Haiti Trip 2017

My travel to Port-au-Prince has been set and I am heading to Haiti a bit early this year; I normally go in early April, this year I will be there in early March. My trip is also a little shorter this year as I think I can accomplish what I would like in a shorter time and any money I can save by shortening my trip I can use toward the work by Haitians in Haiti for the children that live at the Source of Light Center.

Life Skills Training/Mentors

Last year my wife and I hired two life skills trainers / mentors to work with the older children at the center to help prepare them for independent living after they reach the age of majority and must, by law, leave the center. Over the past year Stephanie and Wilkins have been meeting with the children and teaching them lessons on health, food preparation, cleaning, transportation, and shopping. 

While I am in Haiti this year, I will be discussing this program with Stephanie and Wilkins to understand how things went from their perspective as well as do some planning for the next year. I still feel this is a critical component in preparing of the children of the center as I am still very much concerned about the readiness of the children for life after the center.

I would like to extend a thank you to those individuals and groups that have helped to prayerfully and financially support this effort and I would like to welcome others who would like to support this effort in the next year to contact me at sourcedelumierehaiti@gmail.com. This program costs $300 USD per month to continue and additionally funds to expand the number of training hours.

Joining Forces

I feel that there is a lot to learn from many sources when looking to support the children of the center. This year I plan to be in more contact with the Baptist General Association of Virginia  (BGAV) who are a primary sponsor of the center. One of the reasons for the timing of my trip this year is so that I overlap with representatives from BGAV who will be in PaP for board meetings and planning sessions with the Pastor.

Additionally, I would like to coordinate with other group homes in Haiti that have or plan to have life skill lessons for their children so that we can leverage lessons learned, material, and planning where appropriate. 

Keeping Up with the Children

While supporting the children with programs for their future is important, spending time with the children is just as important. It always amazes me when I visit the children that they remember my name as I am just one of many people they see throughout the year. And it is not that I am unique as they remember the names of everyone that has spent time with them. They ask about people they haven't seen for a couple of years and I have seen them have these same interactions with people from other visiting groups.

Two years ago we started capturing a photo of each child on every visit to Haiti. This was so that we could have a record of each child as they get older and allow people to familiarize themselves with the children before they visited. My intent is to continue this effort and capture a portrait of each child this year. It feels a little like picture day at school when we do this.