From Worry to Hope

by John Engle

Beyond Borders has commissioned Kent Annan and John Engle to start a new organization called Haiti Partners. Each organization will have its own programs in Haiti with different emphases within a wider vision of serving Haiti. They’ll be independent, but collaborate. This will increase our impact in Haiti, while staying committed to our grassroots decision-making in the U.S. and in Haiti. Here is an update.

I’m in Haiti. It’s late and I can’t sleep. Among other things, I’m worrying that the opportunity to educate the current generation of kids in Haiti might be lost, as has been the case for so many generations that have gone before.

Haiti’s education statistics are staggering. There are hundreds of thousands of kids who are not in school. And 60 percent of those who start school never even finish 6^th grade. Even those who stay in school often have their spirits crushed by oppressive teaching techniques. 

How can we expect Haiti to improve if the majority of her children are receiving either no education or a poor one? How can those who are illiterate escape their “outsider” status?  How can a nation whose children aren’t educated make its way from the outside in? These and other practical questions keep me from sleeping.

But there’s a flip side to these worries, and it fills me with hope. I’m hopeful because I have seen what can happen when we bring together (a) good Haitian teachers, (b) a good organization with a lot of experience in Haiti, and (c) local communities of people committed to building a better future. This is the foundational idea behind a new Haiti Partners program that supports four Haitian schools and more than 600 students. 

At one of these schools today, I held a little girl named Magdaline (see photo). Magdaline is one of 200 children who attend Cite Soleil Community School, a tiny beacon of hope in the heart of Haiti's largest slum.  She's the future of Haiti. 

I also had an opportunity to learn more about one of Magdaline’s teachers named Guy (pronounced “Gee”). He and his four siblings grew up in the same slum where the school is located. “I don’t know how my mother did it, raising five of us without a father,” says Guy.  But he knows his mother wasn’t alone in supporting her kids. “There was Pastor Arnold and Father Lanaut, both did more than was expected…if it wasn’t for them, I would not have gone to school, despite all my mother’s efforts.”

Guy received his own education because of the efforts of many people. And as I lie in bed and think about Guy and the people who helped him, as I think of the many Haitian colleagues we work with at this school and others, and think of the many people like you who give generously to support education, I feel encouraged. I feel
hope. We regularly see the fruit—when education changes people’s lives.

I’m excited that Beyond Borders will be continuing its work and that Kent Annan and I are being supported to launch Haiti Partners. Through prayer and strategic thinking with our Beyond Borders colleagues, we all feel confident that the birth of Haiti Partners is the best way for both Beyond Borders and Haiti Partners to be most effective in making a difference for Haiti.

Beyond Borders will continue its mission and its education and child rights programs (see “On the Outside” article). Haiti Partners will be focused on these programs: educating 600 students in 4 partner schools; training 300 teachers (of about 6,000 students) annually

through the Circles of Change program; training 40 key community leaders from around the country in an intensive 3-year program; and providing 10,000 people in churches and literacy centers with Bibles and training through the Living Words program.

Several hours after my restless night, dawn arrives in Port au Prince.  Roosters are crowing. The city is awakening.  And after I get some deliciously potent Haitian coffee pumping through my veins, it’s time to head out to Cite Soleil to witness students start their daily ritual of flag raising and singing the national anthem. The glass that appeared nearly empty several hours ago is feeling more and more full.

This experience—of restless nights of worry followed by a cup that “fills up” with hope as daylight comes—has not been uncommon for me during my nearly 20 years working in Haiti. For me, this tension is evidence of the profound meaning that this country and her people have helped me to discover. The journey is full of challenge and sorrow, as well as love and joy. 

Together we can—we really can— work toward a Haiti where all children go to thriving schools that help every student develop his or her God-given potential. 

For more about Magdaline’s school, the other Haiti Partners schools, or our educational programs for teachers, leaders, and disciples, visit http://www.haitipartners.org/.