Led by members of HAUP’s Executive Board, 12 young people from our Haitian-American Youth Leadership Development Project for 16+-year-olds traveled to Haiti in August to build bridges of dialogue and understanding with their Haitian counterparts. Through meetings and field visits, they clarified their
motherland’s history and culture as well as saw first-hand the current plight of post-earthquakeHaiti.
The HAUP youth group visited the camps of displaced persons such as Belvil in the Petionville section of the capital. Here they distributed hundreds of toys and teaching materials to children and teenagers on the verge of school re-entry as well as launched the first phase of HAUP’s drinking water distribution for more than 250 families living in the tent town.
At Sarazin on the outskirts of Morne L’Hospital, they received an enthusiastic welcome from the summer campers who performed traditional Haitian music and provided a particularly warm, festive atmosphere full of emotion and conviviality as they demonstrated with obvious delight their arts-and-crafts talents. That paved the way for the possibility of future cultural exchange and more volunteerism between the HAUP group and young people of Sarazin. It was yet more art, dancing, music, theater at Guibert, a communal section of Kenscoff; and a cordial welcome at the health center of the Poupelard summer camp which is funded by New York’s Haitian diaspora community.
In addition to a rich program of arts, education, tourism, and peer exchange in camps, orphanages, and social service centers, the HAUP delegation visited a number of cultural inheritance sites in Port-au-Prince and beyond. They included a particularly affecting stop at Titanyen and the Forest of Remembrance, the location of mass graves to the memory of the earthquake’s disappeared.
PERSONAL FEEDBACK
“We knew, especially after the earthquake damage, that we would be immersed in a reality other than the one we live in every day,” reported Tasha Saint-Louis, 19 and a third-year law student in international affairs at Western New England University, “So we were able to experience the real strength of our wonderful
group, live through our wide-ranging emotions, and open our eyes to other realities on our planet.” Convinced that each made a particular and special contribution to Haiti, Tasha added she is even more determined today to be fully and voluntarily committed to her HAUP activities and working within the Haitian community.
For Noelle Charles, 18 and about the begin her college education at Bridgeport University, the images of devastating destruction and intense suffering that invaded her following the January 12 earthquake both shocked and revolted her. As the child of a mother originally from Jeremie who often spoke of
her native country, they also germinated her impatience to come and live the Haitian experience on-site. “This experience was very informative for all of us,” Noelle commented, adding, “Many connections were established and we were all sad at the thought of leaving the children because what we had built with them was unique.” Also the child of Haitian parents, from Croix-des-Bouquets and Port-au-Prince, Delfine Kerniza, 19 and a third-year student of communications at New York’s Albany State University, summed up with “My parents must be proud!”
FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
“This trip was the result of several months of work with young people who did not hesitate to invest in various community and humanitarian actions here in the United States in order to find the necessary funding for the trip,” emphasized HAUP Executive Director Elsie Saint Louis Accilien. She was clearly overjoyed by both the spontaneous and warm welcome the HAUP youth group received as well as the establishment of so constructive a dialogue between young Haitians and Haitian-Americans.
Back in the US, the students not only wrote an individual report emphasizing what most marked their stay, but also made a public presentation of their impressions. And they continue to share lessons learned–personal experiences and deepened knowledge of Haiti–through peer learning sessions along with a deepened commitment to community activities. In short, the trip created an indelible memory and they returned home with another vision of their country of cultural origin. “For most it was a first-time visit, but likely not the last,” the HAUP executive director concluded approvingly.
Gina Faustin, Kompa Guide’s CEO, was honored by Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano along with several others of various ethnic origins at a breakfast meeting on December 15. Staff and friends of Haitian-Americans United for Progress (HAUP) were present in large numbers at the event which gathered at least 300 participants. 
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December 22, 2011 2:26 pm | 
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