Sunday, 20 July 2014

What It Means To Participate In The Haiti Mission

By Paulette Mason


Haiti is a small Caribbean country with a huge population. The country is endowed with beautiful scenery but has experiences historical injustices in the hands of foreign powers which continue to impact greatly on its current state. It was initially dominated by Spain and later France. These countries, more so the latter, greatly exploited its resources to its advantage . Natural calamities such as the 2010 earthquake compounded by the cholera menace have left behind an impoverished people, a shaky economy and extremely poor infrastructure. Today the country ranks is one of the poorest in the world and records an extremely low GDP. It is this state of affairs that has seen foreign people come out to help and even plan trips into the country in a bid to help eradicate some of the human problems being experienced in the country. These activities are now commonly referred to as the Haiti mission.

The churches in Haiti in collaboration with other North America churches are among the key supporters of these missions. The United Nations through its missions has also greatly contributed to the transformation process in the country through supporting the reconstruction and stability measures that have been established.

This has been most notably been done by ensuring peace and stability of the country, strengthen political processes more so the establishment of strong independent institutions of governance and ensuring that the rights and freedoms of the Haitian people are protected.

Church sponsored missions have been mostly based on foreign trips by different volunteer groups from different places. However some of the locals have also been part of the volunteer teams. Haiti outreach ministries for instance depends these foreign nationals to be able to implement its plans for the people. It also offers various services such as accommodation to the foreign guests at a lower fee. It also ensures prudent management of resources donated to the organization. Most volunteers come from the United States of America.

People can contribute to these activities regardless of ones professional background since there is a wide range of tasks that require manual skills. Volunteers can engage in construction activities, teacher training or teaching, in general upkeep, organizing and facilitating activities such as school trips, seminars or bible study and provision of medical care. Those intending to stay longer can engage in other activities other than those of their teams that require long term engagement.

Teams planning to travel ought to be ready to finance their ministry during their stay. If an individual intends to stay in a guesthouse, the daily cost per day will approximately be $35.you will also probably need additional cash if you decide to spend in the work site, select gifts or pick souvenirs . One might also be required to buy some of the equipment being used in a project. Those in a construction project may be required to bring with them hammers, screwdrivers or other necessary tools.

Those who are not able to have a trip can use other means to contribute to the welfare of the Haiti people. This can be done through sponsoring students or provision of financial aid.

However, those who have visited this country to engage in community empowerment programs attest to the fact that the experience significantly impacted on them. Therefore these missions are not only beneficial to the Haitian people but also to the team members.




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