Haiti will
change for the better. Everyday I see
God’s hand at work in the lives of many adults and child in this nation. Change is happening, but it may be difficult
to see for the person who is not entrenched in the culture. Microscopic change
is happening daily. A child going to
school, a mother finding a way to provide for her family, a man learning a
skill that will provide him a revenue, its all Change. Its all gradually possible if we are willing
to do the daily microscopic work of generational change, and not focus on the
3-5 year plans showing no major fruit.
Countless of
millions of dollars have been spent on changing this nation, most of which had
the short view of change in mind.
Millions that were spent, not to change a culture, but to build a
program that would produce a good report and make an organization look good.
The short view does not make a nation stronger.
Haiti will change when at all levels we begin to value Haiti’s most
value resource, the people. They are hungry
to learn. Hard working and very
industrious. They just need a way out, not a hand out. If enabled they will make Haiti what it can
be.
In order for
us to see a cultural change that will lead to sustainability, we have to look
at a 36-year model of Change. It must be
based upon investing in the people and children of Haiti. It will be heavy on enabling on the front end,
but will gradually be less and less dependent on the enablers as we advance
through the 36-year scope.
The question
that we must ask is, how do we change culture and what strategy do we implement
to bring forth this change?
In order to
change the Culture we must begin by creating an expection of what could and should
be. We have to ask the questions, what can Haiti produce? What can
the people of Haiti do? What can the
people of Haiti deliver that is of value to its own people and then to the
world. Once we have answered these very
basic questions, then we have to create a model of success and begin to lead
the people of Haiti through it. This
will allow them to see the difference from what Haiti is to what it can and
should be. We have to enable them to
replicate what they have seen. By creating
a model and then involving the people in the new model of normal, we are changing
their expection of what Haiti can be.
This is changing the culture of a nation.
At the very
base of this 36 year model is Quality Christ Centered Education. This will allow for three generations of
students to pass through the system. By
the end of the 36th year, you have the first generation’s grandchildren
or children in the school. When this third generation has finished their
education they now will have been raised in a culture that:
o
Understands whom Jesus is and that He has a plan
for their lives.
o
Values education and higher intellectual
thinking. This will allow them to be able to think in the abstract and towards
the future, and not only in what they presently see.
o
Understands health practices that will help them
live longer lives and control the numbers in their families to an affordable
level.
o
Will understand how business works and how they
can use their gifts to provide for their families and improve their culture.
o
Will believe that they only need God and the
people of Haiti to be a great nation, and no longer dependent on outside aid.
It is for
this reason that we have been educating children for the past 14 years. We plan to continue to expand our scope of
education. By 2015, we will have over 12,500
children in our school, giving nutrition that is purchased 50% locally to
100,000 children in schools and be providing Mwen Kapab Christian Curriculum to
100,000 children in schools throughout Haiti.
Haiti’s most valuable resource,
its people, they are worth the 36-year investment.
