Trip Reports and Reflections
The mission experience has impacted many lives both here in Colorado as well as in Haiti. Over the years, many mission trip participants have written eloquently about their personal experiences in Haiti. Below you will find a sampling of these stories in the form of a brief excerpt along with a link to the full story.
BLOGS
CHP Mission Blog
2010 Medical Mission blog
Trip Report
The Education Mission- November 2011
By Teresa Henry
In November 2012 a group of four ventured to Petit Trou de Nippes, Haiti on a teacher education mission. Team members were Bev Robinson, Greta Frohbieter, Diane Dansereau, and myself.
We started the trip with a day in Port au Prince so that the three educators: Bev, Diane, and Greta could visit a few schools. During that time Fr. Abiade and I met with a representative of Fonkoze, microfinance firm, about incorporating their business training program into our upcoming vocational school.
The first day in Petit Trou was off to a great start with seminars and meetings which continued through the week. Bev and Diane, the French dream team, taught workshops to St. Paul’s teachers about French phonetics. Diane has written a book on the subject, which Bev has used and that is how they were connected. They felt that the four days of seminars were well received by the teachers and are hopeful that the work they began will continue throughout the year under the guidance Ketty the Principal of St. Paul’s School.
Greta spent her time working with Ketty, Jean Baptiste, and Fr. Abiade on planning for the future collaboration between CHP and St. Paul’s on educational development. I met with Fr. Abiade and worked on plans for the vocational school. I also got to meet with the two potential teachers of the sewing program and some of the students interested in registering for the program.
We did get to take one wonderful excursion to St. Jacque’s School in Lindor, about a 45 minute ride from St Paul’s. It was a highlight to see the active school in such a remote area. We were treated to a small tour of the area as they surveyed the land given to the church by the people of the community.
We were also able to photograph all the children of the school again for their annual school pictures. And throughout the trip, we enjoyed the excellent hospitality of Fr. Abiade and his brother-in-law, Norbert, who spent the week chauffeuring us and offering a wealth of cultural and historical insight to the visit.
Greta and I both feel so blessed to have brought along Diane as a new participant on the mission. First, she reminded us of the struggles of a first-time visitor to Haiti. It made us conscious of how important good orientation and support are during a mission. And most importantly, Diane brought fresh eyes to the program. She took photos that capture the everyday life in Petit Trou and she has come back and spoken to many around her about her experience. The whole CU Denver language community is now well aware of the work we do in Haiti! I think her evaluation of the trip as a new person is worth the read!
Reflections
By Greta Frohbieter
This year has been a time of reflection and renewal for the Colorado Haiti Project (CHP). With this in mind, I would like to give you an update on the successes and needs of the Konbit program, and share with you some reflections on the three education missions I have been a part of, including one in early November of this year.
The needs in Petit-Trou de Nippes are great and many, and our friends there have very little in the way of material goods. Here in Colorado, our homes and lives are filled with many more “things” than we need. This contrast, combined with our motivation to help the people of Haiti, results very naturally in a desire to send things to Petit-Trou and to bring as much as we can carry when we go on mission trips. As an example: on each of the education missions in 2008 and 2009, we hauled more than 50 large duffel bags—many filled with donated school supplies such as notebooks, crayons, chalk, and more.
During the 2011 Education Mission, we discussed the bringing of supplies from the U.S. to Haiti. Fr. Abiade told us that it is better to buy things in Haiti whenever possible, to support the local economy and also to avoid the difficulty involved in international transport. As we thought through this idea as a mission team and talked with members of local community, we gained more clarity about the wisdom of “buying local.” In the context of education, this would mean that items needed for the school would be bought by the St. Paul’s School administration from Haitian suppliers. There are several reasons why this approach is more helpful than bringing donated items from the U.S.:
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When we send things to Haiti from the U.S., we are taking away opportunity and income from the very people we want to help. When we give a notebook for free, a notebook vendor in Haiti loses a sale. While it is true that the situation is more complicated than this, the overall effect of inundating the community with material goods is suppression of the local economy.
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For reasons of climate, culture, economics, etc., things that are useful in the U.S. are not always useful in Haiti. For example, in 2008 we brought boxes of highlighters and “binder clamps” for the teachers. Though most American teachers (and students) put these items to great use, we found that teachers in Haiti do not have many written documents to highlight or piles of papers to clamp together.
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It is difficult or impossible to distribute donated items equitably. The drives we have held for school supplies have been fruitful, but resulted in odd quantities of various items. We cannot give things to some students and not others, nor can teachers easily store and access items intended to be used by the whole class or school. There was simply no practical way to put many of the donated school supplies to use at St. Paul’s.
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When we bring material goods into the campus, attention is shifted away from the work we are doing together and toward the things we have brought. This compromises CHP’s approach of working side-by-side with, and building capacity in, the community.
It is still helpful for us to bring items that are both truly needed and very difficult to acquire in Haiti. Toner cartridges for the school’s printer are one example: Fr. Abiade had driven all over Port-au-Prince looking for them to no avail, so he asked us to bring some down, which we did very easily. He also expressed interest in having us bring laptop computers; however, he and his staff are still working on an overall plan for the school’s computer lab, including the specific types and quantities of machines needed. When this plan is in place, CHP will solicit donations of equipment for the computer lab. Fr. Abiade will bring to CHP’s attention other needs for items to be brought from the U.S. In general, we should wait for specific requests from community leaders in Haiti rather than sending or bringing things we assume will be helpful.
In light of this situation, what should we do with our longing to give “stuff?” The answer is clear. The Colorado Haiti Project has worked for over 20 years to establish programs that are truly making progress toward a locally-sustainable community infrastructure: by training local women to be health workers in their communities; by starting a vocational center to help young people learn skills and trades; and of course, by helping to educate the local children to ever-higher levels. By directing our giving to CHP’s programs, we can each make a real difference in the Petit-Trou community.
CHP’s main education program is Konbit. Every penny donated to the Konbit sponsorship program goes into the operating fund of St. Paul’s School, and today Konbit provides for over half of the school’s budget (the remainder being paid for by the CHP Annual Fund). I have seen the effects of Konbit directly during each of the education missions in which I have participated: in well-trained teachers; in hundreds of children who are learning and being fed; in an added grade level each year; and in a school that is widely recognized as the best in the region. The schooling provided by St. Paul’s is already resulting in an overall increase in the education level in the community. More and more Petit-Trou residents know how to read labels and documents, calculate the cost of their food and the profit from the sale of their animals, and understand the signs posted in their community with instructions on cholera prevention measures. Young adults who have come through St. Paul’s School are now able to use their knowledge to help the school and the community as a whole. An increase in Konbit sponsorships will support further expansion of the school, so that in a few years St. Paul’s can provide an education through high school (it currently serves grades pre-K through 9).
Certainly, it is more fun to buy notebooks and crayons and imagine them in the hands of Haitian children than it is to write a check! Consider, however, that there are still not nearly as many Konbit sponsorships as there are children in the school, and that St. Paul’s operates on a shoestring budget. When you donate money to Konbit, your donation translates directly into more notebooks and textbooks for students, as well as expanded options for study. Donating to Konbit has the added benefit of supporting the local economy, which helps the children’s families in many ways. A Konbit student sponsorship of $300 per year provides for the education of a child, a daily meal, and basic health care. It is amazing what giving less than one dollar a day can do! I know that the Konbit Program is important to you, as you’ve chosen to partner with Colorado Haiti Project to support the community and students of St. Paul’s School. On behalf of the Colorado Haiti Project I would like to express our gratitude for this partnership, and as we do once annually, to ask you to renew your commitment with a charitable gift this season. Please do what you can to help us reach our goal of raising $100,000 for the Konbit program by the end of 2011.
I support the Colorado Haiti Project because I believe that empowering the people of Haiti, by building capacity and establishing locally sustainable programs, is the most effective approach to helping them build better lives for themselves and their country. CHP is an organization that takes the time and careful effort to understand what is truly needed, and to accept and embrace the people of Petit-Trou for who they are and what they desire for themselves. This is an ongoing process that can require difficult changes in mindset, such as shifting away from giving that “feels good” in the short term and toward supporting programs that help the community in the long term. I encourage you learn more about Haiti, Petit-Trou de Nippes, and the mission, vision, and programs of the Colorado Haiti Project. And to marvel at what Konbit dollars have already done, and imagine what more they can do!