In September of 2003 I went to Haiti with a group of 13 other people from our diocese with the relief agency Food for the Poor (FFP). I first heard of FFP from a sermon that Fr. Jay Pierce had delivered at Christ Church Cathedral a couple of years before. I remember it as a very touching presentation about Christian responsibility for those less fortunate. I, along with many others in attendance that day, placed a check in the envelopes that had so conveniently been provided; and for the months to follow I would periodically stick 10 to maybe 20 dollars in the envelopes that were sent to me along with mailings showing children in tattered clothes and adults in dilapidated shacks. One Sunday in September, I read a three sentence notice on the back of the Sunday Program describing a trip to Haiti along with a telephone number to call for additional information. I thought it might be interesting so I called the number when I got home. On the other end was The Rev. Jay. Pierce, the same person whose call I had heard years before. He told me that the trip was sponsored by FFP and that we would be touring the headquarters of the organization in Miami before our visit to Haiti. I think that God speaks to me, but that I don’t always listen so I took this as a “sign” to go. It also helped that my father lives in Miami and that it would be a good excuse to visit him.
After reading the CIA fact sheet on Haiti I thought about calling Fr. Pierce and telling him that there had been some confusion and I thought it was Tahiti we were going to and not Haiti. I’m just kidding, but the first line used to describe Haiti is that it is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Some additional alarming facts are that:
80% live in abject poverty -this is poverty of the most miserable kind
Life expectancy is 52 years
Infant mortality rate is 76 deaths per 1,000 live births
Infant mortality under 5 years old is 123 per 1,000 births
Just to give you a perspective on these numbers, The US life expectancy is 77, infant mortality rate is 7/1,000; infant mortality under 5 is 10/1,000. There are many more numbers and disturbing facts that paint a pretty grim picture (66% unemployment rate, 45% literacy rate). Suffice it to say that for most of the population it is a pretty miserable, destitute place to be. All of this in a country that is only 710 miles from the coast of Miami; that is the distance from Lexington to New York City.
FFP conducts relief and development programs in the Caribbean, (mainly Jamaica, Haiti, Guyana), Central America (Nicaragua and El Salvador) and the US. In addition to running their own centers, they provide assistance in the form of cash and donated materials to churches and charitable organizations operating in the areas of need. Their goal is to improve the health, economic, social and spiritual conditions of the men, women and children in the areas they serve. Their mission is:
“To link the church of the First World with the church of the Third World in a manner that aids both the materially poor and the poor in spirit.”
And as you will see from my experience, sometimes the poor in spirit are not always the materially poor.
FFP is one of the most efficient non-profit organizations serving the needy today. They have operating expenses of 4.7% which is virtually unheard of in a charitable organization. As a point of reference, the BBB Wise Giving Alliance which collects and distributes information on hundreds of nonprofit organizations suggests that standards that call for at least half of the charity’s total income to be spent on programs, no more than 35% of contributions to be spent on fund raising, and no more than half of the charity’s total income to be spent on administrative and fund raising costs. It is obvious that FFP is extremely efficient at what they do. When I visited the headquarters I was truly impressed by the professionalism displayed by their 175 employees. I met with program managers, assignment coordinators, donor callers, and shipping coordinators. Everyone I spoke with had a true commitment to the cause of helping those less fortunate.
Now let me tell you why I was changed by Haiti. On one of our stops we visited the FFP Village for the Elderly, located next to Notre Dame de l’Espoire (Our Lady of Hope) boy’s orphanage. The residents are the elderly who have been thrown away by their families and a destitute society powerless to lend a helping hand. The village consists of simple, brightly colored little houses in vibrant shades of yellow and pink. The sidewalks are sparsely lined with green shrubbery and lead to an auditorium consisting of a concrete floor filled with metal folding chairs. When we arrived at the auditorium, a long metal tube was clanged loudly to call the elders for worship. Little by little the old ladies came out of their houses and shuffled their way along the sidewalks towards the auditorium. The ladies were beautiful. As they came in, they came up to every single one of us and kissed us on each cheek. They were dressed in their “Sunday best” with tattered but clean dresses and colorful scarves over their heads. Their toothless grins were wonderful to behold. Our Bishop, The Rt. Rev. Stacy Sauls offered mass. What happened next was wonderful. As mass was finished, one of the old ladies started to clap rhythmically and then sing “amen, amen, amen”. Within a few minutes everyone had joined in, and then spontaneously the hall erupted into dance. Three young men started to bang on the bongos and the guiro and before you knew it, it was a big dance party full of love and rejoicing. This is the lesson that was revealed to me. These people were living in heaven on an island that is filled with the opposite. I saw Christ in them that day.
I received a call from FFP this month. Food for the Poor is building another village for displaced families. Interestingly enough the village is going to be named “Resurrection Village.” We ask for your assistance in helping this plan become a reality. A 12’ X 12’ house with a cement floor and metal roof costs $2,000. The youth of our church have agreed to help make models of these houses to sell to help raise money for this project. If we sell 100 of these models for $20 each we can construct a house for a family in need. Myself, our Deputation and others plan to attend our Diocesan Convention to garnish additional support for this cause. If you have any questions or would like to hear more about my experience, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
Lizeth Fowler
Lizeth in a member of Church of the Resurrection, Jessamine County, Kentucky. She can be reached by email at lizeth.fowler@insightbb.com