Our team with our ministry partners of HAPI

Haiti Blog

Before our reflection on our journey to an amazing and wondrous place, we would like to begin by thanking each and every one of you for your prayers and support from the time it was in the creative thinking stages until now. We were and continued to be blessed by all of you and by God. Thank you.

For the thirteen of us that came to Mizak, Haiti we experienced God in many amazing ways and were deeply touched. Through joy, hope, love, fellowship, and play we found a common and special connection with the people in Mizak. The Haitians demonstrated amazing kindness, gentleness, patience, and love, and while we came to share and serve, they too shared, served, and taught us many things. Our connection during worship, play, and work made us aware of the sacred place we share with all and with God, especially as praise, thankfulness, peace, and love are raised to God. We were absorbed by “the warm, natural, unspoiled Haitian people” and were blessed by their amazing gifts, including by not limited to music, handiwork, and service.In our daily walks and journeys to the clinics, we found ourselves in “fields of dreams” among the mountainous region of Haiti. We were surrounded by corn fields, banana, grapefruit, breadfruit, and avocado trees, mountains, and blue skies. Red paths crisscrossing the land brought people from all around as if by magic. However, while the people and the land are gorgeous, we are reminded that the 35,000 people in Mizak have no electricity, no television, no telecommunication system (except some with cell phones), no plumbing, and no water filtration system. Seventy percent are peasants living under the poverty level of less than US$1 per day, and the majority of households have no measurable income and rely solely on barter and trade, with agriculture being the main and unreliable source of livelihood.

Our activities in Haiti were an extension of HAPI (Haitian Artisans for Peace International). HAPI encourages creativity, promotes gender equality, creates economic opportunity, and growing healthy communities, with an emphasis on creating a community of peace with justice. HAPI has evolved into a holistic network of activities that reach the Mizak community including microcredit, Peace Pals (a program for children and adolescents on Saturdays), Communities of Shalom, community based health care, and housing reconstruction. (For more information visit http://www.haitianartisans.com/).

Our activities

Community Based Health Services ~ Our Nurse Practitioners Vicki Williams and Jennifer Lakowsky Brueckner, along with the assistance with fellow teammates, translators, and others, saw approximately 360 patients over two full days and two half days. While we went to serve, we were blessed by those sent by God to be a blessing to us. We were blessed by those who came by to greet us and then stayed without hesitation to help interpret (Carol and Gregory), and for the kind woman who while needing treatment brought us something to eat. (Jennifer and Vicki assist patients at a school converted to a clinic. They saw over 200 people in two days.)

We were amazed by the love and care the people have for their community and by the outreach of support for each other, including people carrying a woman from a surrounding area to get her treatment.

“On a cliff, in a beautiful setting, in a school providing medical care to patients from 11 days to 100 years old, nothing could make me happier. I love what I do, especially when it’s in service for the Lord!”

Dental Clinic ~ Our dental clinic was the first in the region. It was led by two amazing dentists, Sarah Hummel and Michael Maher, with the assistance of fellow teammates who assisted in procedures, in-take, and sterilization and provided comfort to patients. Each person demonstrated enthusiasm and effort, treating each person with the best possible care; and the Haitians waited patiently to see a dentist (or nurse).

A teammate wrote, “I saw God in the comfort provided by the dental assistants to our patients thru a smile, a gentle touch, or just holding their hand.”

(Dr. Michael Maher and Bob Lassalle. One of many dental patients who received dental care)

Sewing Clinic ~ The HAPI center is for those around to teach woman skills so they can be independent and create jobs. The women desire to learn more and were excited that Vicki Roussel and Estelle Tees taught them new skills to make their work easier. Our team saw God in the women who worked diligently to create their own designs for stamping and the joy and passion they had in creating something new that would bless someone else. God was also at work in Eddie and Francoise who work with the artisans daily with joy, helpfulness, positivity, and patience.

(Jacqueline, one of the HAPI artisans learns a new skill of stamping.)

Peace Pals ~ On Saturday we worked with, played with, and enjoyed the Peace Pal staff and children. While we provided arts, teaching on dental health, and teaching on God through dramas the children participated in (and were written by Ted Desforges), we were blown away by the joy we received from each one of them.

A few of the special people we met along the way

Pastor Paul Prevost, his wife Aimable, and their three children ~ Pastor Paul had a dream and vision for peace in his community and is living this out. He is a source of strength for the community. His wife Aimable is a strong, faithful, kind, compassionate mother, wife, and friend.
Gertrude ~ A woman we met a long our journey who we visited at her home. She demonstrates amazing faith and love for others, in spite of her paralysis. She continues to pray for us, and we will continue to pray for her.

Gabrielle and Ciceline blessed us with their smiles, their welcoming hearts, and their love towards us. They have amazing spirits, and it was amazing to laugh, sing, and dance with them as well as all those who gathered on the porch every evening.

Our Team Mates ~ Our team was amazing, and each person was a blessing from God whom I personally learned so much from. They all expressed love in all their actions, each person going above and beyond and filling in when needed without being asked. They were full of joy and love for each other and God.

There are many others whom each of us could name and continue to carry in our hearts. We continue to pray for them and for all Haitians.