HAITI YOUTH SERVICE TRIP 2008

The Women's Federation for World Peace, USA partnered with the International Relief Friendship Foundation (IRFF) to sponsor two weeks of service and learning in Haiti from June 15 – 30. Fourteen students and volunteers from WFWP and the University of South Florida were joined by 23 others, including representatives from the Coalition of Haitian Doctors.

Haitian native Evelyne Drake has been working to set up this Summer Service Project for the past three years. (See WFWP-ENews for Spring 2008). She worked with national and regional WFWP leaders, students and teachers at the University of South Florida, Tampa, as well as with Rev. Theodule Paul, a personal friend working in Haiti.

The group arrived in Port-au-Prince on June 15th and was greeted by Rev. Paul and many of his young church members. Introductions were made and the Haitians entertained their guests with songs and skits.

The following day, the visitors went to local schools to see what they could do to improve them. They decided to focus on painting the Antoine Georges Izmery Secondary School.

Dressed in IRFF and WFWP t-shirts, they began their task on Tuesday morning, June 17. The gate and the school walls had to be scraped and washed before the painting could begin. That part of the job was finished on Wednesday, so they spent the rest of the week touring. They met with the mayor of a suburb of Port-au-Prince, and they toured the St. Lourdes private hospital and orphanage with Dr. Marie Josephe Rene, a WFWP representative in Haiti.

On Saturday, June 21, the enthusiastic visitors boarded a public bus and traveled to Haiti's second-largest city, Cap-Haitian, located in the north on the Atlantic Ocean. As they looked out their bus windows, the natural beauty of Haiti was on full display. They rode over high mountains; saw banana plantations, mango and coconut trees, avocados and lush foliage of all kinds.

In Cap-Haitian, the group received a visit from Mayor Fritz Joseph and his wife, Linda. Together with the mayor and the Coalition of Haitian Doctors, the group leaders organized and planned activities for their next three days in Cap-Haitian.

The Americans were told about the Mayor's plan for the city which included building a covered market with a dormitory for vendors to stay overnight, because they have to travel long distances. Based on their relationship with Mayor Joseph, WFWP is planning to partner in the effort to solve some of the problems of Cap-Haitian. One problem of great concern to the mayor is the lack of vehicles for the collection and transportation of garbage out of the city. WFWP leaders promised to seek donations and to try to get trucks from the U.S.

Then the mayor and his family took the group on a tour of Cap-Haitian and the surrounding areas. They drove to the nearby town of Milot to visit historical sights, including the Citadel, an impressive fortress built in the nineteenth century.

They also went to the Sans Souci Palace, the site of victorious battles for Haiti's independence. They visited L'Habitation Labadie, one of the most famous beach resorts of the Caribbean, as well as Trou Du Nord, where they witnessed the celebration of the patron saint, Saint John the Baptist.

That day was capped off when the group was treated to a delicious meal as Mayor Joseph's guests at a famous local restaurant, La Kaye.

On Monday, June 23, the visitors worked at the University Hospital of Cap-Haitian, visiting many of the wards and distributing toothbrushes and toothpaste to all the patients. In one ward, they met a lady who insisted on explaining the recent misfortunes of her son, who had been shot in the head and leg and could not get the medical help he needed in Cap-Haitian. At the end of the day, Evelyne told Mayor Joseph about the situation, and he arranged for the young man to be transported by a United Nations helicopter to Port-au-Prince. This was a dramatic example of ways in which the group was able to help the residents of Haiti.

According to Evelyne, "Mayor Joseph took care of us personally. He made sure that we had the best experiences in Cap-Haitian. He even rented the bus to take us back to Port-au-Prince and called us every two hours along the way to ensure of our safe journey back home. He treated us like royalty. We cannot thank him enough."

Back in Port-au-Prince, everyone enjoyed a day of rest on Wednesday, June 25. Then the next day, they got back to work and completed their painting project on the high school. Members of the local community came to help, so they all completed the building together. The students will likely be amazed in September when they go back to their brightly painted school.

On Friday, June 27, the group had an audience with the Chief Justice of Haiti's Supreme Court. They learned about Haitian law as compared to U.S. law. Then they visited Haiti's Parliament, the Ministry of Culture, and the Institute of Ethnology, a university which focuses on social sciences. At the university, WFWP members handed out flyers supporting pure love and abstinence before marriage, and they met many students who were aware of the ills of their society and yearned to do something to solve them.

Later that evening, the group enjoyed an authentic Haitian dinner as the guests of Dr Marie Josephe Rene, WFWP representative in Haiti. The meal included goat meat, Creole rice, plantains, mango juice and other traditional Haitian foods. On Saturday June 28, they visited the Haitian Academy, founded by Dr Marie-Pologne Jacques Rene (http://www.haitianacademy.net). She told the story of how God had guided her to that location to build a clinic, primary, secondary and medical schools for the benefit of the young people.

Since their return, the WFWP team leaders have already started planning for a project in Haiti next summer, with more students and volunteers. In describing the adventure, Evelyne Drake said, "Haiti is truly a suffering country but we found hope in the eyes of its young people. It is through programs such as this that the foundation is laid for the future." You can reach Evelyne at: edrake82@yahoo.com for more information.