Special Events in Haiti and in Oregon

By Laura Polynice

In the midst of the ever-increasing challenges in Haiti, men and women gathered at PLH for two special events in the past few weeks. There are very few places beyond church and soccer matches to go and enjoy time with family or friends. These events are a way for PLH to encourage and minister to the community during a time when hope is hard to hold on to. It is our goal to continue to host events like these each quarter. 

VALENTINE’S DAY

On February 14th, PLH hosted a special Valentine’s Day dinner for couples from the community. The evening included music, dancing, a lecture, games, and more. Couples enjoyed a performance from a soloist and a dancing trio. Rosemond, PLH Soccer Academy Director, and his wife shared their testimony of 28 years together. A guest lecturer spoke on the importance of family in building up society. 

Three couples competed in a round of the Newlywed game and couples worked together on a trivia quiz. Couples danced and laughed together and enjoyed a delicious meal and cake. Couples had a chance to share with the group some words about their spouse and present them with a gift. There were 45 couples in attendance. Everyone enjoyed getting dressed up and doing something special with their valentine. 

WOMEN'S DAY

March 8th was International Women’s Day. In Haiti, women are considered the “pillar of society.” They work hard keeping the house and raising their children. Most don’t have the modern conveniences that we are accustomed to in the US. This means washing dishes by hand, cooking over charcoal, and going to the street market multiple times per week to purchase perishable ingredients. Raising their children is also made more difficult by frequent school closures and the spiritual battle that exists in Haiti that is drawing youth into gangs and other trouble. On top of this, many women provide for their families by selling in the public market places or working. 

PLH hosted a women’s event on March 8th to celebrate these hard-working women and provide some fun during these hard time. Over 130 women attended. We opened with a mingle activity while the ladies enjoyed popcorn and coffee. Next, ladies colored greeting cards to take home and give to a special woman in their life. After that, we invited the ladies to join us in a little Zumba. Our secretary, my sister-in-law and I had fun preparing a routine to a Haitian song that celebrates women, and it was a blast to lead so many ladies in something they had never done. After Zumba, we had various games, and several ladies shared poems, songs, and words during an open mic time. We closed out the service with a message of encouragement from a missionary here in Haiti and worship led by some young ladies in the next town over from us. The ladies enjoyed and were encouraged by this time away from their normal stresses and routine and chance to relax and laugh together.

GOLFATHON

On Saturday, March 11th, the Golfathon team in Oregon, took Top Golf by storm as they hit golf balls in honor of their sponsors.

Thank you to our team of dedicated champions who generated sponsorships from donors to raise an incredible $40,000 in just 8 weeks to support the mission of empowering Haitians to build a stronger Haiti. 

✨2O23✨ Happy New Year!

We hope your Christmas was blessed and we wish you a new year filled with hope and purpose!

2022 HIGHLIGHTS

• The PLH Haitian staff rose to the challenge of running the organization in Haiti without any US staff in the country. We saw the capability of Haitians when trained well, invested in, and empowered to lead.
  

• Construction of the kitchen and fruit drying facility was completed.
  

• The purified water station was constructed.
  

• PLH was awarded a grant from UMCOR to help fund the construction of the PLH Educational Center.
  

• Seven PLH staff attended a two-day leadership conference in Port-au-Prince.
  

• PLH hosted soccer academy games.
  

• PLH hosted two months of summer classes for kids in the community to learn English and artisan crafts.
  

• A champion from Oregon taught an 8-week personal finance class via Zoom for PLH staff and local community members.
  

• Laura Polynice, PLH Administrative Assistant, and her husband, Wahi, welcomed their first child, Jesher.
  

• We celebrated the wedding of PLH staff member Wilson Emmanuel and his bride, Madlinie.
  

• PLH employee Guy Destine and his wife, Jesula, welcomed their third son, Guy-Lensky.
  

• PLH and 19 pastors from Camp Marie and the neighboring communities came together to discuss the current state in Haiti, its impact on the community, and how we can help the community rise above.
  

• The staff celebrated another year with a staff Christmas party at the beach.
  

• PLH hosted its 3rd annual Christmas Eve Candlelight service.

While 2022 held significant challenges, the achievements from the year, were all made possible through the donations, support, and generosity of the PLH community. Through all the PLH programs and projects, our mission is always to draw others nearer to Him. We are humbled by all that God has done in and through Project Living Hope.

But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

Isaiah 40:31

A Look Back at 2021

Happy New Year! Or as they say in Haiti, “Bon Ane!” We hope all your holiday celebrations were blessed and that you are facing 2022 with hope and purpose. We wanted to take this opportunity to share an overview of some of the things God has done in Haiti through PLH in 2021 and what we pray He will do in 2022. 

Though this past year was full of challenges, God did so much! 

The PLH campus continues to develop at a steady pace despite increasing material costs and the inability to send volunteers or containers to Haiti. In March, the first basketball court and a bathroom and locker room facility were constructed. In August, the classroom was insulated and the first PLH office created, providing a reception area to welcome students and guests and to carry out registration and business transactions. More than 300 fruit trees were planted throughout the campus and three wells were dug. 

The PLH classes and athletic programs were able to run on their normal schedule, providing training, education, and encouragement for more than 200 players and students. This year, we offered specialized classes in Medical English, Teaching English as a Foreign Language and a Survey of the Bible. The advanced English students, hungry for learning, enjoyed each of these courses. The courses also attracted many new students from nearby areas. We look forward to offering additional specialized courses in 2022.

In 2021, we added four new staff members to the Haiti team. PLH now has 18 salaried staff and 11 contracted workers. Our staff participate in team devotions each morning. This has been a good way for them to grow together and for those with a deeper relationship with Christ to minister to and disciple those who do not have a relationship or are less committed to their faith. As they take on more responsibility, we have seen the staff grow and come together as a team and the leaders step up into their roles. We look forward to continuing to train the staff and add new workers to the mix. 

This fall, PLH sent three young men to start a 3-year study in auto mechanics. Two of these men have been working for PLH for a couple years and the third has been a student in the English program since it launched in 2018. They are excited to have this opportunity to learn a valuable skill, and PLH is excited to have our own well-trained mechanics to work on the PLH vehicles and work in a PLH auto mechanic shop one day. We have also identified two young men to be trained in electricity. They will attend some short-term training workshops until they can join a formal school in the fall of 2022. Qualified, skilled and trustworthy professionals can be hard to find. We are excited to offer these young locals this opportunity and to be able to utilize them for future projects. We hope to provide them with continued training when we are able to bring in experienced professionals from the states. 

With the vocational center being completed in December of 2020, PLH had its own covered, lit, spacious area to host community events. PLH staff and community members came together for worship nights, family date nights, and parties. These special events offered hope, unity and fun for families and individuals. We loved witnessing parents and children laughing and playing together and our staff stepping up to plan and lead these events. 

If God could do all this in 2021, we cannot wait to see what He will do in 2022! More on that in our next blog post next week.

Joyous Times

By Sara Dessieux

Our family returned to Oregon for the summer about two weeks ago, but before we left Haiti we were able to take part in some very joyous events.  Laura Nott, my youngest sister, has been working for Project Living Hope as administrative assistant for over three years now and she has lived in Haiti for most of that time.  She’s become a key player in almost all of PLH’s activities and a beloved member of the community there in Haiti.  Last winter, she got engaged to a wonderful man she’s been dating for longer than she’s been with PLH.  During our last week in Haiti, their wedding day arrived.  

One week before the wedding, Laura and I excitedly picked up nine family members and one friend who flew in for the wedding.  It was so fun to have our parents and all five of us kids in one van again.

We packed a lot into our week together--swimming in a pool, snorkeling in the sea, playing games, a hike, making a wedding cake, hanging gutters on the PLH buildings, visiting Laura’s English classes, lots of meals with new acquaintances, and various wedding preparations.  

One highlight early in the week was an evening worship service we held at PLH.  In the weeks prior, Laura and I and eight other musicians had selected and rehearsed songs in both Creole and English.  Around 100 people attended the event, and we had a lovely mix of English speakers and Creole speakers, Haitians and Americans.  Our dad, Nick, gave a brief message on how we are all called to be holy and how we can go about doing that in our daily lives.  

We certainly hope to hold more services like this in the future and also want to acquire more sound equipment and instruments.  While PLH never intends to start a church in Camp Marie, seeing as the village already has several, we still want to always be directing people toward Christ and demonstrating that worshiping and serving God is fundamental for our organization.

Photos from Laura and Wahi’s wedding show an idyllic Caribbean wedding by sea.  And while those of us organizing things knew of all the hiccups along the way, those in attendance thought it was all lovely.  And it was.  Around 150 people were in attendance and a Haitian feast was prepared for them all.  Everyone made it safely back home and the bride and groom enjoyed a honeymoon at a local resort before moving into our house in Camp Marie for the summer.  

The state of affairs in Haiti currently is still not good.  Lawless, and at times violent, gangs have everyone concerned as do the political and economic situations.  We praise God for bringing us through our time there safely and we continue to pray daily for those still there.  

Unexpected Challenges

By Sara Dessieux

We all are facing unexpected challenges right now, aren’t we?  We had much different plans for the second half of this month than what is now actually happening.  Being someone who has experienced living in two very different countries, I can tell you that we are much more used to unexpected obstacles, new fears, and plans being cancelled here in Haiti than we are back in Oregon.  Everytime we return to the states, I am flooded with the realization that everything about everyday life is so much simpler there. Well, in 2020 it seems that the rest of the world is beginning to experience some of what is too often the norm in many third-world countries.   Schools and many other things in Haiti were closed down for months last fall due to the protests and roadblocks. Now they are closed yet again because of the coronavirus. So even though we have joined the minority of people here attempting social distancing, it really does not feel too different than normal.  Yet, we had high hopes for this spring.  

This past week though we did have some great successes.  Bob Thatcher and Dwight Hardin remained with us for a second week of work and Walky Desir joined them.  We hoped they would get to unload and begin using the backhoe, but alas, it is still being held in customs.  The rented bulldozer continued to work on the slopes around the soccer fields, but still at a very slow rate due to mechanical trouble.  Most of the success for the week happened over on a neighboring piece of property that Guesly and I bought last spring. This winter, Bob worked with us on house plans and purchases for a two-bedroom house that will serve as our home when we are in Haiti for now but will eventually be a guesthouse when we build our house.  We opted to build the guesthouse first since it should go faster. Two weeks ago under Bob and Dwight’s supervision, the foundation was dug, forms were built, rebar was tied and laid in place, and the plumbing and electrical were set up. I had prepared myself for it to feel like a slow process so I was amazed at how fast it actually went!  Last Monday, the foundation was mixed, poured and spread, all by hand. Already the walls are starting to go up.  

Another highlight was that after feeling nervous for five days that Bob, Dwight and Walky may not be able to get out of Haiti because Haiti’s president closed all airports, ports and the border, they did successfully fly out and make it back home.  American Airlines ended up being permitted to fly people out. All three of them worked and enjoyed the beach right up until the end. We are so grateful to them for coming but are glad they are now reunited with their families. We had a number of other teams scheduled to come do construction and other things this spring, but of course those trips have all been postponed or cancelled.

Haiti currently has 15 confirmed cases as well as 127 suspected cases.  Testing and treatment here will be even harder to come by than in the states so we are hoping and praying for protection for Haiti.  The Haitian government seems to be taking the threat quite seriously in that they are shutting down or limiting most businesses and are working to educate the population.  We do not yet see many people, other than foreigners, social distancing though. Granted, that would be an incredibly hard thing for people to do here. Most people live with many other people in very small houses in densely populated neighborhoods, and they rely heavily on public transportation and frequent shopping in the market due to no refrigeration.  Guesly, our staff, and the construction workers we’ve hired, will continue to frequent our land, but Guesly has coached them in how to be safe and he and the staff have installed handwashing stations on the land. All PLH English classes and athletic programs have been cancelled until further notice.

We are praying for you and we ask that you in turn pray for Haiti.  Things in this world seem to be changing on a daily basis now. We rest in the truth that our God is the same yesterday, today and forever.  He does not change.  

Pray for Haiti

by Sara Dessieux

PLH Board Member and Founder

Life in Haiti often feels like one step forward followed by one step back.  Making progress in Haiti is so difficult.  But currently, we are seeing Haiti taking huge stumbles backwards with no steps forward.  Recurrent fuel shortages have turned into a fuel crisis that seems to be the new normal.  Constant political protests and roadblocks not only disrupt everyday life, but also turn into violent events in which vehicles and businesses are burned and lives are endangered.  Not only has the value of Haiti’s currency plummeted over the last year but prices for food and other necessities have dramatically increased.  Then things just snowball from there.  

Many kids have yet to start school this year.  People cannot find work.  Even people with money in the bank and family members overseas who can transfer money for them have limited access to cash.  Everyone struggles to find means of transportation.  People with cars and motorcycles stay for hours in line and often still aren’t able to buy fuel.  Fuel is sold out of barrels on the black market for as much as $10/gallon ‒ four times the standard price.  In a country where very little electricity comes through the power lines and people depend heavily on generators, everyone is left in the dark.  Hospitals have to shut their doors and the sick, injured and pregnant struggle even more than usual to find medical care.  And our dear little island nation seems bent on self-destructing.

We were supposed to be in Haiti right now.  Our family had plane tickets to fly down two weeks ago.  Yet here we are in Oregon, and nearly every day one of our kids asks us when we’re going to Haiti.  And we say, “Not yet.  There is still too much trouble going on in Haiti.”  We want our kids to keep loving Haiti and not be afraid of it, so we don’t go into much more detail than that.  Then we run into friends around town or at church and they too ask, “When are you going to Haiti?”  We give them a few more details but still the same answer, we don’t know. 

Guesly and I ache to be back in Haiti, as does my sister, Laura, who has been living down there for more than a year but who came to Oregon to speak for our fundraising event.  We long to see our friends and staff, launch another soccer season, work with our English students, and help Project Living Hope keep taking steps forward.  Yet our sadness about not getting to be down in Haiti is nothing compared to the sadness we feel when we think about all that is going on there.  

What is behind all of this?  Oh, how I wish I knew the full answer to this.  All we can do is make our own evaluations based on the information we have gathered through reading and talking with people.  When asked to explain any of Haiti’s problems to someone, I always start with, “It’s complicated.”  Every issue is so multi-faceted and has so much history behind it.  If I had to sum it up in one word, it would be “corruption.” There is a whole bunch of it and everyone knows it, but it’s still hard to know who the most and the least corrupt players are.  That’s the trouble with the current political situation.

A news article in the Miami Herald this weekend proclaimed, “Thousands Rally in Haiti Against President Moise.”  But I’d say, “Millions in Haiti Struggle to Go About Daily Life as a Small Percentage of People Call For the Elected President to Resign.”  Maybe the president is guilty of corruption, I don’t know, but some of the senators definitely are.  They have refused to sit down with the president and they are encouraging the lawless behavior of the protesters, most of whom are unemployed young men who are grasping for any form of control and power they can find, which in this case, is ruining others.

Photo source: Miami Herald

How is all of this impacting Project Living Hope?  Our community in Camp Marie has stayed peaceful, and our staff continues to frequent the PLH property and keeps us informed about all happenings. We planned to be well into the second season of the PLH youth soccer league by now, but since people can hardly get around, that has been postponed.  The new year of English classes was supposed to launch September 16, the same time this current round of trouble began. With the teachers and many students unable to get to class, we have had to postpone that as well. We will all be so happy when games and classes start up again!  We become more convinced all the time that Project Living Hope is on the right track.  

Young people need a purpose, they need community, they need moral standards, and they need Jesus.  They also need education and employment.  We know that empowering Christian Haitian leaders to effectively reach the young people and families around them is what we want to stay focused on.  Haiti is actually full of innovative, hardworking, and compassionate young people who want to see their country grow stronger.  We just want to help form more people like that to tip the scale away from this cycle of turmoil that Haiti has been stuck in.  

Eventually, somehow or another, Haiti will calm down again.  And then we will get back to work there.  Thank you for believing in the work of Project Living Hope and thank you for caring about Haiti. The Haitian people need you to remember them right now and they need you to pray for them.

Medical Mission: PLH and Corban Partner to Serve the Community of Camp Marie

Project Living Hope has a partnership with Corban University. We have taken several students with us on athletic trips, and every year for the past eight years, Guesly Dessieux, our president and Sarah Comstock, our Vice President, have helped lead a medical trip for Corban. This year we decided to bring the team to work with another local partner organization, Project Help Haiti, so that they could run a clinic in the town of Camp Marie, where PLH serves. Below you will find a reflection from Kate Vetter, one of the Corban students who participated on the trip, and the impact she saw that PLH is having in our community.

By Kate Vetter

As I stepped off the airplane hot, sticky air surrounded me, clinging to my skin and filling my lungs. I took off the flannel that had kept me warm on the much cooler plane and turned to a teammate, “It feels like we just walked into a giant sauna!” A broad smile spread across his face, “Kate, do you realize we’re in the airport? It’s air conditioned.”

My eyes grew wide with surprise. Just a bit later I discovered my teammate was right—it was much, much hotter outside! I had expected Haiti to be hot, yes, but having never visited the Caribbean I had no frame of reference for what humid heat would feel like. 

This May I went to Haiti with Corban University’s medical missions trip. Our team was comprised of a dozen students and about the same number of healthcare professionals including Dr. Guesly Dessieux. Our purpose? Running clinics in the communities surrounding Camp Marie, providing healthcare and medication for the people.

We prepared extensively for the trip, learning about healthcare issues in Haiti and approaches for nonprofit work in developing countries. Despite this, I had many interactions resembling the exchange I’d had with my teammate about the heat. Having never been in Haiti before, I had no idea what to expect, and nearly every facet of the country surprised me in some way. 

On one of our first days we went on a hike up a mountain. An avid hiker from Oregon, I was anticipating beautiful trees, and hoping for a good view. Both my expectations and hopes were far exceeded by our journey which snaked up the mountainside. 

Sections of plantain trees, and looming breadfruit trees provided areas of shade from the hot sun, but when the trees were sparse, the views were stunning which more than made up for the heat. What surprised me about this hike was the consistent spread of homes which continued with our upward climb. We did not leave the villages behind at the foot of the mountain, rather, our so-called hike was really a walk on the roads many use for a regular commute.

Clinic days, similarly, brought many surprises. My heart was warmed by the multi-generational families who came in together, clearly invested in caring for one another. My favorite part of clinic, however, and one of the most pleasant surprises of the trip were the many employees from Project Living Hope who accompanied us. They did not come because they had been asked to accompany us, rather, they chose to. Their presence was an enormous help practically as they monitored the flow of patients, but also spoke volumes about their dedication to embodying servant leadership as a means of improving their own community and Haiti. 

What surprised me most though, more than the heat, mountainside villages, and clinic days, was how obvious the relative magnitude of my opportunities, wealth, and privilege became. Because I was born in a country with public education through high school, generally plentiful jobs, and allowance of international travel, I have had opportunities galore.

Grappling with my circumstances given this trip to Haiti has transformed my view of the world in many ways. While dwelling on the magnitude of my own privilege, feeling guilty for my plenty or overwhelmed by how small I am is an easy trap to fall into, I have instead chosen to focus on what can be done. 

How will I use all that I have? My gifts and my talents, my money and my privilege—how will I use these things in a way that is honoring to the Lord, and communicates the love of God to those I meet?

While it is a small step, I am choosing to support Project Living Hope as a part of this newfound effort to use what I have. I consider myself lucky to have seen the firsthand impact they are having in a Haitian community, and I am thrilled to help support their efforts in any way I can.

August Mission Experience: Building Relationships

By Amy Bentz

On August 1, 2018 our team departed PDX and began our journey to Haiti. Our team consisted of twelve members coming from all over Oregon. The main purpose of our trip was vision casting and building relationships within the community of Camp Marie, Haiti, the community where Project Living Hope is based. Because we believe Christ intended relationships to be the building blocks for change, we want to be known as an organization rooted in relationships.

The first stop on our trip was to The National Museum of Haiti, where we learned about the history and the people of Haiti.

Our next stop was Extollo, an organization we are partnering with. We currently have four men from the community of Camp Marie enrolled in their masonry program. We toured the facility and were able to see first-hand the ways they are teaching and empowering Haitians to learn masonry and carpentry skills.

We arrived at our guest house that evening. The Ortlip guest house is located 10 minutes from Camp Marie in the neighboring town of Montrouis. It’s a beautiful location and we enjoyed our first Haiti sunset.

Day two, Julia began giving violin lessons. The students were eager and learned so much!

Then we hiked the PLH property and picked some watermelon to have with lunch!

We ended our day with a cooking class. We first shopped for the ingredients in a Haitian market. Then we worked side-by-side with Haitians and learned how to prepare plantains, bread fruit, and pikliz. It was a great experience, we all enjoyed working together to prepare the food and then eating together. It was definitely one of the highlights of the trip!

On day three, we attended church in Camp Marie. Pastor Marcel delivered a beautiful sermon on the importance of a strong church - one with spirit-filled leadership, doctrinally sound messages, uncompromising convictions, a strong emphasis on faith and prayer, faithful and generous giving, people who serve in the strength of their spiritual gifts and who value relationships, and a vision for the lost world. The worship was beautiful and our own team member, Julia, played violin with the worship team.

After church, we walked into town, visited a few of the PLH staff members’ homes and met their families. We also were able to introduce the team to the magistrate of Camp Marie, Marielourdes. She welcomed our team and expressed how excited she is to be working with PLH.

After lunch, we set out for the Olympic Center to watch a soccer game. After we arrived, a tropical storm blew in and the game had to be canceled. It was quite a storm! It even hailed, which is a very rare occurrence in Haiti. The children were running outside and catching it in their hands and eating it. While we didn’t get to see a soccer game, there was no shortage of entertainment. A group of young men entertained us with some street dancing.

Day four, our team split up. One group stayed in Camp Marie and the other traveled into Port-au-Prince. Mike and Julia had their second day of violin lessons. The church’s music director was there helping the kids learn and his son took lessons that day.

Brad, Walky and Ian took video and measurements of the road. They got to speak with Marielourdes, the magistrate, about our equipment needs and plans for the road. They also got to meet a number of community members who live near where the road will be built.

The rest of the team visited GOEX and LIFE SA, two apparel production facilities. We met our operations manager, Thonny Fabien there, so he could see the two companies that make t-shirts and sports uniforms.

In the afternoon, we went to a village near Croix-de-Bouquets where a number of artisans make and sell metal pieces made from old oil drums.

Day five, half the team went to Port-au-Prince while the other half of the team stayed to work on the road and for day three of violin lessons.

The team that stayed in Camp Marie visited Clean Water for Haiti and the PLH property. They were promised that the equipment for the road would be available on the weekend, so the Camp Marie team offered to go talk to the director of ODVA (the department in charge of road building in Haiti) to discuss our needs. While they were there, they worked out an agreement to send a bulldozer down to widen and extend the road to our property the very next day! Praise the Lord!

The Port-au-Prince group went to two companies, Haiti Design Co. and Deux Mains. We took an artisan workshop where we got to learn how to make Haitian jewelry.

Day six was our last full day in Camp Marie. Before we left for Camp Marie, one of our Haitian team members, Obenson, led our team in a prayer for the road.

I think we were all nervous that it wouldn’t actually happen. But, when we got to Camp Marie, the bulldozer was there! He cleared the road while the community members watched and cheered!! Praise the Lord for His plans that happen in His time.

All the violin students came together for one last lesson. Two were able to play “Twinkle,  Twinkle Little Star” for us. And Julia gave the students a mini recital to show them what they are striving for.

In all, the PLH vision trip was a tremendous success.  We were welcomed into the community and the relationships that were established further unified PLH and the community of Camp Marie. It was exciting to be a part of this trip and to see God work through our team.

We gathered together yesterday, with our families, one month after returning home, to reflect on our trip and celebrate the relationships we established as a team and with the beautiful people of Haiti.

We praise God for opened doors that allowed for the road to be built out to our property.  Having access to the property is huge and will now allow for soil testing to be done, getting us one step closer to construction! Our soccer teams have been doing well and we just launched our young men’s league on August 12. Our English classes will resume in September and we look forward to expanding into new job skills and sports in the upcoming months. Thank you for your faithful support of Project Living Hope!

Project Living Hope Partners with Corban University to Lead a Medical Team to Haiti

By Sarah Comstock

In 2012, our founder, Guesly Dessieux, started a trip for pre-medical students from Corban University to work with a team of physicians and nurses to provide medical care to underserved people in Haiti.  The following year, I was asked to join the leadership team for the Corban trip. In case you were not aware, Guesly is a physician in Stayton, OR and I am a professor in the Science department at Corban University.  The purpose of this trip is to serve the medical needs of the Haitian people while also providing pre-med students a glimpse of the unique nature of healthcare in the developing world.  This trip makes a significant impact on Corban University students; they come back with a renewed drive to serve others through medicine.  In fact, because of this trip, Corban University now offers a scholarship in Guesly’s name – the Dessieux Scholarship – for students seeking to use a career in healthcare to serve others through missions.

This May, Guesly and I helped lead a team of 15 students and 15 medical professionals to serve on the 7th annual Corban University medical mission trip.  We partnered with a new organization, Nehemiah Vision Ministries, to provide outreach in three villages in rural Haiti as well as with our Oregonian friend Aslan Noakes and her organization, Empower Haiti Together, to help develop a hypertension management program in two other communities. We saw over 400 patients and developed relationships with many other like-minded people working to empower the Haitian people.  While Project Living Hope does not focus on medical ministry, we are committed to using our talents to empower the Haitian people and we seek to partner with other organizations that are working to do the same.  We are excited about the partnerships with these two organizations and look forward to collaborating more with them in the future.

While we were in country, we also got to work with our Project Living Hope in-country employees and take care of important logistics.  We met with our architect, Andrew Ripp from MSAADA Architects, to sign contracts and to discuss our vision for our project as well as our ministry.  Then, later in the week, Andy came out and toured the property. We are excited to be working with Andy and MSAADA. Their mission is to “provide professional architectural and engineering services in the planning, design and implementation of building projects for organizations dedicated to serving others.” Specifically, they seek to partner with organizations in developing countries who serve the Worldwide Church.  In addition, we met with another nearby organization, Extollo International, that works to educate Haitians in the construction industry, “equipping them to build/rebuild their communities, reduce unemployment, stimulate the local economy and improve their quality of life.” We will be partnering with Extollo to train construction workers from Camp Marie and contracting with them to help begin building on Phase One.  The contracts are signed, so be on the lookout for updates about building in the next few months!

Another important meeting to note was that we also got to see the mayor, Marie Lourdes.  We are so impressed with the way she is advocating for Project Living Hope and the community of Camp Marie.  As we met, she showed us a letter she had written to the local government officials asking for their support as we develop in this new community.  She wrote about the opportunities that our partnership with Camp Marie will develop and how their support will help further this relationship and create jobs for the community.  We ask you to be in prayer that this letter will be well received and that God will continue to guide us to future partnerships that will help us continue His Kingdom Work.

On the Horizon: The King Center Phase One

By: Jerry and Claire King

Haiti has been at the heart of Project Living Hope for over four years, but in the hearts of its individual members for many, many more. Now, Camp Marie, specifically, is in our hearts.

Since our land purchase for the King Center in Camp Marie last Fall, we have sought to truly comprehend the heart of the local people and to embrace their community as our own. We have done this by getting out into the town itself and interacting with its people out on the streets, in the farm fields, and along the soccer pitch sidelines. We have had conversations with the mayor, council members, local pastor, community members in a town hall forum, and families in their homes.

Unsurprisingly, we find that the people of Camp Marie are not too unlike ourselves!  They want not just to survive, but to thrive. They want a better life for their families and their children.  They want to build a stronger Haiti - the land of their passion. And they want not just to be in the ranks; they want to be at the helm of all that it takes to achieve their dreams.  They do not want a handout; they want a hand up. They know that the road is long and that it involves much: education and training, hard work and personal sacrifice, strong leadership, and a wholehearted trust and reliance on God.  In as much as we show a desire to work alongside them towards a mutual goal, they are eager to welcome us into their midst.

In our conversations with the Camp Marie community, we have, together, identified some key needs that emanate beyond the town to include the entire region and country:

• Vocational training

• Teamwork and leadership skills

• A place for community activities

• Disaster preparedness and shelter during times of disaster

Project Living Hope’s four key areas of job skills training, community development, athletics, and disaster preparedness will directly address the community's self-assessed, current needs.

Already, we have launched a youth sports program at Camp Marie to tackle the need for teamwork and leadership skills as well as Christlike mentors. We have also begun an English language training program, as English is a valuable skill for securing employment in Haiti.  These two programs already have grown widely popular, causing a demand for more coaches, adequate soccer fields, English teachers, and classrooms.

Project Living Hope has a vision to begin various vocational training programs in the coming years. There is a clearly defined need in the region for skills in culinary, masonry, welding, carpentry, electrical, plumbing, and agriculture. Successful training in these skills will require both classrooms for the academic portion and also a kitchen and shop for hands-on practical application.

Project Living Hope focuses not just on the individual’s success, but ultimately on the success of the community as a whole.  We dream of a place where people can come together and share ideas and common experiences. This can happen along a soccer field,  cheering on kids and neighbors; and under a roof, where seniors can visit and play cards, friends and families can gather for celebrations, and all generations can learn and share their knowledge.  Finally, in times of disaster, what better place to seek refuge than a structure specifically designed to serve the community?

After spending much time getting to know the community of Camp Marie and listening to their ideas and sharing our own, we are confident in the direction that God is leading us.  Having identified the existing needs, we have conceptualized and in some cases launched programs that we can develop to satisfy these. Now, we have drafted a building complex specifically designed to facilitate these programs and serve the community of Camp Marie.  

The King Center Phase One will be an enclave of buildings including:

• A COMMUNITY HALL to host meetings/events and bring people together.

• An EDUCATIONAL CENTER full of classrooms and including a large kitchen for culinary training.

• A SHOP for hands-on vocational trade skills training.

• A GUEST HOUSE to house mission teams, coaches, educators, trainers from outside the area, and our champions.

• An outdoor SOCCER FIELD and BASKETBALL COURT, where teamwork building can occur.

• Surrounding LAND, where agricultural skills can be honed.  

Such a campus will permit our vision to materialize quickly as we gain momentum towards ultimately building The King Center Phase Two: a sports complex that will house so much more than sports.

We are excited to have the participation of the local Haitian community. Already, they are partnering in the excavating of an access road to our property. Our desire is to keep the Haitians involved throughout the process by providing employment and training while our buildings take shape.  At the same time, we strive to construct top-quality buildings that will withstand all the forces of nature. In order to achieve these two goals, we are partnering with MSAADA Architects and other local organizations that share our vision of empowering Haitians and can partner with us in the training and planning processes.

We believe God has a heart for the people of Haiti and a plan to give them a hope and a future.  We at Project Living Hope share His passion and want simply to be used by Him. We are humbled that He would elect to use us and permit us to grow in relationship with the people of Camp Marie as we work to empower Haitians to build a stronger Haiti.  By His Spirit, Haiti can once again be transformed back into “La Perle des Antilles”, The Pearl of the Antilles.