Promise for Haiti

January 2011 Haiti Trip Presentation

Marlene, Shubert, and I along with 9 other God-sent people from the Monmouth and Pitman Churches of Christ in S. Jersey returned from Haiti last Saturday. The trip was a GREAT success!! Thank you all for your prayers and support for the work of this trip!
So many of you donated sewing materials, toothbrushes and toothpaste, glasses, and other necessities and monetary funds which were used to touch many lives and get THEA's education programs off to a really strong start!

We were witness to the evidence of your prayers and support! It was amazing how much we were able to accomplish in just 8 days!! For the sake of time, I'll just list the highlights now.

1. The main focus of our trip was to begin 3 education programs especially for the secondary students in the community for them to have skills which would enable them to support their families and communities upon their graduation. The 30 secondary students were divided into 3 areas according to their interests: sewing training, gardening training, and medical education.
2. The Sewing Program is now off and running! Lynne, an avid sewer from the Pitman Church, partnered with a local tailor; and they worked together to teach the students basic sewing skills and how to use the sewing machines. The students were so proud of what they made this week and were eager to continue the classes. So the local tailor and Lynne worked together to design an 18 month curriculum for this on-going class. This tailor has now become THEA's Sewing Program Coordinator- signing our contract to make it official- and has been continuing to teach the sewing classes after we left for 3 days a week.
3. THEA’s Gardening Training Program also got off to a great start: I partnered with our Agriculture Training Coordinator (ATC) to teach the students how to prepare the land, make and use a compost and organic fertilizer noting the nutritional benefits of their use; and emphasizing the overall purpose for the program, that is, to care for the nutritional needs of the community. We further partnered with a local agronomist who is enthusiastic about providing further training to our Agriculture Training Coordinator, sharing his resources, and helping to teach the on-going classes. This partnership with the agronomist is an exciting new development for THEA!
4. The 4 nurses on the team were responsible for the students who want to continue their education and become health professionals. The students learned about blood pressure, nutrition, and community health issues such as cholera, malaria, and typhoid. They were creative in their teaching, using skits and story-telling. Primary and secondary students at a local school were also taught about personal and community health including oral hygiene. And toothbrushes, toothpaste, and soap were given to each student.
5. The sewing and agriculture programs easily lent themselves to be certificate programs. However, we needed something more concrete and ongoing for the students on the medical track. Then the large local hospital where we stayed invited us to partner with them to begin a volunteer program at the hospital for our students. We were so excited! But then the administrator, knowing that THEA is focused on providing education opportunities, suggested that we make it more of an on-the-job training program and that we could put a student in each of the nursing, laboratory, x-ray, and dental departments!! Amazing!
6. Of course as a therapist, when I asked about rehabilitation indicating we wish some of our students would be able to study physical therapy, they said that the hospital had just received funds for building a rehabilitation center, complete with a prosthetic clinic, further indicating that if we returned this time next year, it should be operational! Can you believe it? There was one opened door right after another!
7. While the majority of the group worked in the community, 3 of our nurses worked several days at the hospital conducting training sessions for the nurses and medical students in CPR, IV meds, and understanding and treating sexually transmitted diseases.
8. Also, with us for much of the week was one of the Haitian students who worked with our group after the earthquake. He is the son of a minister and we are sponsoring him to complete secondary school then go on to medical school. He served as a translator for our nurses as they worked in the hospital as well as for a group of visiting urologists from the States. Having him around was a blessing to our group and was a great opportunity for him to learn so much about medical practice!
9. Shubert, along with all of his administrative responsibilities, was able to address several mental health concerns within the community. And I was also able to meet with several people with rehabilitation needs.
10. Last but not least, we wanted to tell you about the program for the younger children. Most of these younger children are the ones you’ve been hearing about and are the ones we are supporting to go to school. Diana and her three children, Sarah, Claire, and Lucas and their friend Callan did an amazing job teaching, playing with, and just loving up on the kids! They prepared great Bible stories, crafts, skits, and songs for the kids for the entire week! The kids had a great time and learned so much from them!
11. Other great news... Meals were able to be provided for all of the children and their families as well as our teachers and translators for the week and beyond. The accommodations and meals where we stayed in the hospital dorms were more than sufficient; None of us got sick and each of us had God-given energy and strength for the work of each day. We were blessed through our work and also through our nightly "processing meetings" and devotionals when we worshipped and prayed together each night. Also, Shubert preached the sermon at church on Sunday and 7 people were baptized in the river that afternoon! It was such a faith-building time for everyone! In all of these new beginnings, we see God at work in Haiti. And through your prayers and donations, you are part of God’s work there. And we thank you!