Young Hope

Young Hope members L to R: Jeanson, Elisson, Lumaine, Mansado, Galaxson & Wilson

 Seeing the Village of Hope kids every day, you sometimes start to forget or take for granted how amazingly talented they are.  Ok that’s not true, they are stinkin’ amazing and continuously blow my mind with their love for God, their love for each other and their realization and utilization of their God-given abilities.  Over the past few months, six of our Village of Hope young men and women have come together in an inspiring way.  Realizing that they all had a unique talent with their voices, they almost completely independently created their singing and rap group named Young Hope in which they write their own songs, practice harmonies and sing about trusting God in every situation and bringing change to the nation of Haiti.  This past Sunday, Young Hope had a chance to perform at a concert for the first time outside of the walls of Mission of Hope at a church in Port-au-Prince called Eglise Sur Le Rocher (Church on the Rock).

Bernadine dressed and ready for the bus ride to Port-au-Prince!

It was an incredible experience to watch Jeanson, Elisson, Mansado, Wilson, Galaxson and Lumaine (the members of Young Hope) as they practiced daily for their show, coordinated their outfits and fought through a plethora of preshow emotions together.  Not only is it amazing that these kids have overcome all of the past obstacles that a young child should never have to deal with, but the fact that they have showed perseverance and resiliency in the face of adversity throughout everything is inspirational.   As we all loaded onto the bus with every Village of Hope child and employee, it was made extremely clear to us by Young Hope that we were not allowed to leave for the concert without praying first.   After praying together as a family on the bus, we made our way to Port-au-Prince, everyone singing and jumping up and down with excitement as we went.   Young Hope’s preparation and calm before the show was almost surreal- especially as many of us seemed to be feeling all of the anticipation and nerves for them!  The six of them huddled together as a group before their act went on; they prayed, shared some words and then united with a group chant.  Shortly after, they confidently walked on stage, proceeded to rile the crowd and then blew everyone away, finishing their three-song set with lyrics about praising God even when we are hungry, tired and hopeless.  Even though the concert ran late, it was raining and everyone was tired, nothing could have stopped the excitement of the Village of Hope children as they continued to cheer for Young Hope and sing all the way back home.

Young Hope coming together for their pre-show pep talk.

Not only was Young Hope’s concert a unique and life-changing opportunity for them, but what an incredible initiation for me personally!  At a time when I have felt led to move here and work with these children to help prepare them as much as possible for their eventual transition into the community, what better way to see the amazing ways they are actively planning for their futures and already using their talents than to watch six of them working together and already bringing hope to people outside of the walls of Mission of Hope?  As our program continues to develop in its beginning stages, I cannot wait or even begin to imagine all of the incredible talents I will begin to see in these kids and will have the honor of helping them figure out where they can use their talents in the future.  There are endless possibilities for these young men and women and I am thrilled to be able to watch their journey from the front line.

Day 1

                 

Wow, I’m exhausted!  I can’t believe that the day I have been talking about with the kids for two years was actually today.  And who would’ve known it would go so much differently than expected.  Everyone expects when they return to a place where they are loved to be greeted with arms wide open, big smiles and tears of joy.  Ya, not so much!  It would be so easy (and probably much more uplifting to read) to fake it and say that my reunion with the Village of Hope kids was nothing short of Oscar-worthy.  But I guess in this case, uplifting is overrated.  I could not have been more excited to drive onto the Mission today and stopped just short of jumping out of the moving truck to greet the kids… only to be met by rolling eyes, questions about why I cut my hair and accusations that I would never actually commit to staying in Haiti with them for any significant amount of time. 

My initial reaction is to be like: seriously?! I just committed to AT LEAST a year with you people… don’t I deserve some kind of credit?!  What a letdown.  After literally imagining this day every day for the past 2 years, that is how it went.   I don’t know much about much and have almost no credibility when it comes to talking about anything concerning faith, but I am confident in the fact that the one thing that can shake me is absence of admiration in those kids towards me.  Just about the only thing that can make me question what I’m doing here is those kids questioning my love for them.  And look at what happens- exactly that!  I could pretty confidently put money on it at this point that Satan is using his most powerful weapon against me to convince me that coming here was a mistake.  Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to commit to a whole year!  Maybe I should’ve just gone straight into grad school.  At least there’s air conditioning in the United States!... and also french fries.

Unfortunately for Satan, we’ve been down this path before and you’d think he would’ve learned his lesson the last time that he tried to pull this exact same trick on me.  No amount of insecurity on my part could ever take away from the experiences I have already had and the memories I will surely make in the future with these kids.  The side-splitting laughter that can be heard whenever I try to join in on their choreographed dances, the annoyingly-difficult Kreyol lessons taught to me by six different 7-year-olds at once, the trips to the beach with kids so excited that our bus filled with songs can be heard from miles down the road and the tears that I’ve wiped off the little ones as we say goodbye.  None of those memories can ever be taken from me or from the kids.  No matter how their growing and (sometimes slowly) maturing minds tell them to act one day, I stand firm in the fact that each and every one of them knows and cherishes the love I have for them.   I can’t wait to write again, laughing about how shaken I was by their greeting today.  I can’t wait to relive a moment like so many in the past where carrying five chickens in my hands down the streets of the market in Cabaret for the younger boys to have as pets is a normal day or watching two little boys who were thought to be too malnourished to ever live, let alone walk, strut past me holding hands as a regular, everyday occurrence. 

How can any other plan I may have had for myself compare to 365 days filled with potential like that?!  I’m pretty positive I could never conjure up a more amazing opportunity on my own.  God certainly has a sense of humor: taking the girl that only applied to Texas schools out of high school out of fear to leave home and the girl who had to be heavily medicated anytime she got on a plane to a place thousands of miles away in a country that is DEFINITELY not Texas and understatedly more than a quick car ride away.  As I lay down tonight to think about starting my first day tomorrow in the MOH office, I can’t help but dream about the potential for growth in my new position, get excited about the possibility for life change in so many Haitian individuals and maybe even squeal a little about the fact that these kids won’t be able to get rid of me- even if they tried.

On Your Mark, Get Set....

With all of the exciting changes that have been happening over the past few months, I cannot believe that the summer is almost over.  That means packing up my life in New York City, saying some very hard goodbyes and making the big move to Haiti where I will begin my work as Mission of Hope's newest staff member in just one short month!  I could not be more blessed to have so many friends and family that have been inquiring as to my finalized position with MOH and have been completely overwhelmed by the amount of support that I have already begun to receive.  For those of you who have been on this ride with me since the beginning, complete information as to my new job and pending move is on its way to you as I type (thanks for sticking with me).

What I Will Be Doing

While I am always in awe of the ever-expanding reach of Mission of Hope’s influence every time I return, I constantly feel myself being called back to the schools and orphanage to work with the children.  Because of this, I could not be more pleased that I have been named both the Sponsorship Coordinator for MOH in Haiti as well as Children’s Counselor and have committed to live in Haiti initially for one year starting in September 2012.  I am deeply humbled by Mission of Hope’s allowance of me to work in areas that are so rapidly expanding and have so much room for growth.  What started out as a small school on MOH’s campus has turned into multiple schools around the country with thousands of students, every single one of them needing sponsors.  With plans to build even more schools and fill them with even more students, it will be my job to manage a program that will effectively collect the data of every student, make sure they are sponsored, ensure that their sponsors are receiving correct, timely and intimate correspondence from their student and vice versa.  This job alone comes with great responsibility and I am anxiously diving in to learn more about the sponsorship process and how we can continue to educate the nation of Haiti.

As Children’s Counselor, I am blessed to be creating a program that will help guide and support those young adults who will be transitioning out of Mission of Hope in the coming years and into daily life as a Haitian citizen.  Making my visits to MOH over the past couple of years and catching up with the 60+ kids at the Village of Hope (MOH’s on-site orphanage), it began to hit me that these children are growing up quickly!  Generally speaking, children in Haiti look much younger than they actually are and it is oftentimes difficult to guess their age correctly.  Looking back at their documented birthdates, I realized that a staggering 49% of the children at the Village of Hope are at or over the age of thirteen!  This means that almost half of the family is at an age where they should begin considering their future with or outside of Mission of Hope.  It is my goal as Children’s Counselor to create a program that will help support them in their transitioning time, getting to know their strengths and aspirations, plugging them into apprenticeships where they can study and learn, and looking into their options for furthering their education or starting careers.  This is a program that I hope to expand not only to all of the children at the Village of Hope, but also to every student attending any of the schools funded by Mission of Hope.

How You Can Support

It is always such an encouragement to me to look at the great amount of responsibility I have been given with MOH, realize that it is way too much to handle in my own power and see a constant stream of support coming in various forms from people that are just as passionate about the work being done in Haiti as I am.  There are many ways that you can continue to support both Mission of Hope and myself throughout the coming year.  The first thing that I would ask everyone to do is simply to pray.  I know now more than ever that I need to stay in constant prayer and trust God with my uncertainties and anxiety about the coming year.  I ask that all of you continue to pray for my life in Haiti: for confidence in my new job, safety, health, for the children with whom I will be working, etc.  This more than anything is what I hope you will commit to do in support.  Another way you can support the work being done at Mission of Hope is to stay connected.  I have created a home webpage (www.about.me/bethfionda) that will make it easier than ever to receive updates from my blog, pictures of the kids and links to all of my social networks that will have new information posted weekly.  If it interests you, I also ask that you send me an email to my new address, bethf@mohhaiti.org to become a part of the mailing group where I will be sending out regular email updates.  The last way that I hope that you will consider supporting is financially.  All Mission of Hope staff members continue to live and work in Haiti based on their financial support that is raised monthly to cover the cost of living healthily and safely.  If you are interested in donating to either my life in Haiti or any of Mission of Hope's areas of influence, I have provided a link on my homepage that will take you directly to my donation site.  For more information on how to donate via mail, please send me an email.

I want to again thank everyone who has supported me over the past few years: to my family who has never second-guessed my passion for the Haitian people; to my friends who have probably heard my favorite stories about the kids way more than they would like and to those of you whom I have never even met but continue to follow my story; your support is an inspiration to me and I thank you.

These adorable faces also thank you!

A Change is Gonna Come

It feels like just yesterday that I left Haiti in June of 2010 saying, "As soon as I graduate, I'll be back here." But then again, so much has happened since then that I cannot believe how much God has blessed me with what I have experienced and how many memories I have managed to pack into such a short amount of time. Two years later, I am graduating from NYU in just a month (fingers crossed, you never know) have traveled to placed like Beijing and Sicily (all in the name of research, of course), have made incredible lifelong friends and, of course, have been back and forth to Haiti as much as possible. With all of the blessings that have been coming my way, it is almost unbelieveable that Mission of Hope would come to me just a month before my graduation date offering me a position on staff starting in the Fall!

Me at the Great Wall of China

The beautiful fields of Corleone in Sicily
Of course, it took almost no thought for me to know that this is exactly where God wants me to be starting in September since it has been on the top of my daily prayer list since the day I moved back home two summers ago. And just like I said then, as soon as I graduate, I'll be back! So it is with great pleasure and thankfulness that I can announce that I will be working with Mission of Hope this coming Fall, committing intially for one year. I look forward to sharing more details and plans as my departure date draws near and will do my best to keep this blog updated with exciting stories, struggles and triumphs throughout this inevitably-eventful journey. I want to thank everyone who supported me financially and prayerfully through my initial trips to Haiti and who will be supporting me in the future as well. If you would like any information about my big move, Mission of Hope or how you can support, please don't hesitate to call, text, email or comment. Thank you all again for your continued support because without you, none of this would be possible!

Above: Just a couple of pictures from my wonderful visits to Haiti over the past two years

A Big Day

Yesterday was just another normal Sunday at the Mission of Hope- NOT!!! I should know better than to expect that by now. But what I thought was going to be just a relaxing day planning for my last week turned into so much more.

To start off, this past Friday was Mother's Day here in Haiti so church turned into an all-out, 3 hour celebration. It started off with normal praise and worship and somehow turned into a Haitian game show, complete with catchy music, cheering and dancing up and down the aisles. Granted, it took me until about thirty minutes into the game to understand what was actually happening, but once I caught on, I realized that this Bible trivia was going to last a long time. About an hour later, the game was wrapping up and all the mothers were called to the stage for special recognition. Imagine my surpise when all of the Hope House children tried to pull me on stage with the rest of the moms, claiming that I was their "manmie" too. Let me tell you, there aren't many greater feelings than that!

After church many of us rushed upstairs to start making food for our big day. Since it was my last weekend with the children, I planned a special beach day for them, the mommies and the supervisors to show them how grateful I was for allowing me into their family for so long. With the help of many people here at the mission, we were able to make a picnic lunch for over 100 people, get changed for the beach and load all of those 100 people (sixty of those being crazy, excited children) onto a bus headed for the beach in just over thirty minutes. I don't think I officially caught my breath until this morning!

Miseline and Chrismene during their long-lasting water fight

What a wonderful time at the beach! I don't think I can even explain the sense of joy I felt to watch the mommies dip their toes in the water and the kids jumping in the waves, completely carefree for a few hours. Even the bus ride home was filled with excitement. Although we had at least four people in each seat and the aisles filled with supplies and people, it didn't stop the kids from singing and dancing the entire way home- what an amazing ending to an amazing journey! After all of the minor setbacks, frustrating days and change of plans, it was such a treat to spend some uninterrupted time together.

Esther was very proud of her fancy bathing suit

Thank you to everyone who helped make our beach day a success and also to everyone back home who has supported me throughout this time!

Wrapping Up

I cannot believe that I only have a week left here; I'm not sure how I will be able to leave these kids and this place that has become such a home these past months.

While I thought about what to share this week, I couldn't help but think back to the beginning of this jounrey. Although it has flown by as a whole, the first few weeks seem like decades ago. I couldn't help but laugh thinking about my first week where my only English-speaking assitance was out with malaria, I was making worksheets and copying them by hand and honestly spent all of my free time figuring out how to even begin English classes with no common language and students ecompassing every skill level possible.

It's hard to even imagine those days now. My relationship with both the children and the mommies have come so far that figuring out what to teach is almost instantaneous and the daily setbacks have become more humorous than frustrating. As a person who always "needs" for everything to go exactly according to plan, Haiti has taught me wonderful life lessons. Even if the speaker for the movie doesn't work for the first thirty minutes or we have to start class an hour late because a study group has decided to use the only open classroom, the kids are still just as happy that we are spending time together. It really puts things in perspective.

Each and every child at the Hope House is special to me in their own way. It's very refreshing and almost overwhelming to feel such constant and unconditional love at all times from people who didn't even know you this time last year. It will be a struggle to leave knowing that I won't be rushed by a mob of children calling me cow (Bef) every morning or pulling on my hair, arguing over which one gets to braid it that day.

I am officially Haitian- I've got the hair to prove it!

I am so thankful for my time here in Haiti. This is a special place that can not be left in the past; Haiti will always hold a special place in my heart and will be visitied often. I have made so many zanmi pou toujou (friends forever) that this will always be a second home.

Me with my wonderful staff friends on our mountain climb.

Angelie

Precious little Angelie

Over a week ago, a man came into the clinic with his very sick infant daughter. He never gave her name, but it was obvious from the beginning that she was very sick and malnourished, not even able to lift her head or move her legs. While waiting to be seen, the father handed his daughter off, saying he needed to use the restroom, and never came back.

From that point on, this precious little girl has been living at the Ward, constantly watched by the mommies at the orphanage and different nurses. She was given the name Angelie and is getting stronger everyday. Now eating rice and beans, she can move her feet and suck her thumb. While it would be ideal for Angelie to spend time at the Hope House with the other children, she is not yet strong enough to survive without constant care. I had never before held a baby that wasn't strong enough to move on its own or even open its eyes for more than a few seconds.

Please pray for Angelie as the Mission of Hope is trying to decide the best situation for her. While it would be possible for her to become a Hope House kid, certain papers are needed and without the family present, there is no telling how long that process could take. Angelie is a beautiful little girl and it breaks my heart that anyone could leave their child behind, especially her. But I am confident that she will receive better care and will be able to thrive more here than she would living in poverty. This is truly a blessing in disguise.