Exploding A Moment

The sweltering Haitian afternoon churns like boiling pea soup with the cheers and jeers of a dangerously invested spectator section, as well as the frenzied shouted commentary of a seasoned commentator normally known as the head nanny. The players, faces squinted and shiny with perspiration, bolt across the patchy field in striking red and navy soccer uniforms generously donated by Nike. They play with incredible speed and finesse, and some may have gone professional in a more conducive environment. The walls that enclose the stadium are not those of an actual stadium; they are the tall stone and cement walls that seal the orphanage safely in from the chaos of downtown Port-au-Prince. Spectators from the outside world perch atop them to watch the excitement unfold below them. It’s a nail-biter of a tournament; neck-and-neck, orphanage-against-orphanage, they play with sheer zeal and the crowd reciprocates.

(This was my original exploded moment, which I neglected to post and then became the introduction paragraph to my article about Albert)

Feature Article Plan

For my feature article, I’d like to tell the individual story of one of the kids at New Life Children’s Home, the orphanage with which I do most of my volunteer work. I’d like to share the story of either Louvens, a four-year-old boy who was left to starve in the mountains while his mother cared for the rest of his siblings, or the story of Albert, a seventeen-year old deaf boy with a severe heart condition who also formerly lived in a remote mountain village. I have already shared much about the reasons why I love to work in Haiti and what the main issues and needs are there, but with this article, I want to share more about the stories of the actual and specific people I have met and worked with during my time in Haiti. Stories like these make up the meat of the reasons why I am so interested in helping out in Haiti; they are close to my heart.

Possible Article Topics

Articles that would interest members of the Haitian relief community include but are not limited to articles about natural disasters in Haiti, new relief projects in Haiti, interviews with Haitian individuals about their current state of living/accomplishments/difficulties/families, and profiles on Haitian relief workers and their experiences in Haiti.

Haiti Quick Facts - Living Situation

- The population of Haiti is 9,801,664.

- Haitian life expectancy at birth is 62.5 years.

- 52.9% of the Haitian population is literate.

- 18.6% of Haitian children under the age of 5 are underweight.

- There is 1 doctor for every 4,000 people in Haiti.

- 80% of Haiti's population is below the poverty line.

These facts, taken from the CIA World Factbook website, trace the outlines of the major issue that is Haiti's current state. These issues, among others (such as the presence of HIV/AIDS and lack of housing), are what the Haitian relief community and international organizations such as UNICEF are trying to help improve.

Kathy Jaffer

Kathy Jaffer is a woman who is relatively new to but extremely active in the Haitian relief community. Kathy first traveled to Haiti in the summer of 2011 as a high school/college mission group leader, and fell in love with the country, its people, and what wonderful things God and the relief community were doing there to bring about change in the country. Since then, she has been on several trips down to Haiti, during which she has helped build orphanages and villages, fed children in poor urban and rural orphanages, visited villages and tent cities and spoken with adults there about their lives, hung out with tent city kids and provided them with a few small toys, and many other things. She is even in the process of trying to adopt a little Haitian boy! Kathy plans to make many more trips down to Haiti in the future with groups, alone, and with her family. She even wants to bring her prospective son to Haiti with her in order to do mission work when he is older!

Jane Goodall and the Haitian Relief Work Community

Jane Goodall is a world-renowned activist for the rights, health, research, and protection of chimpanzees. In Ron Arias' profile of Ms. Goodall she is quoted as saying, "...Shouldn't we try to help these creatures who can't speak for themselves and who are so much like us?"
This quote, I believe, resonates with the values and beliefs of those within the Haitian relief work community. Though the chimpanzees in question are viewed as mere animals in the sight of many people or just plain overlooked, Goodall encourages them to pay closer attention; they are more than just animals, and deserve to be helped. They can't speak for themselves, so it is up to us to help them.
In a similar vein, the people of Haiti are often viewed as statistics, and their needs are often overlooked by much of the outside world not living in comparable conditions to what the Haitians endure. They can't do much to help their situation (due to the country's extremely corrupted government, lack of resources, and widespread poverty), but they deserve to be helped as well. However, as in the situation Goodall is trying to highlight, it is up to us to help build up the Haitian people.

"Library Card", "Mother Tongue", and the Haitian Relief Community

"Library Card" is a short expository excerpt about a young African-American man using a white man's library card to check out books in the racist South, and discovering an entire new world in the pages of those books. As he learns more and more about people, their opinions, and the world they live in through the lenses of countless different authors, he begins to question more and more his purpose in life and place in society. He wonders if there could ever be a future for him beyond the barriers set for him as an African-American by the racist, white-dominated society.

"Mother Tongue" is another excerpt, and is Joy Luck Club author Amy Tan's examination of the different types of English she regularly uses: the formal English she learned in school with which she speaks and writes, and the broken English she learned as from her Chinese mother as a child and continues to use with her mother and family. Amy explains how, though the broken English may create a barrier for her  mother in dealing with fluent English speakers and affect how they see her, it does not diminish the life, color, and passion behind the words.


An important point relating to mission work in Haiti can be gleaned from each of these short excerpts. In "Library Card", the main character seems doomed by his situation despite his passion to learn and hunger to make something of himself. This applies to Haitian mission work in that, though a great number of Haitians are despondent and simply accept the circumstances surrounding their lives, many younger Haitians have big hopes and dreams for what they want to accomplish in life. However, they, too, seem trapped by Haiti's poverty, poor school system, and corrupt government. But with the help of material and emotional support from relief workers, they can be inspired to further pursue an education and a better future, and possibly help to change the fate of their country. "Mother Tongue", while having a less direct parallel to the Haitian relief effort, does relate to it in that the poverty in Haiti, though severe, does not diminish the life, color, and beauty of the Haitian people.