Our group meets with the Principal of the Ecovillage school in April, 2019
Our Mission has sent more than 50 different people to the Ecovillages of Haiti over the past 8 years. The experience changes your perspective but not in the ways you might think.
You might expect that the poverty would be depressing. You might think that it would make you more grateful for the relative affluence and comfort in your own life. While there may be some of that, it's the personal connection to the people you travel with and the people you meet along the way that makes the largest impact. The difficulty of getting from place to place, the stay in stark accommodations and the language barrier make each day challenging. These hardships create an unshakable bond with your travel mates. There is also a connection with the people of Haiti. An understanding that they are people like us who are just trying to get by from day to day. They work to support their families. They want better lives for their children. They worship the true God each Sunday. They are different from us only in their circumstances which, in large part, are not under their control.
I yearn for another trip to Haiti. I want to visit the people that I have met and have come to know. I want to see the children at the school and assess their progress. There's a desire to "check in" to see what has changed and what has not changed.
We had planned a trip in March of 2020 but the pandemic forced us to postpone our plans. Today, there is civil unrest, political upheaval and economic hardship worse than the country has experienced for more than a decade. The desperation of the times and civil disorder in Haiti has resulted in a dramatic increase in criminal activity. While we would like to see our friends in Haiti, our hosts cannot guarantee our physical safety while traveling in the country. It is likely that this situation will not change until a new government can be formed in 2022 and there is no assurance that things will be better then either.
It is hard writing these words. Putting words to this situation forces us to confront the reality. Many have little hope for improvement in Haiti. But we can still make a huge difference in the lives of people we know by staying engaged. The children get a chance to learn because we stay engaged. We need each other.
Please continue to pray for the people of Haiti and give generously to support our mission.