This time last year, we were celebrating Easter in a church in Hinche, Haiti. It was a blessing to travel to Haiti with a group of 9 Americans focused on working with Haitian partners to sustain a school in the Central Plateau. Personal bonds were forged with our Haitian friends and our traveling companions. The experience was deeply impactful and leaves us in a state where Haiti is never far from our thoughts.
Our travel delegation to Haiti in 2019
Plans to return to Haiti in 2020 have been scrapped amid the pandemic. Our friends and supporters ask us how Haiti is fairing in the midst of the pandemic. The simple answer is that the health impact is small for now. To date, Haiti has reported 58 cases of COVID-19 and 4 deaths. But the Dominican Republic has been hit hard and a new story published in the New York Times outlines the threat of laid off Haitians in the DR bringing the virus across the border.
Experts say that no country will be spared in this pandemic. Neither warm weather nor limited travel by foreigners will prevent some level of sickness and death. In a country with poor public health infrastructure and data collection, we'll probably never know how many people in Haiti contract the virus and how many die from it.
COVID-19 poses new challenges. How do you practice social distancing in a country that has no infrastructure to support a "stay at home" policy? How do you care for contagious people in a country with too few hospital beds, limited medical equipment and little capacity to produce medicines? This is different than past disasters (like the earthquake of 2010) because foreign assistance is unlikely when so-called "first world" countries are struggling to fight the pandemic and most NGOs have pulled out of the country. Haiti is left to go it alone.
This past year has been tough on the people of Haiti. A country that is no stranger to hardship, the past year has seen economic volatility, food insecurity and political unrest. There is little trust in the government. More than half of Haitians live "hand to mouth". It is unlikely that the cycle of subsistence living and dependence on foreign aid will end any time soon.
We follow the news in Haiti, we communicate with our friends who live there and we continue to work with our partners to seek ways to help. They are a resilient people who are no stranger to disasters both natural and man-made.
Some of the over 300 children getting an education at the school we helped to build.
In midst of all this, a truth emerges that families survive, children grow, and families continue to hope for a brighter future for their children. That is why education continues to be a priority. Education is still the single biggest factor in lifting people out of material poverty.
Some of the parents we met with during our visit in 2019.
Our mission to help the people of the Central Plateau has seen many successes. Construction of 9 classrooms and a refectory are complete. For 5 years, children who might have otherwise been denied education have been taught by dedicated, professional teachers. The school has been recognized for its quality and has been nationalized. Our support and their determination has brought these successes. But current hardships put the future in doubt.
Our unwavering plan is for a self-sustaining school that is run by Haitians and supported by Haitians. Turmoil in the government has slowed progress toward public funding for the school. Our agricultural initiatives have been thwarted by drought, economic recession and other complications. Without a trip to visit with our partners, our planning has stalled. For now, we continue to support the school financially and pray that we will be able to resume our work soon.
As we sang together in Creole last Easter, “Nap marche -Na Lee-mu-yeah Bon Dye-a.” which roughly translates to "We are marching in the light of God.".
Let’s keep marching with our partners, virtually for the present, through the COVID-19 Pandemic and through prolonged crisis in governance in Haiti.
Thank you for your creative thoughts and solidarity.
Contributed by Chris Calia & Bailey Green