Today was a chance to recuperate a little bit. No major tasks to accomplish or places to visit. School is back in session in Haiti as of 2 weeks ago. So many schools throughout Haiti were destroyed and likely will not open. This is a major concern for Haiti. School on the OTV opened although they do not meet in the building, they meet out in the yard with makeshift classrooms set up with black boards included. Each weekday school is in session from 8 in the morning until 1:30 in the afternoon. School at the OTV includes 70 orphan kids in the Global Orphan Project and 100 more kids from the community who come onto the OTV campus for school. All the kids are in uniforms- it's quite a sight to see.
The kids get a break around 10:30 in the morning for something that resembles recess. Even though the kids are in uniform, you can tell the orphan kids from the community kids. I went down to take some photos of the kids playing. The orphan kids called out my name- "Chris! Chris!" The community kids call out- "Blan! Blan! Give me dollar. Give me shoes." Blan is creole for white. The orphan kids shush the community kids and tell them my name is Chris- they got my back.
That brings up one of the main issues with Haiti. Haitians who are extremely poor expect you to give them something. They have been handed well-intentioned aid and they have come to expect that from anyone who is white or from anyone who looks like international aid workers. This isn't a new thing, this has been the problem for decades. It is systemic. Global Orphan is really coming at the problem a different way- a way of helping and not hurting through their model of orphan care. The idea is to create a village that includes a local church, school, medical center, wells, and of course the orphan homes. A strategic part of the village is to create businesses that then support the ongoing care for orphans making the village self-sustainable thus making the need for US dollars history.
The kids get a break around 10:30 in the morning for something that resembles recess. Even though the kids are in uniform, you can tell the orphan kids from the community kids. I went down to take some photos of the kids playing. The orphan kids called out my name- "Chris! Chris!" The community kids call out- "Blan! Blan! Give me dollar. Give me shoes." Blan is creole for white. The orphan kids shush the community kids and tell them my name is Chris- they got my back.
That brings up one of the main issues with Haiti. Haitians who are extremely poor expect you to give them something. They have been handed well-intentioned aid and they have come to expect that from anyone who is white or from anyone who looks like international aid workers. This isn't a new thing, this has been the problem for decades. It is systemic. Global Orphan is really coming at the problem a different way- a way of helping and not hurting through their model of orphan care. The idea is to create a village that includes a local church, school, medical center, wells, and of course the orphan homes. A strategic part of the village is to create businesses that then support the ongoing care for orphans making the village self-sustainable thus making the need for US dollars history.
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