Entrepreneurial Spirit in Haiti

Entrepreneur:  "One who launches or manages a business venture, often assuming risks".  

As we rode on our bus from place to place in Haiti, it was fascinating to look out the window.  For one thing, there were usually many people walking along the roadsides, and I was captivated by the ladies skillfully carrying loads on their heads!

In many places, people had set up stands to try to sell whatever they could.  Jeannot told us that since the unemployment rate is so high in Haiti, and people don't want to just sit at home doing nothing, they take whatever they can to the roadsides and set up their own "business".  The Montrouis Project Center information listed "Street Vending and farming" as the main "economic activities", with 80% of the population not having a job.  The Verettes Project Center listed "Plantation Work" as their main economical activity (there is a banana plantation nearby), with 88% unemployment in the area. 

Jeannot told us that most Haitians have a great work ethic, and want to work.  The fathers want to provide for their families.  How sad it is that the economy of the country is so terrible.  Compassion is providing training and education to enable parents and children (in the future) to be better able to run businesses or do the jobs that are available.  As Letty, a Compassion national trainer who was on our tour said, "The opposite of poverty is opportunity".

There were many people selling various kinds of fruit, but we saw many other kinds of business ventures as well.  Here's a combined Haitian Beauty Shop and Dry Cleaner, and be sure to notice the lady striding along carrying a load on her head!

Next, we have a plant nursery ~

Here's a lumber yard...

And a furniture maker!

 An auto parts store....

and a gas station - at least I think that is gasoline in the jugs on the table.  You might also be able to purchase a mattress from these entrepreneurs.

This section was an electronics store, and they had a variety of other things for sale as well.

I loved that you could even buy "Bric a Brac" in Haiti!

Here I believe some men were making and selling charcoal, right along the side of the street.

Here you could buy clothing or possibly a used tire.  The sign above the doorway says "Shop office".

Even at our hotel, I saw some of the entrepreneurial spirit.  Here is an artist selling his paintings.  I purchased one from him (it's wrapped up and tucked under his arm in this photo) and asked if I could take his picture.

And one final photo for this post - a scene that looks almost "Biblical" to me, but it was taken just off the coast of Haiti at our hotel early in the morning.  Two fishermen out hoping for a catch:

I asked the man cleaning the hotel swimming pool what they catching - "Fish" he said.  "Would you like to rent a boat?"  I guess he was an entrepreneur as well!!!

The Facilities at HA-778

Compassion works in conjunction with local churches.  The project center in Montrouis specifically works with the First Baptist Church of Montrouis.   Compassion says "Compassion partners with local bodies of believers that are recognized by the community as organized centers of worship and outreach."

This is the 2nd floor hallway that I took the photos of the playground from in my last post.

 
 On our tour of the facilities, we were shown thru the classrooms.  The first part we saw was in the building that they told us Compassion had helped build.

 

 

 

Then we saw some of the elementary classrooms.  Disney characters are very popular in Haiti!

There isn't much in most of the classrooms besides tables and benches...

Though this one had some nice art work!

Most classrooms had a chalk board, but the windows were just openings... which these girls used for seating.  I don't think that would be considered safe in schools here!

This was the front of the high school math class room...

and turning around, this is looking toward the back.  Our guide told us 50 students would crowd into this room for one class.

As we left that upstairs classroom, one of the Haitian men wanted me to see the beautiful view from the hallway window.  I was a little shocked to see the view he was obviously proud of, since my eyes were drawn to the roof next to us, which was strewn with trash.  I tried not to let that show and instead praised the beautiful scene.

After our tour of the school, we went into the project center office, which had this sign over the door.

Inside was another sign with all the information about the children and the activities.

There was a bulletin board with photos of other sponsors who have visited the project center.

Just outside the office, the playground was in better shape than the one we visited the day before at HA-336.

But there were still things in need of improvement - construction in Haiti seems to always be a work-in-progress, as shown by the tarps on this wall in the room where we had lunch. 

Fun Time on the Playground

After the amazing service they had to welcome us to HA-778, we had lunch, then we split into two groups.  One group played with the kids outside, while the other group went on a tour of the project center, then we switched.  I was in the first tour group, but while we were checking out the school rooms, we also were able to spend some time watching the other group from the balcony.  Talk about high energy!  The kids, that is.  I think most of the sponsors were quite hot, tired, and full from just having eaten lunch.  But they were also troopers and having a great time playing with the kids.  There were so many kids that it could be a little overwhelming!  If you were giving out stickers, you would have a swarm of kids around you!

Here is the view from the school balcony.  That's our bus in the background.

Jumping rope

Mary and Jean giving out stickers.  And how about that "Cars" backpack?

It helped if you were taller than the kids, like Kevin in this photo!

George was good at swinging the jump rope!

When anyone started giving out stickers, they quickly had a crowd. 

I'm not sure what was going on here, but I love that one of the kids has their arm on George's back.

Lynn did some bubbles...

while her daughter Shelby mingled with some of the older girls.

Stephen took photos while his wife, Jennifer, and their kids drew a crowd of Haitian kids! It could get overwhelming, and we were able to get in the bus to take a little break from time to time and cool off.

It was almost time to leave.  No one wanted to part... the kids or us!

Up Close and personal photos

 If you are a sponsor, I imagine you are like me when a new photo arrives in the mail from Compassion of your sponsored child.   What excitement I feel when an envelope comes that contains an updated photo! I spend quite a bit of time carefully studying every detail.  Does she look healthy? Do her clothes fit and are they clean?  Even the background of the new photo is searched for clues to know more about my child's life.  Of course, her facial expression is studied the most.  Usually, I am wondering why my child looks so sad in the photo.... and hoping that some day she will smile for the camera.

Our first photo of our sponsored child in Rwanda

One of the reasons why the children don't often smile for the camera is simply the strangeness of posing for the photographer, often after waiting awhile in line and then being in front of a lot of other people while the photo is taken.  Another reason is simply that the life they are living doesn't lend itself to putting on a happy face.  The life of a child in poverty is a very stressful life.  In our society we think we are under stress from all the multi-tasking we do and running here and there.  But in Haiti, the children are under stress because their parents don't have work, food, proper shelter... and when parents are stressed, the children are, too.  Compassion sponsorships truly help with that.  By helping the children, the sponsorships help the parents as well and so the whole family benefits.  After some time of sponsoring a particular child, your updated photos may show that.  In the new photo I received of our girl in Rwanda, she was smiling and looked truly happy (and she has shoes on!). 

Same sponsored girl in Rwanda... several years later!

 When we were at Project HA-778,  there were mobs of children!  I have some photos to show you of that, but before I do, I wanted to show you some of the "up close and personal" faces.

This boy had glitter on his face from the cards the kids had made for us.  When I asked to take his photo, this is the first shot I got.  He was so serious for the camera, when a minute before he had been smiling...

 

So I pantomimed that it was okay to smile for the camera and I was rewarded with this beautiful smile!

Not sure what these little girls were thinking, but I love their expressions!

Aren't these two cuties?

Another beautiful girl, who happened to be in a wheelchair.  I'm so thankful for Compassion's help for the special needs kids.  You can search for special needs kids on their website if you feel called to help a handicapped child.

I love the smiles of these two children, who didn't know I was taking their picture.

Even the ones who did know you were taking their picture came up with some interesting expressions!  The girl in the middle definitely had an "attitude"!

Sometimes they needed to think it over and whisper to their friends about the strange lady with the camera.

The older girls loved to have their photos taken....

And then they loved to see their photos on the camera screen!

Most of them probably don't have mirrors in their homes, so it's special to see their own faces in the pictures.