The Friendship Project

I visited Haiti for the first time in July, 2001. I later wrote a 15 page memoir of my visit. Now, 17 years later, I look back upon the words on the last page of my memoir and share it with you:

The thought of riding to Cap-Haitien in the back of a pick up truck was repulsive to me. I knew what the road would be like and the dust was going to be unbearable. Nonetheless, as I approached the truck with Pastor Bob Guffey at my back saying "let me ride in the back and James can ride up front," I could not stop until I found myself bounding upon the truck and sitting down in the middle with a wet face towel in my hands. Samuel St. Juste sat on one side and Pastor Emmanuel St. Juste sat on the other. Pastor Laroche sat on a tire on a blanket at the end of the truck bed.

As we started down the road, the sun was directly in my face and yet I did not put on my sunglasses. I could see clear as a bell. I soon realized that I was positioned to see all there was between Caesse and Cap-Haitien. It was a culmination of everything I had seen over the past several days. The extreme poverty of the people was in full evidence - men, women and children walking barefooted along the highway with belongings or food stuff carefully balanced on their heads; the houses without doors, floors or windows; the animals roaming all about in the squalor of every yard; the landscape seemingly devoid of any ability to sustain life; and the road with makeshift vehicles of every sort darting from side to side to find the smoothest part of an impossible surface. The vehicles created cement dust bowls that completely consumed the people on the road. As we passed by we could see the people disappear in clouds of dust. They did not seem to mind or at least they accepted it as simply a part of their life. Some vehicles drove faster than others and created unbelievable clouds, such that at one point we pulled over to allow some of the dust to settle. I could not take it. I not only covered my face with the washcloth, I hid my head in my knees. It was not just the dust - I was talking to God.

I wondered why God would allow this to happen to these people. What had they done? What was to come of them? When will God show His mercy upon them? Then I remembered God's answer to the complaints of Job. God had not abandoned these people. In fact, He had sent many to help them. Some did and some did not. He also sent me and placed me in the back of that truck to show me the problem. I had a clear, unobstructed view. My eyes were open and not shaded by sunglasses. What am I to do now?  

Today, I am adding a few drops in a very big bucket - joining with many others to help make a difference in Haiti through improving the well-being and education of hopeless children. I invite you to join the Center of Hope (Haiti), Inc. in creating a better future for the children. Sign up for the Friendship Prject today on this website to give recurring support for the children. Please contact us online to Learn More.