SILOAM SCHOOL AT LABASTILLE
(AKA Haiti Mission School)
UPDATE
December 2011
WE ARE ON OUR WAY AGAIN!
We’ll be leaving soon for Haiti. We’ve purchased our airline tickets and will be there during the middle of January. We’re looking forward to seeing the school, the students, the teachers and the many friends we have in Haiti. We’re excited that Steve Parsons, our son, who is with us on the Board of the Friends of Siloam School, will be joining us this time. It will be his first time to Haiti. As is usual with first-timers, he is excited and somewhat nervous. (I guess that’s true of us too.)
Many people have asked us what kinds of things they might send with us. Due to new airline restrictions, we’re now only able to carry one 50 pound bag apiece. This cuts in half what we’ve been able to take, and because of that, limits the kind of things that we plan to carry. Besides, although it’s sometimes less expensive to purchase things in the states, more and more we are trying to support Haitian businesses. We also found out last time, that they have certain kinds of things they use that are strictly available there. Spiral bound notebooks are one example of things we’ve been bringing that they don’t use. They also can’t use American textbooks, since they don’t read English. There are things that are difficult to obtain in Haiti, though, so we are trying to come up with our best ideas about this. What do you think? A couple of years ago we took the student book bags.
Some of what we want to do while we are there is to meet with the parents. Many don’t know how to read or to do basic math. Still, they want their child to be educated. The child’s success depends on many things. For example, we know that a hungry child is less capable of learning than one that is well nourished. That’s the main reason we’re providing the food program. We also know that parents often don’t have the resources to feed all their children every day so the lunch makes certain that hunger isn’t holding the students back.
We also want to encourage the parents to get more involved at the school. The more involved they are, the stronger will be their support of their child. This is no different from here in the US. They might help out in various ways such as assisting in classrooms or the kitchen, helping repair classrooms damaged by the earthquake or helping build the road to the school. We’re going to really encourage the road building effort. Our hopes for getting fresh water to the school and rebuilding the classrooms will be made much easier if the road is complete. We will also be checking on the progress of the licensing of the school with the Haitian Education Department.
Our first class will graduate in 2013. We’d like to provide scholarships for our best students to a secondary school. All secondary schools in Haiti require paying tuition to attend and most of our parents are among the poorest of the poor. We’ll be looking at nearby schools and finding out their costs and requirements and discussing this new venture with the Committee in Haiti. These are the kinds of things that we hope to accomplish this time.
We also discussed the need for a new building to replace the one damaged in last year’s earthquake. We are hoping that the Haitians will have the road to the school completed this year. When the road is completed, we will be able to get a well drilled and that will not only provide fresh water for the school, but also water for construction. We then hope to take a team to work with the Haitians to build a new school. Stay tuned!
Our first class will graduate in 2013. We’d like to provide scholarships for our best students to a secondary school. All secondary schools in Haiti require paying tuition to attend and most of our parents are among the poorest of the poor. We’ll be looking at nearby schools and finding out their costs and requirements and discussing this new venture with the Committee in Haiti. These are the kinds of things that we hope to accomplish this time.
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We have established a dedicated e-mail address for the school and we hope that you will begin using it to communicate with us. If you will provide us with your email address we will be able to save postage costs… money that we’d rather be spending on the school. We promise that we will not hassle you with repeated requests for donations, and we will not sell or otherwise offer it to anyone else without your specific authorization. If you will do this, please write us at: haitimissionschool@gmail.com. Thanks.
One of our Board members, Barbara Devir just made a stop in Haiti as part of a cruise that she recently took. We thought that her reflections were fascinating and so have added it to our monthly updates. We hope you enjoy it:
My Ugly Green Haitian Bracelet
Those who know me well may have noticed that my usual jewelry consists of my wedding band, a pretty beat up Timex, and maybe a rubber band or two around my wrist.
These days I'm sporting something new. It's made of embroidery thread, two garish green beads and a brown bead with something almost undecipherable written on it. That
something is Haiti, and what I'm wearing is the ugly green bracelet I acquired on my trip
to Haiti.
Ever since I became involved with the school at La Bastille, I had vague feelings that I
ought to go and visit Haiti and see the school. A visit would involve a flight to Port-au-
Prince, a three hour bus ride, an hour or so on a motorcycle or perhaps in the back of a
pickup truck, and finally at least an hour's hike up a steep and rocky path. Needless to
say I was able to think of many good and some not-so good reasons why I shouldn't go.
But like Jonah, who didn't really want to go to Nineveh, I too finally found myself in
Haiti. I was transported not in the belly of a big fish but in another unlikely way- as a
passenger on a luxurious cruise ship. One of our stops was Labadee, Haiti, a private
gated resort owned by Royal Caribbean. I did not expect to see much of "real Haiti," but
I was mistaken.
Approaching the island by sea is amazing. You get to understand why the native peoples
named it Haiti- place of high mountains. It is huge and green with ridge after ridge of
mountains. It is astoundingly beautiful and, I knew, terribly poor. Its natural beauty is
breathtaking.
I realized that I would be restricted to the grounds of the resort, but I knew that there
would be local people selling their artwork and souvenirs. I would have to use real
money, not my ship pass and they would expect me to bargain. I thought quite a bit
about how to handle this and finally decided that I would take a fair amount of money
with me. I wanted to buy things from them, although I was pretty certain there wasn't
anything they would be selling that I would really want, I just wanted to spend some
money, and I wanted to spread it around. When I visited the marketplace, I couldn't
believe how I was swarmed by vendors, each inviting me to view his wares. They really
couldn't hear me say that I wanted to look and that I would come if they just gave me
some breathing room. All they could do was shove one thing after another in front of me,
quoting prices that got ever lower, and each demanding that I come to his stall NOW. It
was overwhelming. It was finally the Haitian women who told the men to let me take my
time. And finally, I got to look and spend, and spread a fair bit of money around. I did
visit ten or so stalls although it turned out there must have been at least thirty or so that I
never got to. I really couldn't tell because, once I had spent all my money, I couldn't
bring myself to walk past stalls where I would buy nothing.
I continued with my plan, returning to the ship for a quiet lunch and a chance to look out
the windows on the side of the ship that faced Haiti, not the gated resort. Deliberately, I
returned to the beach with only a few dollar bills that I might need for tips. I did spend
an enjoyable afternoon on the beach, hanging out with the small fish that swam near the
rocks there. It was what I would call a sweet snorkel.
When it was time to go back to the ship, I walked carefully, staying away from the
souvenir stands. I walked on a road that ran beneath another bank of shops high on a
cliff. That's when it happened! A man from that higher rank of stalls threw down a green
bracelet, saying "Here lady. It's free." And I picked it up. That was it. Five more
bracelets came sailing down along with the vendor who seemed to hang upside down.
The next five would not be free. Only ten dollars for the lot. I couldn't even be tempted
because by now I had only three singles. I offered him one for the original bracelet.
Truthfully, I couldn't wait to get away from there. He refused, he begged, he pleaded.
And I knew he lived in a village where the lucky ones lived in a three-room house made
of plywood with a tin roof. They were fortunate to eat twice a day- rice and beans. And
not all of them were lucky. Yet all I really wanted to do was be gone, to get back to the
ship. Finally, I just started walking and the man held out the original bracelet and said,
"One dollar lady. One dollar." I was happy to hand over the dollar and walk away,
dreaming now of an air-conditioned lounge and a piña colada. And I got both those
things. As I sat there I looked at my ugly green Haitian bracelet and wondered what I
would ever do with it.
In the end I realized that I would wear it- all the time. And I do. I realized what a gift
that insistent vendor had given me. I realized that even though I consider myself a
thoughtful, giving person I really didn't get it. I couldn't just walk into Haiti, spend some
money and go home feeling good and enjoy my pina colada. I would wear the bracelet
and remember that the vendor went home to a house with a tin roof and some rice and
beans- if he was lucky. And now he was real to me. I realized that having a plan about
how to help wasn't enough. My desire to help wasn't going to end when I left the market
or even when the ship sailed away from Haiti. I was going to think about my brothers
and sisters in Haiti in a different way. I was going to remember how they acted in their
desperation and how I acted in my response to their need. I don't know what is going to
happen to them. There is going to be poverty and desperation in Haiti (and other places)
for a very long time, maybe always. I can help, but I can't change that. What I can
change is me and so I am going to wear my ugly green Haitian bracelet. Every time I
look at it, I am going to remember what happened on that day. One of these days I will
take it off because I won't need it to remember. It will just be part of who I am.
Barbara Devir, CLP
The children of Haiti are so beautiful. They are friendly, gentle and loving.
The beauty of the island is undeniable.
Unfortunately, the country's economy is the poorest in the western hemisphere.
This is not the fault of the children.
For reasons beyond our understanding they have been born into situations outside their control.
Many have asked us what hope is there for this country just a few short miles from the U.S.?
What could change it for the better? With so many things broken,
it is doubtful that it can be fixed for many years if not generations.
What hope then, is there for these children?
Like a lot of other things,
if you only look at the big picture, it's discouraging.
But if you look at the picture,
one child at a time, there is some hope.