Lynn University Students: Installment Two

Tuesday

We took a trip to Cité Soleil (City of the Sun), which is the largest ghetto in Haiti and one of the largest and poorest in the Western Hemisphere. It is home to over 1/2 million very poor and desperate people. The first stop at Cité Soleil was to a beautiful oasis in the middle of the great poverty and depression — a school that is called “Marguerite Nassau.” It is in the loving care of and operated by sisters of all different nationalities — including Spanish, Brazilian and Columbian. They are of the order of the Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul. These sisters do a wonderful job in making this school a beautiful place in the midst of so much ugliness. In Cité Soleil there have been many years of violence and unrest. This school has remained a fortress to the Glory of God in the midst of despair.

The children were amazingly beautiful all dressed in their uniforms. They were all very clean, girls’ hair was braided with colored ribbons and beads and clips. No matter how poor they are, mothers take great pride in dressing up their children to go to school. Besides the school, there is a wonderful training center where the mothers are taught to embroider tablecloths, shirts, placemats, napkins, all occasion cards, Christmas cards, etc. There is also a nutrition center where malnourished children, often at the point of death, come to be nurtured and nourished back to good health, and become healthy and playful and then able to attend the school.

Other mothers who bring the children to this school are being trained to sew their children’s school uniforms. They are given material that is donated by organizations such as Food For The Poor and also some from countries in Europe. This is tremendously good for these mothers, because they can use the sewing machines while their children are at school. This educational program gives them much hope and helps them to learn a good trade so that they can earn a living in the future.

Items produced by the mothers were displayed for us to see, and many of the Lynn University group bought some of them as souvenirs to take back home to remind them of this beautiful place. We were very surprised when the mothers stood up spontaneously and sang like angels to welcome us, which was really touching. In Haiti whenever you enter a classroom as a visitor, the children always sing beautiful welcome songs. I had never had this experience before with adults. I was so moved (combined with the fact that I can be a real ham :o) that I sang a Creole song for them (the only one that I know) and they joined in loudly (possibly to drown out the sound of my voice???)

We then entered the room where the mothers were sewing the school uniforms. All of the children looked exactly alike when dressed in their neat little uniforms; it is a great equalizer. There can be no prejudice if one has a little bit more than another, even though in the Cité Soleil community there is not much likelihood of anyone having anything in excess.

We passed by the nutritional center and there we saw some very malnourished children. One little boy was 3 years old and looked only to be around 1 year old, because of his nutritional deficiency. He was very listless and showed all the signs of malnutrition with the distended stomach, apathy, discoloration of hair, and thin extremities. It was pitiful to see, but at the same time, it was inspiring to know that in a few months this little boy would be running around in his uniform and getting an education that we know will help him to break the cycle of poverty.

Finally, we visited the clinic, which was very crowded. At first it struck me almost as a negative, but then I thought to myself that they are taking care of a great number of people there and I felt good that we are helping to support this facility. The sisters were very grateful for the help that Food For The Poor gives them, not only with food, but also with sewing machines and many other things. The clinic is truly an oasis in the middle of a desert of extreme poverty.

From there we took a trip to a school that we built called “Ti Haiti” (Little Haiti). Again, the children wore clean and ironed uniforms. There is a devoted faculty here doing a great job of teaching all of these children under difficult conditions — nowhere near that of the first world. Yet, they are doing a wonderful job of motivating the children to learn. Every time we went into one of the classrooms, the children would stand and sing us a beautiful welcome song that would include a little English, a little Spanish and a little Creole or French. It was very heartwarming.

From here, we went to the feeding program that we have in the middle of Cité Soleil. This is an area that most would consider to be too dangerous to visit, but our office in Haiti really wanted to make inroads in that area. We have started a feeding program here and have also built some homes to try to alleviate some of the poverty that perhaps is the cause of the anger, frustration and violence that erupts occasionally.

When we went into the feeding program area, there were already people lined up inside waiting for the food, even though it was too early for the feeding. I noticed one woman who had a huge goiter (enlarged thyroid). Although you can live for years without a problem with this condition, it looked very grotesque. I asked the nurse, Barbara, who was with us, about this deformity. She explained that it is caused simply by a lack of iodine. We get iodine normally from the salt that we eat, but people who are undernourished or malnourished usually have a lack of iodine. I felt sad that something as simple as iodine would have helped this poor woman.

There was such sadness in the faces of the people who were in line — wondering perhaps if their children one day would be standing there also. That’s why the schools are so important! If their children are educated, we might then have success in breaking the cycle of multi-generational poverty. When I looked at the people waiting outside, I felt that they really needed much more than food. They need opportunities, shelter, clean water and education - every possible thing we can give them to get out of this very depressing lifestyle.

Our group then got behind the counter and the students and staff began serving the people. It was comforting to know that at least for this day these people would have one solid hot meal. The students and the staff from Lynn University were truly moved by this experience.

After this, we went to see Food For The Poor’s housing project. We had built these beautiful new homes there, even though there are great problems with building in Cité Soleil. The land is below sea level, so it must be raised before we can build. This is very expensive. It is interesting to note that the mayor of Cité Soleil is actually one of the children who grew up in our orphanage program, feeding program, and our schools. Because he came from this background and experience as one of our children, he is very receptive to helping us. He worked to obtain the landfill and accomplished the raising of the ground to above sea level for us, and we were then able to build the homes for poor families.

We then went to visit one of the tiny zinc shacks typical of where the people lived prior to receiving their new home from Food For the Poor. There was a family living there. It was divided by cloth into two rooms, but not more than 12’ X 12’ total (if that large). There was no door that could be locked. We saw a chicken standing there with his leg tied with a cord — obviously one of the residents of this home. Then we went into an area where there was a man lying down on a small cot. It was the only cot in the house. I asked the lady if he was ill and she said “No. He is just very tired and resting.” They were both very warm and welcoming to us as we entered their little home. I wondered how many other people would be sleeping there that night — perhaps on the floor or on a piece of cardboard.

When we exited the tiny shack, there was a woman just outside the door, obviously a resident of that home also. She was washing clothes in a pan. I thought of the difficulty she must have had trying to find clean water, to bring it there, and to wash clothing not only for her own family, but also for others in order to make a few gourdes (a few pennies) each day to be able to send her children to school and, hopefully, to buy some food for them as well. This family would be one that is to receive a new home soon from us and they were waiting very patiently for their turn, for their dreams to be fulfilled in having a solid home with cement walls and zinc roof to shelter them from the sun and the rain and a concrete floor that does not turn into mud when it rains.

We left Cité Soleil and visited our girls’ orphanage and school called Maison d’Amour (House of Love). Here we have nearly 200 girls in the orphanage and approximately 500 children in the school. When we build a school for orphanages, it is built with the entire community in mind, because it would be pitiful to have our girls being educated and all of the children in the community not being able to attend school as well. We actually build a much larger school in order to accommodate all of the children from the community to come there without charge.

Although we had already visited a few schools that day, I am glad that we went to this one too. There was a teacher there in a pre-kindergarten classroom that was truly a human dynamo! Her energy level was incredible in teaching the children. She was doing songs with them and using anything available to her in the classroom to try and create music for them — an empty plastic container, tin can “Maracas”, table drums… She walked around the classroom constantly encouraging the children, imparting some of her energy to them. I thought to myself how lucky we are and how lucky those children are to have a teacher, who is not being paid a tremendous amount, who would have that energy and passion for teaching them and making learning interesting and fun. It was truly an amazing experience. She went on with these songs for a good 15 minutes while we were all standing there in awe of her indefatigable energy.

I noticed that when we went through the school, there were some children who had plates of food in front of them. It was near time for dismissal. Our orphans get fed at the orphanage when the school day is finished, but we realize also that many of the children who are in the community do not get any food for the day. So, before these children leave school to go home, they get a plate of food so at least we know that they have had one solid meal for the day to sustain them. Again, at every classroom we visited, there were beautiful songs of welcome.

We then walked over to the orphanage. I have visited many times, sometimes unannounced and sometimes (as today) as part of a known itinerary. The condition is always the same. The dormitories are crammed with beds, but it is so clean that you could eat off the floor. Every bed is made to perfection. When you look into the little closets where the children keep their few possessions, everything is hung very neatly and in its place. It’s wonderful, because the sisters who run the program are not only bringing up these girls with a tremendous amount of love, but they also give them the discipline that they need in order to succeed in life. Love and discipline — a tested recipe for future success! These were saved!

The priests who were with us in the group celebrated mass for the sisters and the children at the orphanage. We then had a welcomed lunch and were regaled by the children with songs. I could not help feeling, as we were leaving, that all this is possible by a combined effort of our donors’ generosity, our work, and the work of the beautiful missionaries and our staff in Haiti.

As the end of our tour approached, we took a detour to the downtown area where the sidewalk vendors have taken over the sidewalk and part of the street. Businesses are being forced to close; many have already closed. Still, there was a very active downtown area with the sidewalk vendors trading. Many of them actually get their goods from the U.S. Those who can get a visa, save their money and come for a trip to the U.S. to purchase goods. They then return to Haiti to sell their wares. There was a very alive and energetic feeling as we went through the very crowded streets, particularly with a large bus. We visited the beautiful cathedral in the downtown area, which was built at the end of the 19th century. We mugged for the cameras in front of the Presidential Palace (the office of the President), and then we returned to the hotel.