The International Association for Human Values (IAHV) has launched a mission to Haiti to address the challenges of the post-acute phase of the Haitian earthquake disaster. Our focus: to build Haitian youth leadership capacity to rebuild Haiti. IAHV will recruit, train, and support the Nouvelle Vie Youth Corps, a cadre of Haitian young adults ages 20-30 who will commit to two years of service in camps and communities in and around Port au Prince. !
The Nouvelle Vie Youth Corps is a network of Haitian young adults trained to sustainably serve Haiti’s needs and to identify and create agents of change within Haitian communities. The Youth Corps empowers individuals within communities to manage their doubts, fear, and trauma, and trains them to develop agricultural and economic opportunities from locally available resources. The Youth Corps will also act as a hub for Haitian and international community members to gather and share knowledge, best practices, and resources.
I went to Haiti to take part in the project pilot between April 23 and 29.
Here's my experience:
It took me no more than a few minutes outside the airport terminal to get adjusted to the noise, pollution, people traffic, etc. Of course my luggage got to the carrousel last and my driver was 1.5 hours late. But it’s all good, I got to chat with all the taxi drivers, invited them to my course and gave them all hope for a tip J
When I got home, I was welcomed by the YLTP kids with a candle light dinner (no electricity) and a traditional Haitian meal “le Bouillon”. It was not easy to remember all their names and faces when we only had a candle and a couple of flashlights that night. Satsang took place every evening and on my first night they shared what they did during the day and sang a few songs.
My first mission started the next day with a 3-day Art of Living course in Cité du Soleil. I went with Samson, Samuel, Jeff and Haegor, 4 bright Haitian BWS teachers and Nouvelle Vie Program candidates. Our driver was Jemma, a Haitian Rastafarian who lived in Paris most of his life and decided to come to Haiti to house sit his mother’s house and to continue his father’s work of building a church. He shared with me the story about his girlfriend who was at university when the earthquake happened. She got stuck under the rubbles; the entire right side of her body was stuck and paralyzed. The moment she started praying a rock fell on her head and suddenly she could feel her fingers again, immediately, she took a photo of herself with her cell phone to share with Jemma (apparently more important than calling for help) and then called for help. Today, high schools are back in service but not yet universities.
On the way, I was made aware that Cité du soleil was the most dangerous slum in Haiti. Gangsters run it and have authority over the police. When the earthquake happened, thousands of prisoners escaped the Cité Soleil jail many of which were corrupt police themselves. As we approach the camp, I get a call from Noel, the course sponsor from Cité Soleil. He warned us to go straight to the police station. As we enter Cité Soleil, Jemma was let through by fellow Rastafarians who were guarding the entrance. At the police station, we are greeted by a heavily armed police officer with a pump action rifle, a helmet, a bullet proof vest and knee pads. He told us, with a big smile on his face, that a drive by shooting just happened nearby, some people shot at the Venezuelan embassy.
There was a sense of worry amongst the group. The worry increased as we entered the police station and the police asked us not to hold the course for security reasons. To me it was very clear, people were promised to take the course and I would not let anything stand in my way to make it happen. I demanded that the police provide us with security at the course venue which they refused many times as it was last minute. After a lot of negotiations, phone calls and heated arguments between the police and the UN army over this issue we finally ended up doing the course at the police station in a stuffy little conference room. The course participants were grumbling, complaining about the heat, claiming that the breathing techniques were in fact reducing their energy levels. I stuck with the program and at the end of the day people started getting smiles back on their faces. The courageous ones dared to share their experiences, and with just a few minutes of breathing they experienced a deep sense of peace, floating sensations as well as a complete disconnect from their daily issues. People who hadn’t slept for weeks started getting good sleep.
At the same time as the course was going on, an unfortunate incident happened where an innocent pregnant lady was shot dead right outside the police station. We all kept calm and focused and completed with the course session. At the end of the day as we were going back home, the 4 Haitian volunteers were so grateful that they had such a challenging day and that they overcame all the obstacle and made it through. Jeff said in the evening “to me this was the best day yet, because I got to really test my skills in overcoming so many challenges to make the course happen”.
That evening we had a very long discussion with the 16 youths about whether we should continue with the program or not. In my head while all these conversations were happening, I was thinking that there is no way whatsoever that I would abandon the course participants. I knew that everything would be taken care of. The next day we called Noel and asked that we get security at the course venue which was changed to the “Lycée Francais” ( French school), an open air school in Cité Soleil. We got 1 security person and continued with the course. On the last day of the course most participants shared having a great experience and wanted to continue with the program and be part of the Nouvelle Vie youth corps.
After the Cité Soleil course, I worked with the team on setting up radio interviews and also went down with the group to club Petionville, a classy golf course transformed into a camp for 50,000 homeless Haitians. Thousands of Haitians who lost their homes now live there under tents in extreme poverty. A part of me felt hurt to see so many children living in such bad conditions, another part of me was happy to see them joyful and innocent. One half naked kid came up to me, held my hand and brought me to his mom. I shared a few laughs with him but inside I was thinking that he must have lost his dad. Jeff and I also gave a few talks to groups of people and in a matter of a few minutes a 100 person course was setup.
Living with 19 house mates was a great experience. Waking up every morning at 5 am at sunrise, looking at the spectacular view of tropical trees and listening to birds singing was so refreshing.
No water? No problem, go down to the well, throw the 60 liter bucket and pull the rope up, you get cold and fresh rain water. Nothing beats a nice cold rain water bucket shower at 5 am.
Every morning we would all do group Yoga until 7 am. Almost everyone was keeping up with the pace. Sometimes I had to play Yoga police and get people out of their beds after having escaped the Yoga session. Breakfast was pretty heavy, the Haitians would eat huge plates of spaghetti every morning. I skipped the spaghetti and went straight to the fruits (mangos, papayas and bananas).
The passion these youths have is unlike anything I have seen. They have so much drive and desire to transform their country. They all believe so much in the program and have made it their priority. They spent the entire last day of the pilot making plans for their cities and sharing ideas.
The last 2 days I spent mostly with the youths, spending personal times with them sharing experiences, getting to know them better. I realized after spending so much time in Port au Prince how important it is for these kids to have a positive and uplifting environment such as the one they had during the pilot. I also realized how important this work is. Millions of Haitians are homeless, have no money, no jobs and no education. Building their lives is more important than their homes, only when the stress and trauma is gone, only then can they start building their lives, their homes and supporting their fellow neighbors. The Haitian youths all shared how much this program transformed them personally and how empowered they now feel. They now have the tools to make a difference in others’ lives in a concrete and long lasting way.
I feel honored and grateful to be part of this program and to be part of their lives.
Check out the Haiti Photo Album here
