mountains to see to Jeanton water source. We gathered with some of the councilmen at the church who were going with us, and as I got off the bus several of them came up to me and told me how they had been praying for me and were so glad to know that I was okay and how they had missed me yesterday. We then started our hike into the mountains. Just as the terrain starts to turn into really mountainous, you have to cross this really big river. But there are no bridges, so you kind of have to find a place in the bank where you can hopefully step over, but if not-you just have to jump and hope you make it across. The councilmen were so incredibly kind as several of them walked right into the river so we could hold their hand as we walked over the slippery rocks. The way they had no concern for themselves and just gave everything to serve us left all of us just in awe. Many people think that going on mission trips, you are going to this place to help people. But usually, I come back more changed and inspired because of the people I meet that I was going to help. 

Though the odds are stacked against them in more ways than one, these people are resilient, strong, hopeful, and loving. Their strength to endure and to fight is like nothing I have ever seen. They have been through earthquakes, hurricanes, and corruption, and yet their faith and belief in God is unwavering. Their heart to learn and to maximize every single opportunity to make their world better is something that has marked my life forever. If I could say anything to president Trump and his remarks he made about Haiti and several other countries,  it would be, until you have sat with these community changing leaders until you have personally walked the six-mile mountain hike that is only half way to the source of the Jeanton water spring, until you have sat with the most beautiful kids as they tried to teach you Haitian Creole, until you have sat in the homes of people living in the community and ask how I can pray for them and they say, "We need water." and until you have literally had to remove the arms of girl from around you who is crying because she doesn't want you to leave at the end of the week, please do not make statements that could not be farther from the truth. Haiti is a place that has marked my heart forever. It is a country that even in the midst of poverty, is growing up world-changing leaders.  It may not look like much from the surface, but I am telling you, the beauty is there never the less. 

But buried deep beneath all our broken dreams

We have this hope 

Out of the ashes
Beauty will rise
And we will dance among the ruins
We will see it with our own eyes
Out of these ashes
Beauty will rise
For we know joy is coming
In the morning

In the morning
Beauty will rise

Beauty Will Rise

Steven Curtis Chapman