By Laura Polynice (Nott)
A Slight Detour
For 5 years, I have been the constant US presence for PLH in Haiti. Guesly and Sara and their kids have served several stints in the country, and visiting teams have come to serve and work on construction projects. While I got stuck in the states for a couple months on a couple different occasions, I have been in Haiti most of these five years overseeing our Haitian management, English Institute and other programs, and the various construction projects. In the fall of 2022, my husband, Wahi, joined the PLH staff as Small Business Manager. He has worked closely with Guesly and Pierre on plans for several small businesses, worked alongside the Haiti staff every day, and gotten PLH properly filed with the various Haitian offices. In June of 2022, you may remember, we welcomed our first son, Jesher. This spring, God has put our family on a slight detour.
The Decision
In January of 2023, the US government opened a new humanitarian parole program that allows approved, sponsored Haitians to enter the states for 2 years. After much prayerful consideration, my husband and I decided to apply as this would allow the three of us to spend some time with family, my husband to gain valuable experience in the US, and our spousal visa application to be on a much faster track. While we were waiting for the approval to come, Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF), announced that they were suspending service in Haiti until at least January of 2024. MAF charters flights throughout Haiti and other countries where they serve. Their organization has been directly affected by the increasing insecurity in Port-au-Prince, and they are taking this time to reassess how to best serve and operate in Haiti. While we had never had to use their services before, with all the highways out of our area occupied by gangs, MAF has become the only safe route for us to get to Port-au-Prince and in turn the US.
While gangs are gaining more and more control of the country causing an increase in violence and insecurity, things have remained calm and safe in our small town and nearby city. Things change every day, however, and should our safety be threatened or an urgent medical need arise, we need a way to get our son to safety. Therefore, my husband and I made the difficult decision to relocate before MAF suspended service and to stay with his parents while we wait for the travel authorization to go to the states. We both love Camp Marie, the staff, the community, and the work; however, we felt God leading us away for this season. I want to thank Guesly and PLH for trusting my husband and I to make the final decision in this difficult scenario.
The Journey
The decision to leave Camp Marie wasn’t the only hard thing. The journey to get to Wahi’s family was long and challenging. Typically a 2-3 hour drive, this journey took us five days, used three different forms of transportation and cost over $1,500. On Sunday morning, the PLH staff dropped us off at the wharf 20 minutes down the road. From there, we took a boat over to the island of La Gonave. If you are familiar with tap taps in Haiti, this “fly boat” is the water version. The fiberglass speed boat was loaded to the brim with 25 adults, 5 babies, luggage and cargo. The driver “flew” the boat across the water at full speed for 45 minutes. Of course, that morning the sea was fairly rough. If I were alone, I probably would have gotten over the scariness after a few minutes and enjoyed the adventure. Holding my 9-month-old baby, however, it was a frightening and difficult experience bouncing across the sea away from our home and towards an unknown future.
A friend-of-a-friend picked us up at the wharf and put us up in their mission guesthouse for the night. The next morning, we loaded up in a 5-seater MAF plane and flew the 20 minutes to Port-au-Prince. We stayed two nights at a guesthouse in Port-au-Prince which allowed us to see some friends and Wahi to get some errands done. Wahi’s grandmother came over one afternoon to meet her newest great-grandkid. Jesher enjoyed the pool, and I enjoyed a much-needed day of rest.
Getting to Port-au-Prince was only the first step. Though we were now just 40 minutes from Wahi’s parents’ house, the only road to get there is controlled by the 400 Mawozo gang which has kidnapped countless Haitians and famously kidnapped the 16 American missionaries. So, Wednesday morning, we returned to the airport and flew on a 9-seater plane 30 minutes to Jacmel, a town on the southern coast of Haiti. From there, we hired a LandCruiser to drive us seven and a half hours up a bumpy, Haitian mountain road to the small town of Thiotte where we found a room at an inn for the night. The next morning, another hired car came from Fonds to pick us up. We continued to drive the remaining four bumpy hours through the pine forests of Haiti until we finally arrived in Fonds Parisien Thursday evening.
Finally, we were able to relax and rest, or so we thought. Friday night, Jesher developed a fever, and we spent the next four days and long nights nursing him back to health. Thankfully, he was back to his normal self in time to enjoy Easter with the family. We are amazed at how God has walked with us and protected us in order to spend the past two Easters with Wahi’s family. Both years, the journey was full of dangers and challenges, but no matter the circumstances we know He is good and He is risen!
The Future
Our priority is to stay together as a family. We have many friends whose families are separated due to visa restrictions and security issues. Fonds Parisien provides a safe place for us to stay together while we wait for God to reveal the next step. Wahi’s family lives just minutes from the Dominican Republic border, which means, if needed, Jesher and I can quickly get out of Haiti and on a flight to the US. We also have not seen Wahi’s family in a year due to the danger on the roads. We are excited and grateful to be able to spend this time with them and for Jesher to get to know his Polynice family and all our friends here in Fonds.
I continue to work for PLH as Administrative Assistant and supporting our Haitian staff virtually. Wahi continues to work on the small business initiatives and gaining knowledge and experience that will serve PLH in the future.
Our plan, once the travel authorization is approved, is to live in Oregon while we complete Wahi’s green card process. Once that is done and we are able to travel freely as a family, we will return to Camp Marie to continue the work God has given us there.
While this wasn’t our intended route, we know God is good and he is working everything out in His timing and to His ends. It is hard not knowing how long we will be away from Camp Marie, still we look forward to this season enjoying family and experiences in the US and we await when we are able to return to Camp Marie, build our house, and get back to operations and life in Haiti.
Haitian Staff
Our decision to leave Camp Marie, means leaving the Haitian staff to manage all of the operations in Haiti. Looking back, I see how God used my time in the states delivering Jesher as a trial period. Our Haitian staff managed everything while I was out and they did a great job. They organized new summer programming for the youth, kept thorough financial records, and took care of the campus. While I have been back in Haiti, I have taken more of a back seat, leaving them to manage things and come to me only when they need me. I’m confident in their ability to carry the organization in Haiti.
Because of the insecurity in the country, we cannot share the names and photos of our staff publicly. While we love for you to get to know them, their safety is our top priority. Please pray for all of our Haitian staff and their families. They face many, many challenges with increasing insecurity in their country, ever-rising inflation, and growing desperation in people. Pray for safety, provision, peace, endurance, and hope. Praise God that the Haitian staff are able to continue to carry out the work of PLH in Haiti.