Sunday, April 22, 2012

36 Years of Change


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.

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