I was so happy to be able to travel overseas for the first time in two years! I had never been to Haiti so I was pumped to experience something completely new. Many people have asked me what I was doing while I was there. Basically, there was a changing in leadership so I travelled there to participate in and help in the transition from one leader to the other. Nelson, the newest country lead coach for Haiti, was there to meet our Haitian staff and local heroes for the first time. We toured each program, all of which are schools. We were able to distract the kids from their school work just long enough to hear their practice, their English and or sing us a song or two.
I could blab on for days about all the cool things I was able to experience there, but I won't bore you. I'll just explain something that has been on my heart since leaving.
For those of you who don't know, Haiti is a country where voodoo and witchcraft practices pervade all of society. Some areas of the country are more prone to practicing voodoo and or witchcraft than others. According to our country director Semira, if you ask any Haitian where the most witchcraft and voodoo takes place they'll tell you Coupon. Coupon is the "hot bed" or "capital" of these dark practices. HT005, our newest program in Haiti is in the center of Coupon .
Think about that for a minute, an American Christian organization, working in the center of the voodoo world. The community didn't exactly throw us a welcome party.
Luckily over the course of years the community has slowly but surely opened up to what our local heroes are doing there. Let me tell you, our local heroes in Coupon are not only faithful Christians, but they fiercely love the children of their community, it's truly moving. Something that sets great leaders apart is how their followers interact with them. Our local hero in Coupon, Immadue, is dedicated to and loved by his students. He spoils them with candy and is incredibly resourceful when it comes to getting information on the kids. This man, I kid you not, is Superman. He sacrifices for these kids and they look up to him because of it. Those among many others are the amazing things about our HT005 program. Here is Immadue (center) directing the students in a song for us!
There are, however, the ever present realities of poverty and witchcraft. Immadue , our local hero in Coupon, was asked about the diet of the children in the community. Immadue informed us that more often than not the children in the community and those who attend our learning center and school only eat once a day. He even said this meal isn't made until around 4 pm. That means our students are coming to school, listening to their teachers and attempting to learn on a completely empty stomach. I don't know about you, but I need breakfast... lunch... dinner... plus like 3 snacks a day.
Have you ever woken up in the morning with your stomach feeling like it's eating itself because you're so hungry? It's growling so much that it hurts? These children feel like that all day and night.
It's a goal of VisionTrust and VisionTrust Haiti to have feeding programs at ALL of our programs worldwide and in Haiti. Unfortunately, but unsurprisingly food takes funds. Right now, each Haiti program feeds its students one meal on the days that they meet. In order to "mature" the feeding programs in Haiti, the office must have more income. That's why I have increased my fundraising goal to $400 luckily, I made my previous goal so I only need $195 to reach this new goal. I don't want these kiddos to only eat at 4 pm. Please help Immadue, Semira (country director) and the rest of our dedicated Haitian staff support and love on their students.
Check this link to give towards our Haiti programs:
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