Lebrun, Haiti
This is a summary of a trip by myself,
representing Global Coalition for Peace and Cristiana Cruz of Global
Foundation for Democracy and Development to the village of Lebrun in
Haiti.
Lebrun has a population of
approximately 5100 people. It sits in the mountains southwest of the
capital city of Port Au Prince. Lebrun was affected by the
earthquake of 2010 but not nearly as severely as Port Au Prince. The
hurricanes that hit Haiti every hurricane season have more influence
on Lebrun's standard of living when they destroy the banana trees and
other fruit trees that provide the only local source of revenue in
this Haitian village.
In some respects Lebrun is better off
than many Haitian villages. Although there is no electricity or
source of power other than wood, they do have a supply of fresh water
that runs out of the mountains into a catchment system installed in
the middle of the village several decades ago with funds from the
Inter-American Development Bank and several international NGOs. But
for the hundreds of families dispersed throughout this mountainous
region, it can be a two-hour walk to fill their water jugs and two
hours back up the mountain carrying the heavy jugs.
Only Source of Fresh Water in Lebrun
We were invited to bring Global
Coalition for Peace's gardening program to Lebrun by an organization
called HavServe, founded and directed by Carline Brice. Carline was
born and raised in Lebrun until the age of fifteen, when she moved to
the US. She has been working on a volunteer basis to improve the
condition of her fellow countrymen and women for twenty years. But
after the earthquake hit the
ineffectiveness of most of the humanitarian work being done in Haiti
became painfully obvious. Carline began an initiative to recruit volunteers to develop a program that would address the most serious problems in Lebrun and neighboring villages.
became painfully obvious. Carline began an initiative to recruit volunteers to develop a program that would address the most serious problems in Lebrun and neighboring villages.
The HavServe volunteers have done
wonders in the three years since the birth of this NGO. It is
estimated that there are 1200 school age children in Lebrun. When
HavServe started its work only a handful were attending the one
faith-based primary school in the village. Now there are 800
children enrolled in five primary schools and an ongoing
teacher-training program to provide the area with qualified teachers.
An Open-Air Schoolhouse
HavServe has initiated a microcredit
program for the women's group in Lebrun, with training in small
business development; and the first round of microloans has been
distributed. Soccer coaches were brought in from the city to train
men in the village to coach the children and Lebrun now has a soccer
team that practices at 6:00am every morning and competes with soccer
teams in other villages. A summer camp program is being initiated
this summer with local teachers and volunteers providing a variety of
healthy and enjoyable activities for the children. A community leader
program has also been established. And the gardening program is
flourishing.
Two years ago my friend Francia Rabago,
one of the most dedicated HavServe volunteers, asked to be trained in
GCFP's Sattwic Peace Garden program so she could bring it to Lebrun.
Francia and the gardening program were enthusiastically received
but, as has been our experience in other locations, most of the
people harvested their vegetables and then waited for someone to come
with more seeds so they could plant again. The purpose of our trip
to Lebrun was to reinforce the gardening project and present the seed
conservation program that we have been developing so that the people
can
harvest and plant their own seeds.
harvest and plant their own seeds.
Attendance at the Seed Saving Workshop
Despite all that the
HavServe volunteers have been able to accomplish in just a few short years,
there is so much more that needs to be done in Lebrun and the
neighboring villages. I would like to tell the story of Stanley, a
bright and beautiful child whom we met in Lebrun. Stanley's story
will give the reader an idea of life in Haiti.
Stanley's Story
Stanley
is thirteen years old but he is small for his age and looks younger.
He lived with his father and mother until the age of eight. I heard
Stanley's story from Carline and was moved to share it with my
community but I wanted to make sure that it would be okay with
Stanley and also that I got the details straight. Carline asked
Stanley if it would be okay for me to interview him and write his
story. Stanley agreed and, with Carline acting as interpretor, we
heard a not atypical story of childhood in Haiti. Here is Stanley's
story in his own words.
My mother was pregnant. She had
complications. She was carrying the baby and became sick – losing
weight, swollen legs, spent several months in bed. She died in
childbirth. The baby died too. I had older brothers but they left
the village and went to Port Au Prince a long time ago. Since the
earthquake I don't know if they're alive.
My father was a load carrier. He
would carry heavy loads to the market for the salesladies. He
charged $6 Haitian a trip. [This
is equivalent to less than $1 US] There was another load
carrier in the village [a
competitor] who charged more. They argued and the other
carrier stabbed him in the stomach. He became very sick and couldn't
walk for a long time so he tried to get to the doctor in the next
town, but he died when he got there.
I was eight years old, all alone.
My older brother came from Port Au Prince. He took me to the city
and brought me to a family to work for them. The women I worked for
had her own children. When all the other children were sleeping she
would wake me up to start the trip to fetch water so they had water
in the morning. I had to fetch water, do dishes, polish the floor,
clean the house. On Sundays I had to get up at 1:00 o'clock to carry
the things that she sold to the market. When she didn't like the way
I worked she would beat me with an electric cord. [At
this point Stanley started to cry silently, just staring straight
ahead with tears running out of his huge brown eyes. Carline and I
were crying as well. I got him a glass of water and asked him if he
wanted to stop but he chose to continue.]
One morning they sent me to do
errands. I was on the street. I heard a bus driver calling
“Miragoane.”I knew that this was a town near where I had lived.
I had some pennies that I had picked up on the street and saved for a
long time. So I got on the bus. The people on the bus said
Miragoane was a long way for a boy my age to be going by myself so I
told them what was going on. They felt very bad for me and they
helped me to get to Miragoane. I took two buses. It cost $100
Haitian. When I got to Miragoane I walked to Lebrun.
The lady sent people to find me.
She told lies about me, that I had stolen things from her. I asked
the people in the village to please fight for me if they tried to
take me back. A man who my father had been guardian for took me in
and I have lived with him since then. We live in his house with his
mother, his wife and her children and other [extended] family
members. [I asked Stanley what
was the size of the house. He said it was much smaller than the room
we were in, a room of about 10' by 14'.
Stanley had started school when his
father was alive but had no schooling during the years that he lived
in Port Au Prince. He left there without any of his meager
possessions and returned to Lebrun with only the clothes he was
wearing and no ID. He was put into first grade, is participating in
the mentoring program that HavServe has initiated and has just
completed second grade.
Last year a Haitian-American woman from
Maryland and her two children came to volunteer in Lebrun with
HavServe. The woman and her children fell in love with Stanley.
It's not surprising, Stanley's smile would melt the heart of the most
hardened criminal. Despite all the mistreatment that he suffered in
Port Au Prince, he is a most willing worker, insisting on carrying
our teaching materials, laptops and water bottles on our long, hot
treks around the village. If I fell behind him on one of our hikes,
he would stop and wait for me to get ahead of him. He jokes and
fools around like any other kid but refused to stop helping us with
our seed-sorting work (a boring and monotonous job) when we urged him
to go rest or play. And he is intelligent and sensitive beyond his
years. Carline asked him what he thought of the HavServe program.
Here are his thoughtful responses:
Stanley (second from right) and Zachary(far right) accompanied us on every hike and insisted on carrying our stuff
“I feel this program is very good;
the focus on education. I love the soccer program. I love the
mentoring program. It's helping children like me.
I think the gardening program is the
best program that HavServe has in the village because it can help a
whole family to eat. People who got seed before, I see that they are
able to eat, to give food to other people and to sell in the market.
And the people who are getting seeds now are going to be able to
produce food that will help them.
I feel that the work that is being
done here is going to help a lot, a lot, a lot. I'm going to pray
that even if the work is hard, the volunteers at HavServe do not give
up on us.
When I grow up I'm going to be an
engineer, to build a lot of schools so other children will have
access to education. If we have more schools it will change a lot of
things. I think it is good for children to go to school because the
child will be able to think, will have more knowledge so that they
don't steal and they can think how to get the country out of poverty.
I think Haiti is poor because we
don't have peace among ourselves. “Together We Are Strong” is
the motto of our country but it doesn't exist. People work for
themselves.”
Carline then asked Stanley, “What
else is needed that you can see?”
“Basic English for the teachers. [No kidding, this was his first response.]
Summer camp is a good idea so the children have something to do and won't become vagabonds. They will always have something to do. They will learn things they don't know. I wish they could finish the National School [the National School is the only government school in Lebrun. It has been under construction for more than a year and work on it has completely stopped.].
I know it will be difficult but if
we can have computers for the children...
Finally, if we can get a meal program in the
schools, that would make me very happy.”
Stanley's story and his responses to
Carline's questions point out many of the problems in Lebrun, and no
doubt in many other villages of Haiti. There is absolutely no health
care so when Stanley's mother became sick during her pregnancy there
was no help for her, nor for his father when he was mortally wounded.
There is absolutely no law enforcement agency in the village so the
man who stabbed him suffered no consequences.
The house where Stanley lives is
grossly over-crowded and offers little protection from the elements.
It is in a remote area of the village which means that Stanley has to
walk two hours both to and from school every day. And the children
are hungry. When Stanley expressed the desire for a meal in the
schools, it is because that would most likely be the only filling
meal that many of the children would get on a daily basis. While
the central part of the village has a wealth of fruit and coconut
trees, the areas on the tops of the mountains suffer from
deforestation and erosion. And, as stated, during the hurricane
season many of the fruit trees are destroyed.
A Typical Lebrun House
A Typical Lebrun House
Lebrun has no industry so the women
walk the long, hard trip to Miragoane where they purchase used
clothes, processed foods, American rice, and other items to sell in
their village and other villages in the area. These loads are
usually carried on their heads, unless they are fortunate enough to
have the means to hire someone to do the carrying for them as
Stanley's father did.
Women Typically Carry Loads on Their Heads
There is little help from the
government for Lebrun or other villages like it. Carline has
campaigned for government assistance and has attained promises and a
few start-up efforts but almost no results. Although a birth
certificate is required for a child to be registered in school, most
of the children did not even have one. Carline collected their names
and ages, went to the government office in Port Au Prince and
demanded that birth certificates be issued. But
all too often the only way that the population can get assistance is
through violent actions.
One day while we were in Lebrun Carline
and one of the volunteers went to the airport in Port Au Prince to
pick up another volunteer. They were driven there by our faithful
driver Pouchon, whose driving style over the mountain roads inspired
the nickname of Indiana Jones. About forty minutes into this 3-1/2
hour drive they were stopped by an eighteen wheeler parked sideways
across the road. One eighteen wheeler blocked the road in each
direction. Pouchon knew the area well and pulled off onto a side
road, only to be greeted by armed men with bandanas over their faces.
They took the keys from Pouchon and started searching the ladies'
belongings, supposedly looking for guns. Pouchon told them not to
take anything from the women and he would give them some money in
exchange.
The men agreed to this and told Pouchon
that he better get the women out of there, but they did not offer to return the car keys . At that time a man on a motorcycle
“conveniently” appeared and offered to take the women into town
(for a fee, of course) where they could catch a bus to Port Au
Prince.
The reason for the blocked roadway was
to demand that the government provide the area with the long-promised
electricity that was sorely needed. However, as is always the case,
a handful of opportunists were ready to take advantage of the
situation at the expense of innocent people. Carline and Roshanda,
the volunteer who was accompanying her, were shaken but unharmed and
on our trip to Port Au Prince several days later, there were utility
poles being installed along the road where they were stopped.
Water is another huge problem.
Although there is an abundance of water in the center of the village,
there is no system for distributing it to the homes. This is not such
a big problem for those who live close to the water catchment site,
but procuring water is a monumental chore for the people who live at
a distance, especially those who live at the top of the mountains.
On our last day in Lebrun Pouchon led
us up to the top of Lebrun Mountain so we could see firsthand how the
people live, and talk with them about the problems they face on a
daily basis. One family was living in two small shacks made of
bamboo and the leaves of coconut trees. One shack served as a
kitchen and the other as their bedroom, where a very sick elderly
woman lay on what would probably be her deathbed. Right next to
their humble abodes was a large cement house. I inquired as to who it
belonged to and was told that it belongs to a foreigner who only
comes there occasionally. All of the decent houses in the village
have been built with foreign money, mostly from the US and Canada.
There was another elderly woman at that
homesite, thin and small and slightly bent over but she had attended
all the gardening workshops. How, I wondered, would she be able to
maintain a garden during the dry season when water was at least a two
hour hike away? .
On our final night in Lebrun, Carline
suggested that we comprise a list of what else needs to be done
there. We have also been working on an ongoing list of potential
projects that could generate income in the community.
There are resources that could be used
more effectively and/or turned into small but productive businesses
and raise the lifestyle of the villagers :
- fruits that could be made into jams and jellies or dried fruits
- a lot of corn growing that could be ground into cornmeal if they had a mill; as it stands they are taking their corn into the city and paying to have it ground
- there are large trees that could be made into furniture, cabinets or carved items.
- there are a wide variety of therapeutic and fragrant plants that the native population has been using for ages. These could be turned into balms, essential oils and soaps, packaged and marketed
- the coconut tree leaves can be woven into hats and baskets.
- The beautiful spring water could be bottled and sold - by the people of Lebrun, not some foreign company
- When they become proficient at harvesting seeds, they could also meet the great need for good seed in the area
- there is an abundance of clay in the area that could be made into much-needed bricks for building permanent, study structures
The list could go on and on. One of the
things the people of Lebrun have asked for is professional help to
guide them in the area of business development.
There is a huge gap between the rich
and the poor in Haiti. Port Au Prince is a shattered and destitute
city, with street after street of rubble, garbage everywhere, little
tent communities, vendors lining the street, trying to sell anything
they can to earn enough money to stay alive, and no sewer system.
There is no middle class in Haiti but many businessmen, foreign
diplomats and wealthy citizens do business and reside in the nearby
suburb of Port Au Prince called Petion-Ville. Gated and privately
guarded mansions, protected with high walls topped with razor wire
keep the encroaching poor from penetrating this affluent world.
As to what Lebrun needs right now, at
the top of the list is a food program for the school children. They
need a mill to grind the corn, a rainwater collection/irrigation
system installed in the remote areas of the village and the schools
where we have planted larger, community gardens. They desperately
need school supplies, soccer equipment (used is fine), gardening
tools, hygiene supplies and over-the-counter medications.
On our last day we distributed seeds to
the families who had taken the garden training program. There were
about seventy families. After we had handed out the seed, some of the
villagers expressed their appreciation for the program. One man
suggested that the next time we visit the village we let them know
that we are coming well in advance, so they can spread the word to
as many people as possible, not just in Lebrun but in the neighboring
villages as well.
On Our Last Day We Distributed Seeds to 70 Families
As for Stanley, the family in Maryland
is waiting to take him into their home and family as soon as a
passport can be attained and Stanley is anxiously awaiting the
reunion. Unfortunately, like everything in Haiti, there is a
mountain of red tape. Carline has been working on this for a year
but I know she won't quit until it has been accomplished.
