office of the dean

Meet two HU alumni in Haiti

An essay from the Dean from the April 2011 Academe

During Spring Break at Huntington University, I traveled with nine students and two faculty members to Croix des Bouquets, Haiti. Croix des Bouquets is north and east of Port-au-Prince off the main road leading to the Dominican Republic. The purpose of our team was two-fold: to construct an orphanage and to film the experience.

Part of the team worked with Christian Service International (CSI) to help finish up construction on an orphanage in order to expand services in the community. The work was tedious, dirty and very tiring, but we made good progress. CSI is hoping to move 20 girls, ages 2-12, into the new facility this month. The new orphanage will also provide housing for the house parents and the full-time workers. The rest of the team worked with Dr. Lance Clark, associate professor of digital media arts film and communications, to film some of their stories. The goal will be for the students to develop video footage into several different short documentaries.

After years of political corruption and the devastation of natural resources, the country of Haiti is hanging on by a thread. In January 2010, Haiti was impacted by a severe earthquake that left more than 200,000 people dead. Communities were destroyed and tent cities were erected to house the dislocated people to meet the temporary need. After more than a year, however, many of these tent cities are still intact, and for the most part, there is no plan to transition these temporary communities into permanent housing.

It was more than the earthquake last year that contributed to Haiti’s woes. Haiti has been exploited by many different political entities over the years. In his book “Uses of Haiti,” Paul Farmer describes how it has been a difficult road to travel since its declaration of freedom from the French in 1804. France, Spain and the United States took an interest in the country over several decades but often for selfish and corrupt reasons. As a result, it was difficult for Haiti to make any progress. For more than 200 years, Haiti has tried to pull itself up out of the mire of poverty, but with little success. The earthquake exacerbated the situation and added another level of issues to many of the existing problems.

There are also signs of real hope in this very difficult part of the world. Anne Lamott, author and speaker, states, “Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come.” We visited two missions that are “showing up” and helping Haiti to see the possibilities. CSI has been in Haiti since the 1970s. Since that time and continuing today, they have established a medical clinic; built an orphanage, a school and a church; drilled several wells to bring good, clean water to the community; and developed housing for several of their Haitian employees. They are also working with a tent city to provide medical care, food and other basic necessities.

Mission of Hope is another organization we visited. Brad and Vanessa Johnson, 1993 and 1994 Huntington University graduates, moved to Haiti full-time in 1998. Their vision is also to bring hope to Haiti. This hope has taken the form of schools, hospital and medical clinics, micro businesses, food distribution, and an orphanage. Mission of Hope employs about 250 construction and support staff and distributes more than one million meals each month. Of particular interest was a housing project Mission of Hope launched. The new homes have been platted in such a way that every two homes has an outdoor toilet and shower and a small plot for a garden. The homes are made of brick and reinforced concrete and painted bright colors.

Haiti will not be transformed over night, but the seeds of hope are being sown. It was exciting for us to be a part of God’s work of transformation. I pray the stories told in the films will help organizations such as CSI and Mission of Hope to be even more effective in publicizing their needs to a broader audience.