Reflections from Haiti #1

I just returned from a research/mission trip to Haiti. I spent 12 days traveling the country and visiting the poorest most desperate place in the Northern Hemisphere.

(picture Citie Soleil)

“Haiti is a 2-hour flight from Miami. The United Nations calls Haiti a “silent emergency”, noting its vital statistics rival those of sub-Saharan Africa. Haiti has the third-highest rate of hunger in the world, behind only Somalia and Afghanistan. Its people have less access to clean water and sanitation than residents of Ethiopia or Sierra Leone. Its malnutrition rate is higher than Angola’s, and life expectancy is lower in Haiti than in Sudan. A greater percentage of Haitians live in poverty than citizens of the war-ravaged Congo. By every measure, Haiti’s 8 million inhabitants are living in a state of prolonged and profound horror”. -- Asger Leth, Video journalist

The level of poverty here is indescribable and overwhelming. Everywhere you look, you see orphan children hawking or begging in the streets. Everywhere you look, you see people attempting to squeeze out an existence in order to gain a few Haitian dollars to purchase a bit of food. Because of the 80% unemployment rate and deeply embedded corruption of government, police and businesses, the people are held hostage to an unrelenting cycle of hunger, diseased water sources, and lack of supports and resources. Yet so many of the Haitian people I met were gracious and friendly. Although a few made disparaging remarks and gestures as we traveled e.g. “Blanc go home” (expletive removed)most embraced us thanking us for coming and asking us please to return again and be a part of bringing hope to Haiti.

The worst of the places was Citie Soleil. The entire area resembles a war zone. Buildings are crumbling and burnt. Most buildings are scarred with bullet holes. Our driver was reluctant to take us into the centre of the city and as darkness began to fall was begging us to leave. This was the city that just a few months earlier was filled with rioting and violence because of the rice crisis. We attended a church service here. As you pull in front of the ‘building’ you must first step across an open sewer canal to gain access to the church. The building itself is composed solely of four cement brick walls. For two years, the church was abandoned because it was too dangerous for the congregants to gather here. They have just recently returned. You are struck by the imprints of machine gun spray at the front of the building as you enter the doorway. There is no roof. They have constructed a tarp of sorts, composed of various bits of plastic attached together haphazardly and held tentatively aloft by a centre pole. The building was filled with about 150 children, women and men dressed in their finest, who had been waiting for some time for our arrival. This is a United Brethren in Christ church, the same denomination that I help pastor here in Ontario. We took our places and the music and worship began. It was some of the most beautiful music I have ever heard. I hope to post a short video of it shortly, on this website. It transformed that bullet ridden, shell of building with its rocky uneven floor into one of the most incredible cathedrals I’ve ever had the privilege to been in. The people prayed and preached their hearts out. They thanked God for His work in their lives, His provision and protection. They sang out in beautiful Creole voices calling God to be the hope and salvation of Haiti. The music went on and on into the evening. All while our driver is getting more and more insistent that we leave immediately. The service winds down and we are quickly ushered out to the waiting vehicle and the driver races out of town. His worry is that carnival has begun and the revelers have a habit of getting out of control and randomly attacking vehicles – especially those carrying white foreigners. We made it out of Citie Soleil without incident.

Driving through the city it is hard not to think that God has forgotten this place. The smells, sights and sounds assault and haunt your senses. The fear and hopelessness here are tangible realities. However, the thought struck me as our bus zipped rapidly through the rough and rutted hard packed streets, that God has not forgotten, in fact He is pleading for the world to remember. He is calling me to remember and be part of His hope and light. His people are here. They wrestle with life to survive. The problem is not that God has forgotten, it is that we have forgotten that these ones are our family, our brothers and sisters in Christ and we must remember we have a responsibility and a mandate to remember and act.

Anyway I was just thinking,

Neil