Day 6

Wake up time was a bit later than normal today being that we had the day off. While we did have to day off I had to get things ready for some projects Davidson and I had planned for the kids. Today we were visiting the church group that Wisney leadeds. Wisney works for Center of Hope and is responsible for handling a lot of things on the Haitian side of business with Center of Hope. He has a church congregation that meets every Sunday on the Center of Hope property, Eglise Evangelique Baptiste de Morique (The Evangelical Baptist Church of Morique). I had 200 tooth brushes, a full duffel bag of children's clothes, and candy to pass out to the children of the congregation. Davidson and I also were going to do a small Haitian History lesson and talk with the children about education. So technically I had the day off but still I had a good amount of things to do.

I woke up about 9AM and started to get things ready for the day. I had 75 pictures of Toussaint L’Overture, Jean-Jacques Dessalines, Alexandre Petion, and Henri Christohpe to pass out. Davidson was going to give a short lecture to the kids about who exactly these men are and how they helped make Haiti a independent nation. These men are kind of like Haiti’s four fathers and I feel it is important that kids who cant afford to got to school learn about the men who shaped their country.


I also had a duffel bag full of clothing items for the children and 200 toothbrushes to pass out. I crammed about 75pounds worth of donated items to bring to Haiti along with my own personal things. Bringing these items to the country is easy but deciding who needs it the most and passing out the items is difficult. I have decided that the items will be given to the church congregation that Wisney preaches to. After getting all of these items ready I met with the rest of the group and we headed off to church at the orphanage site.

Wisney holds church service next to the orphanage under a group of trees on the orphanage property. The congregation sits on wooden benches and handmade wooden chairs during the service which lasts more than 3 hours. Its amazing to see all the kids sit still and listen to the service in the heat under a tree…

During the service Wisney introduced all of in the group and we received a warm welcome from the church. After the service the hard part of unpacking items and passing them out took place.

Davidson and I first did our talk about Haitian history. We specifically talk about Toussiant L’Overture, Jean-Jacques Dessaline, Alexandre Petion, and Henri Christophe. Davidson did a great job accurately explaining what each of these men did to contribute to Haitian Independence and even quizzed the children on who did what. It was great to see the kids actively participating in learning about their history.

After the Haitian history talk I got the chance to talk to the children about education. In creole. I introduced my self, told them how old I was, what I like to study in school, and how I love education. I informed them about the Let pou Ayiti project and read aloud my letter. I hope the message sunk in, and the kids enjoyed the talk as much as I did. I will be passing out letters that my friends here in the states have wrote on an individual basis.



After the education talk I got the chance to explain to the church congregation the I love Haiti T-shirt project. It is really important for me to show the people of Haiti the project and let them see all the Americans who wear I love Haiti T-shirts. I placed all the picture on a table so the kids could go around and see for themselves all the support they have in the states. The I love Haiti T-shirts are very popular here in Haiti. I sold several shirts during the 2 hours I spent in baggage claim.. I also sold two while we went furniture shopping in Pap to a couple from South Africa. While I’m here in Haiti I also give out shirts to people who are helping to make a difference in the country. I give the shirts out free to Haitians I meet with here.



After the I love Haiti T-shirt explanation I let the kids view all the pictures. After viewing the pictures I we got the kids organized in a line and allowed them to select a picture with an I love Haiti T-shirt purchaser and take a picture with that donater. The pictures will be sent to the people who purchased the shirt so they can see the difference they have made. Most of these kids I visited will be able to go to school once Center of Hope Haiti’s orphanage school opens up. The school is still under construction but should soon be opening. The school will teach about 200 children. Summer purchasers of I love Haiti T-shirt’s have helped in educating these kids. This summer the I love Haiti T-shirt project raised $1,002 for education for Center of Hope Haiti’s education fund. This $1,002 will be spent on education materials for the kids!


Next came the passing out of the 200 tooth brushes, clothing items and pictures of Haiti’s four fathers. We first started with Dena passing out her friendship bracelets she had brought for the kids. The kids at her church in Salem, OH bought them and our wearing ones like the ones we passed out. Dena had Davidson explain that wearing the bracelet shows friendship between the kids in the states and the kids in Haiti.


Next we had to get to all the stuff I had brought along. Bring stuff into the country in this manner happens a lot. Driving around Haiti you see a variety of different shirts, American football jerseys, major league baseball jerseys, recreational jerseys and shirts, American church shirts, a bunch of different clothing items that you can tell were not made in Haiti but brought by foreigners and given away. All the clothes I brought with me were donated by my friends or bought at a local thrift store in Ada. I spent a total of $30USD at a couple different thrift stores in Ada, Oklahoma located on main street. With this $30USD I got over 20 pairs of sandals, and about 50lbs of clothing. Boy and girl baby clothing, some clothing for adolescents, several blouses for women, a couple different polo’s for men and 20 ties for the men in the church. Ties are pretty big time in Haiti and I got each tie for 50 cents here in the states. Passing the items out was easier than expected, church member's sat quietly and each member of my group just grabbed a handful of clothes and walked around until we found someone who fit that size and gave them the clothing item.


After we passed out all the clothes we got the kids in a line so they could get a piece of candy, I brought 72 pieces Air head candy with me. I’m not a big candy eater and I know its pretty shitty to pass out candy to little kids who probably will never see a dentist in their life but I knew they would like the candy rather than something healthy. Plus transporting the candy was easier.

This is the candy line!

Finally after passing out candy I was done for the day with the activities I had planned. After the church service and giving we headed back to the hotel.

Today is the World Cup championship game and we could tell driving back to the hotel. There are just a few restaurants and bars here in Hinche that have televisions. Infront of each you could see a huge crowd of people pushing to get a good look at the game. Thankfully Dustin and Jenna had the game on in their room. The TV in my room doesn’t work so I watched the game in their hotel room before diner.