A Journey of the Heart - At Home in Haiti

Our Team stayed in the home of Jeannette & Chris– the founders of Children In Need Haitian Project & School. Chris is Haitian born and Jeannette was born and raised in Lancaster County in Pennsylvania. They married and had one son, Sean – who is now approximately 16 years old. 

Our hosts were so gracious having all of us stay with them for duration of our mission trip.  It was such an honor to live with this Godly family, and continually hear how they responded to the calling of the Lord to move their family from the US to Haiti, their work in Haiti, the Children In Need Haitian Project, and their vision for so much more.  Theirs was truly a mission of love. 

A few years after they had moved, Chris began to expand their home – not only for their family’s use – but to enable groups to stay with them when coming to Haiti to work alongside of them.  This also gave employment opportunities to Haitian workers working with Chris to literally expand and build their home.

In Haiti there is no credit system at all – either you own land and slowly build a home, or possibly with some assets from selling a home or bringing funds from outside of Haiti – you may be able to start building a home.  Most Haitians work years and years, saving as much money as possible – then purchase supplies with cash, and either with family members or by hiring laborers begin building their home.  Due to the lack of any credit opportunities – they usually use all their money to start the foundation of their home and begin to work again, saving more money to continue building their home.  Because of this, most either live in small 1 room homes, or take many years, sometimes up to 25-30 to finally build a larger home – which will be used for future generations of their family.

Many who had either completed their homes or were years into the process, lost everything after the earthquake of 2010 – leaving them with no home, no funding, no opportunity to borrow any money to rebuild.  So the cycle began again – working, saving to put aside, building – knowing that years later they may not even have their home complete during their lifetime.

The home we were blessed to stay in is magnificent!  But I believe what made it even more amazing – was that all the work was done by hand, hiring Haitian people, giving opportunities for work, with a vision for the future.  The stone walls around the home, as well as the stone walls in the home (especially the dining room) were all handmade, hand cut and laid.  The massive doors, at the entrances as well as into each room, were handmade as well.

There was a garden area where much of the vegetables consumed for any meal were grown.  Anything else needed would be purchased at “Market”.  These were all stored in an area to be used as meals were prepared throughout the week. 

There were massive banana trees outside my window - growing in abundance as a major staple of food.  There were also avocado and mango trees - which we feasted on each night with dinner.  The more self sufficient a home can run, the better.

While we were there, Chris proudly showed us his newest project.  Behind his house, there was a guest house being built – with sleeping quarters as well as a conference room.  Once again, this project is giving employment opportunities to local people.  Chris has a vision of his home continually being used to serve the Lord in many ways.

Once we arrived, they took us around their home, showing us where each of us would be sleeping.  Some had beds of their own, others shared beds.  Some had air mattresses in rooms with others – but all were given a comfortable place to rest our weary heads after each day's travels, hiking, working, and ministering to the people of Haiti.  On one hand it looked like a beautiful bed and breakfast Inn set in the beauty of the Mountains of Haiti.  But reality hit when most hours the electricity went off – and although they had a generator – they used it sparingly to not overuse the batteries and spend unnecessary money.  Many times our bedtime was determined by the lack of lights.  Water is such a precious resource in Haiti – so learning to conserve every drop was a must.  My “showers” were 75% cold – 25% cool.  With water being pumped during certain hours and then filling buckets – pouring cupfuls sparingly over myself, washing quickly and rinsing even quicker.

 

Each night we returned to a cooked Haitian meal – prepared for us by loving Haitian women, and served by a young man.

Watching each of them tend to the home, making sure all our needs were met, with pleasant, sweet smiles, truly blessed us.  Each served with love and care – helping us to feel truly at home.  Our meals were always made from scratch, no instant, no microwaves, no take out!  Fresh eggs, breads, fruit & ceral each morning.  We had a variety of rice and beans with each dinner – always accompanied by a different sauce to be poured over it.  Fresh vegetables – plantains made in a variety of ways – even into porridge.  Yucca – White Sweet Potatoes – amazing.  So many more delectable meals – healthy, hearty and satisfying. 

And the coffee – Oh the coffee!  Many of us are avid coffee drinkers – and a good cup in the morning was a necessity.  And many times after a long days work to help us stay alert after dinner, as well.  One day we had the privilege of seeing coffee made from the green coffee beans -yes green!  They start out green – and aren’t roasted already – imagine that!  We watched as they were roasted over a fire outdoors – slowly changing color – green, tan, brown, red, black.  Each phase being a different strength.  The whole area outdoors had the fragrant aroma of roasted coffee.  Then small amounts of the roasted beans were placed in a wooden mortar and pestle – half my height – and crushed by hand. 

After being sifted and the process repeated for all the roasted beans – it was time to brew. No need for Dunkin Donuts, Starbucks, or Seattle’s Best. This was coffee!

When our entire team gathered in the dining room – it looked quite a bit different from the beautiful room we first saw upon our arrival.  But it was filled with life, stories, prayers, laughter and love.   

Each night we met in the sitting room with our Pastor, Mark and his wife Annabelle, for prayer and to debrief with our team.  It was a time for us to review our days work – share how privileged we were to be able to touch so many lives – and especially how the people of Haiti were touching our lives.  We prayed and shared about the many difficult emotions we were also dealing with after seeing the poverty and lack of care the government had for its people.  Then we would review our itinerary and plans for the next day’s activities.  Confirming what our departure time would be – being it took anywhere from 1 to 3 hours to get anywhere we were going - sometimes leaving as early as 5:30 am for our journey in the Tap Tap.

Rising was never a problem for me – since I had a personal alarm clock outside my window – which crowed loud and bold most mornings beginning at 3:00 am – then again at 5:00 am and continued into the morning hours.  After a few days, I saw the first crow as the beginning of my snooze alarm – giving me a little more time before I had to actually rise.

"Our Home” was a serene, safe, loving place to come back to, rest and be refreshed.  We were able to be ready for each day’s activities.  This home was filled with the love of the Lord – empowering each of us to continue on this amazing journey.