Building on the Positive

by Kent Annan

One Sunday morning I was standing outside the church my wife and I attended in Haiti. My father-in-law, Winston, was with me. He’d been in Haiti visiting us for about a week, more than long enough to see how challenging life is for so many people in Haiti.  As we prepared to enter and worship together with friends and neighbors, Winston was struck by how many people were coming.

“I can understand why so many people come to church here,” he said. “They each face such hard circumstances, you’d need faith to get by, and you’d want to come ask God for help.”

What he said made sense, but I’d had a different experience squeezed on the crowded pew Sunday after Sunday. Yes, life was hard, and the more I knew their lives, the harder I understood the grind of poverty to be. And yes, people made their needs—whether health, food, or other basics to provide for their families—known to God in prayer.

And yet in response to Winston’s observation, I answered sincerely, “No, they’re not coming to find a way to get what they don’t have. They’re coming to thank God for what they do have, for what God has provided for them in the midst of it all.”––

Half full or half empty: it’s the old optimist/realist/pessimist test. But instead of a half full/empty glass, what if instead you’re looking at a country where 90% of people are surviving on less than $2 a day?

It’s tough to look at that and declare that, well, the glass is 10% full.

Things are hard, almost unspeakably hard, for the vast majority in Haiti. We can’t ignore the hardships. But we also shouldn’t ignore the positive developments in the country and in Beyond Borders’ work during this past year.

Some big picture issues:

• $1.2 billion of Haiti’s debt to the IMF, World Bank, and the U.S. government was cancelled. This debt, some tracing back to the Duvalier dictatorships, was a burden even though the country’s people didn’t benefit justly from the loans. Erasing this debt builds on successful campaigns to cancel debt in poor countries around the world, so that money is freed up for services like health and education.

• There has been significant progress in reducing the rate of AIDS in Haiti in the past fifteen years—from about six percent of the population to less than three percent. The rate is much lower than some places in the Caribbean and sub-Saharan Africa. Committed, long-term investment has made a huge difference.

• The political situation has been stable, and the wave of kidnappings has reduced. This stability is vital so people and institutions have a more secure foundation for building positive societal change. And here is some of what you accomplished through Beyond Borders in Haiti by building on positives:

• In response to the four hurricanes/ tropical storms that hit Haiti during the past year, supporters like you generously provided $33,991 in recovery support to more than 30 communities we work with—replacing lost farm animals, providing seed for replanting lost crops, and rebuilding schools. This built on our close relationship with communities through our educational programs.

• You printed more than 40,000 educational books that are being used around the country in schools and churches. These materials are based on our expertise in innovative, participatory education.

• Beyond Borders is launching a new sister organization called Haiti Partners. Our work is multiplying by spinning off a new organization that will have its own educational focus in Haiti (see page 6).

• You’re investing in promising new approaches to equip poor communities to provide education for their children. Partnerships with these communities are based on investing in people who are already doing good work. These programs help them build on their success to accomplish even more.

This annual report includes details about how you’re part of building on positives. The people you’re partnering with in Haiti are grateful. We thank God for calling us together to this mission. The people going into that church where I stood with my father-in-law weren’t naïve about how hard their own lives were. But they were grateful for the goodness and gifts in their lives. We’re grateful for this chance to highlight some goodness from the past year in Haiti. And we invite you to build on these positives during the year ahead.

After the devastating hurricanes and storms in Haiti last year, your generosity helped 30 communities we work with by contributing to their recovery, including the seed these two children are planting in their church garden.