When Policy and Tactics are Quick Fixes You End Up with a Revolving Door. Why Invest in the People of Haiti?
Imagine walking for three years through foreign lands with different languages and different cultures. You’re not part of a reality show nor part of a forced foreign military campaign, but you were indeed forced into this journey, you are traveling against your will, as if you’d fallen in a raging river, a river of poverty, and you’re being swept downstream. Jean Pierre recently shared his story with our Honduras national director, Luis Brizio.
Jean Pierre, 34 years old, from Haiti, was forced to flee his homeland three years ago, not due to a fear of dying from gang violence or political unrest, rather due to a fear of him and his wife and young daughter dying a slow and painful death of starvation. With practically no education, no marketable skills, and no opportunities, Jean Pierre, like thousands of other Haitians have done, borrowed as much money from his family as he could, sold all of his possessions and his small piece of land that has been passed down for generations. He used this money to buy three one-way plane tickets to Sao Paola, Brazil, one of the few countries in the world that does not require Haitians to have a visa for entry. His plan wasn’t to stay in Brazil and start a new life, his plan was to go north and to eventually reach the United States, and a hope of a new beginning and new opportunities. For Jean Pierre the United States represents a rescue rope being thrown to him to save him from that raging river of poverty.
By the time Luis met Jean Pierre in the town of Trojes he had already traversed 8 countries and some 6500 miles, but he still lacked over 1500 more to reach the southern border of the US and the very slim possibility of a successful asylum claim. The reality that he made it this far is remarkable. This journey is extremely dangerous yet immigration authorities report that every day hundreds of Haitians pass through the small border crossing from Nicaragua into Trojes, Honduras.
Many Haitians never find that rescue rope and are swept further downstream or even worse, perish in the rapids. According to Jean Pierre, and many news reports from Honduras media alone, by the time they reach Trojes they have usually been robbed and beaten numerous times, the women and children have often suffered unimaginable abuses, and these are just the ones who make it this far alive. Many Haitians die on this journey and their families are never aware of what happened to them.
Mission Lazarus operates the Lazarus Academy, or Académie Lazare as it’s written in French, in rural north-eastern Haiti. It isn’t a rescue mission, rather it’s a Preparing, Equipping, Empowering, and Discipling mission. Our graduates will be equipped to provide for their families with marketable skills across the region and won’t be at risk of falling into that raging river of poverty, much less drowning while being swept away.
Located in what the government of Haiti considers to be the most economically depressed region of the country the Académie Lazare is focused on transforming lives, families, and eternities. We serve one of the most at risk demographics in this impoverished Caribbean nation, remarkably only 900 miles from the Florida coast. Théomas Dorsainvil, born and raised in the village of Dumas, is the young father of two children enrolled at the nearby Académie Lazare. Théomas recently told me, “When I was a child we didn’t have a good school to go to, we didn’t have any options for a quality education.” Théomas’ experience is like that of millions of Haitians in a country with only a 60% literacy rate. Théomas, with a great smile on his face and his hands in the air exclaims, “If we’d had a school like the Académie Lazare when I was a child our community would not be in the condition that it is in today!”
Proverbs 4: 13 “Hold on to instruction, do not let it go; guard it well, for it is your life.
Today, September 21, 2021, amidst unprecedented political turmoil in Haiti, and a continuing world pandemic, classes will once again start back at the Académie Lazare. And with your generosity some 250 children will return to classes. It can be easy to walk away from corrupt politicians, failing governments, and even migrants on our door step, but don’t give up on the people of Haiti.
Théomas says, “The kids from Académie Lazare will become leaders and authorities in our community, If God allows the supporters of Académie Lazare to remain by its side, in 10 or 15 years the students will be the heroes of our community because they will have the skills it takes.” I couldn’t agree more with Théomas, together we can bring this to fruition.
The Académie Lazare embodies the mission you have generously supported with your giving you’re your prayers – cultivating dignity and purpose so that all individuals can lead abundant lives now and for eternity.
We hold ourselves to a high standard of excellence – educational excellence, spiritual excellence, physical excellence, inside each of our development programs and it’s no different at the Académie Lazare, our faculty is college educated, our class size is limited to no more than 20 students, every child receives annual wellness checks and two nutritious meals per day.
Not only do we believe in our approach, the parents of our students, like Théomas, do as well and they’re committed to their portion of the cost share of their child’s tuition. This investment challenges parents to engage in their child’s education and to encourage their children to be actively engaged in learning rather than just showing up for a free meal. The results are children excited about learning, excited about achievement, and excited about their futures.
Like you, they start to see the world as it could be.