Pioneers

Pioneer:  

"one who opens up new areas of thought, research, or development; one who ventures into unknown territory"

I went to Catholic school.  I can remember being about 15 or 16 years old, a junior at Seton Catholic Central High School in Plattsburgh, NY.  I remember seeing the advertisements for study abroad terms, short-term trips to foreign countries, semester at sea programs, all the like.  I can remember bringing home the brochures and reading them in my room, hiding them from my parents so they wouldn't know what I was hoping to someday do.  When I finally got the courage to ask, it was too late, and so my opportunity to have this kind of experience sort of faded.  

As we welcomed the first group of Britsionarys here at Be Like Brit while we actually have children living here, I wasn't quite sure what to expect.  This was a first for not just me, but for our organization.  We've hosted many groups throughout the construction phase of our project, but never have we had a group of volunteers alongside what is now a group of 15 children.  I was anxious, and quite frankly nervous about how things might play out.  The week proved to be a tremendous experience not only for the young men of St. John's Catholic High School in Shrewsbury, MA along with their team leaders, Mr. Tim Williams and Mr. Mike Nicholson, but for all of us here at Be Like Brit, too.

Day 1 - On the roof! 

We were also blessed to have Ross Pentland join the group.  Ross is a St. John's Alum and decided he wanted to come along for this trip to share his previous experiences in Haiti with the group.  Ross is a bit of a legend here in Grand Goâve.  Indeed, it seemed no matter where we went, children and adults alike called out to him "Ross! Ross!"  He served as a great mentor to the group and a liaison between the two cultures.  We want to acknowledge and thank Ross for giving up a week of his vacation from his job to join in on this trip.  Ross gave of his time and money to be a part of this experience and I know from talking with the kids from St. John's that his presence and experience were invaluable to them.

Ross and Kervins

By day, the group labored with our crew who are currently paving the road up the mountain to Be Like Brit. This is no easy task; bags of cement, 5 gallon pails of water, and everything else is hauled down the hill where it is mixed by hand and poured.  Our Britsionarys were up against some tough conditions in Haiti's unforgiving heat and brutal sun.  They worked side by side with our Haitian crew and challenged themselves to keep up with our guys who do this kind of work every day.  They kept up amazingly well and I know they were able to forge some great friendships on the road that leads to us.

After lunch, our Britsionarys got to spend some time with the kiddos! We are up to 15 children now at Be Like Brit in just one month!  As you can imagine, things can get a little wild around here, and the guys from St. John's were great with our kids!  As I sat back and watched them all playing, coloring, singing, dancing, laughing, I couldn't help but feel proud of both our kids and the St. John's group.  

It's not often you find a group of high school boys who are willing to sacrifice their February break to pour concrete on a mountain road in Haiti during the day and spend their afternoons playing with children who have been orphaned or abandoned and can be a handful at times.  While my responsibilities kept me away from the road work during the day, I was fortunate enough to spend afternoons with the group on our child-related activities.  These guys could not have been a greater group for our children's first introduction to visitors from outside our walls.  They were patient, gentle, loving, playful, generous, instructive, and all around helpful.  The kids were all smiles, too!

Mike leads a sing-a-long in our outdoor chapel area.

Our group was fortunate enough to attend the inaugural mass of the newly constructed St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Grand Goâve.  Not realizing in advance that Sunday morning mass was going to be a bit different from the normal hour-long service, the group from St. John's sat patiently for over three and a half hours while the group of clergy performed the awesome service and blessed and dedicated their new church.  It is not everyday that a group of 10 high school students sit through a nearly 4 hour long service, in a language they can't understand, and do so respectfully, participating when they can, and expressing what a wonderful experience it was after the fact.

We also brought the group to a Tuesday night service at Mission of Hope International, the church where our children go to school.  We wanted them to have the total experience here in Haiti, and Mission of Hope is an integral part of the Grand Goâve community and a great friend to us here at Be Like Brit.  I was a bit nervous, to be honest, about bringing a group of Catholic high school students to a service in a Christian church.  Catholic services are so different from what they would witness that night.  I wasn't sure how they might react or respond.  As the service ended and we started to exit, one of the St. John's students turned to me and exclaimed, "That was awesome!"  We are so thankful to Mission of Hope International for giving our group such a great experience.  They even brought Mr. Mike Nicholson up on stage to lead the worship with his guitar and lend his voice.  It was indeed an awesome night.

Sensing that the guys may have been a bit restless, one afternoon we decided to take them out on a hike behind Be Like Brit, where as the height of the mountains increase so does the level of poverty.  We wanted them to get out and see some of the contradictions which are so much a part of Haiti:  The natural beauty of the country alongside the abject poverty that is so pervasive and so much the norm.  We hiked to areas I've not yet been to, and as the children emerged from their homes along the path, the group from St. John's took these children by the hand and walked along with them.  At one point, I witnessed one of the St. John's students giving his water bottle away to a group of children who were clearly thirsty.  Such a simple act, but such overwhelming compassion and kindness.

In the evenings, I was fortunate enough to be included in the group reflection times, which were held either on the roof of Be Like Brit (a favorite spot for the adults!) or in our Britsionary common area.  Together we would sit, start with a prayer and song, and discuss the day's events.  I remember being that age (as long ago as it was!) and I certainly don't remember being so open to sharing and putting my feelings and emotions out for everyone to dissect.  The beauty of these Britsionary trips (I think) will be the relationships they build within the Britsionary group and those they build with the children and people of Haiti.  Those same types of experiences I was hoping to discover when I was a young man in high school through study abroad programs, I was able to witness them and be a small part of them through this group's experience.

Of course, no Britsionary trip would be complete without our U.S. Director Kristin leading the Team into Haiti and directing their activities for the week.  Most of you probably only know "of" Kristin.  Unless you've been on a Britsionary trip or have met her through one of Be Like Brit's fundraising events or a public speaking engagement, you don't know how awesome she is.  This was the first time I got to spend a week with Kristin as she brought in a Team.  Kristin is a machine!  She works right along side the Britsionary groups, on the road, pouring concrete, painting fences, etc., and at the same time she manages to keep up on all of her other tasks with Be Like Brit back in the States.  I can tell you I have met very few people in this world as driven and dedicated as Kristin.  I know this trip was great for her, too - she now has 8 younger brothers!  As the group solidified an identity over the week, by the end of it, they were teasing and giving each other a tough time just like family.  That's part of what these trips are about, and Kristin is invaluable in that regard.   She even got up early a few mornings and made one of our security guards run sprints with her up and down our mountain!

Kweeeeestin!

Some of you know this already, but the mascot for St. John's High School in Shrewsbury, MA is the Pioneer.  In every sense of the word, this group represented all that describes what that means.  They came to a new place, they assimilated in a short amount of time, they settled in and worked side by side with those who were here before them.  They paved the way and set the standard for what it means to be a global citizen; a concerned global citizen.  They worked tirelessly, without complaint, and they worked hard.

Through their hard work, a community now has a paved road.  While that may sound like a simple thing to most, in a place like Haiti, that means everything.  Every time a woman walks up or down our road, with children in tow, invariably carrying buckets of water on her head as she makes her way to wherever she may be going, this group of Britsionarys has a place in that.  Every time a dirt road is impassable because of heavy rains and mud, and our road is used instead, this group of Britsionarys has a place in that.  Every time this road is used by anyone in this community or in the mountain community behind us, this group of Britsionarys has a place in that.  While they may not be recognized for these efforts, and remain faceless strangers to the Haitians who will benefit from their selfless labor, we at Be Like Brit know, as do those with whom they worked along side.

So, to Mike K., Forrest O., Brendan B., Jacob D., Tim B., Quinn G., PJ B., Zach G., Mike, Tim, and Ross:  Thank you.  For changing my life, for changing the lives of our 15 children here at Be Like Brit, and for changing the lives of all of those who will benefit from your efforts.  My hope for you all is that you take what you found here, whatever you may have discovered about yourself and what you might want to do with your lives, and carry it on with you wherever you may go.

Enjoy these photos from the St. John's trip, and as always, thanks for reading.

Jonathan

"Please, take my children."

Last week, a contact of ours approached me explaining that there was a group of orphaned children living in a town about an hour west from Be Like Brit; some were living with extended family, some with friends – some alone on the street.  We were told this group consisted exclusively of true orphans – children having no living parent.  It was decided we would make the drive and conduct interviews on site to determine if these children might benefit from our program here at Be Like Brit.

Gama and I, along with Rosenie (my sidekick) and Gilbert, another one of our employees, set out early Valentine’s Day morning to meet this group who had arranged to gather at the home of a local pastor.  As we worked our way west along the coast to our right and the mountains to our left, my anxiety level began to grow.  While I enjoy more than anything going out into the community and meeting people and speaking with families, it’s almost always an emotionally tough day – game face is definitely on while we are conducting the work, but the process itself has yet to leave me unscathed or unaffected.  As we crept down the final dirt road to the house, we came upon a sight I will never forget.  Gathered under the trees in the shade, sitting and standing, was a group of about 40 people.  All of them were waiting patiently for one thing: to give us their children.

Part of the group waiting for our arrival.

People are always asking us – how do you choose your children?  How do you decide who gets in and who doesn’t?  I can tell you that the process varies, but we do have guidelines in place – criterion of sorts to help us narrow the overwhelming need in Haiti.  We first look for true orphan status, a given age range (3 to 8 at the time of intake) and require certain paperwork in order to conduct our business in full compliance with Haitian laws.  This is no easy task; Haitian law can sometimes be vague, inconsistent and/or always changing.  Things like birth certificates and death certificates, while a requisite in the U.S., are a rarity in Haiti.  As we began to interview these women and the young children they brought to meet us that day, we were met with people begging and pleading for us to help – mothers who can’t afford to educate or feed their children; grandmothers who are just too old to do it any longer; aunts who are already overwhelmed with their own children to assume the care of their extended family.  It’s easy to think of these children as unloved, but I’m learning that’s not usually the case.  While at times it seems as if the women who bring us their children show no emotional attachment or grief in their desires to give them to us, often these women beseech our help through tears, through heartache and through shame.

A woman with her grandchildren.

Woman after woman, child after child; this group came to us with every situation imaginable.  After several hours of work, we determined that 5 of these children are “eligible” for our program at Be Like Brit; every person we met is in need of it.

So this is our predicament:  Do we take the children who might be outside of our age bracket because their mother is sick with AIDS?  Do we break up siblings because the mother wants to keep the strongest boy at home so he might go to work and earn them some money to feed her and whomever else lives in the household a meager meal maybe once per day – and send us her younger children instead?  Do we take the child who is a true orphan, who has all of his paperwork, but who begs his grandmother not to give him away?  This is what we work through daily – these are the decisions we make.  None of them are easy, and none of them ever makes me feel “good” inside. 

I can’t begin to explain to you how complex navigating this system in a place like Haiti is.  People have emailed me asking why we don’t allow our children to be adopted – the short answer is that the Haitian government makes that all but impossible.  The longer answer, well, is far too long.  People have asked if we encourage women to sign over rights to their child.  The short answer to that is also yes – we have to have legal rights to the child in order to assume care of them.  The longer answer, again, is far too long to go in to here. 

Know that in all of our decisions, Be Like Brit is always committed to preserving families – maintaining the integrity of family units and has the best interests of the child in mind.  None of our decisions are final.  We have comprehensive family involvement programming, family reunification as a goal where expressed by the child, and a community involvement program which seeks to build the capacity of these families we work with so that they might one day be able to care for their own children once again.   So, when people ask us “why” this, or “why” that – there is no short answer.  It’s a complicated web of government and policy and bureaucracy with human lives thrown in the mix.  Our work is always conducted with utmost care and concern.  

So while we make these decisions, on we go with the children we already have.  Holding steady at 11, we plan to bring in about 5 more this week.  As we evaluate their adjustment and assimilation, give time for each child to adapt to this new addition to their environment, I will continue going out and meeting these families and children.  We have a lot of work to do to get to 66.  It would be easy to fill our rooms with children whose parents don’t want them or can’t provide for them.  The fact that we haven’t done that should suggest that we are taking the utmost care in this most difficult process.

This week, we welcomed our first group of Britsionarys to come to Be Like Brit while we have children living here with us!  A group of 10 students from St. John’s High School in Shrewsbury, MA along with two of their faculty members made their way to Grand Goâve on Saturday, February 16, 2013.  They were greeted with our children singing a traditional Creole welcome song – and despite their almost certain exhaustion, we played just a bit later than the children’s bedtime!

Kristin greets our group!

Hauling in our goods!

Welcome to Be Like Brit! 

Ross and Kervins

Attack!

Who doesn't like to play army?

Progress

It occurred to me that in the process of going out into the communities around Grand Goâve and meeting with family members and children in an attempt to bring those with the most urgent need into Be Like Brit, I have somewhat neglected to share with you all of the wonderful things that are happening already within our own very walls!  We now have 11 children living at Be Like Brit.  While this transition from construction of a building to creating a loving, nurturing home environment has been at times trying, I feel I have not communicated how great this experience has been, too.  Sure, we've had tears and emotions, fighting between some of the children - what family hasn't? We have also had lots of laughs, lots of fun, and most importantly, lots of love!

Meal times are always a bit of ordered chaos - but they are almost always quiet with plates full of food! 

One of the funnier things we've noticed as we bring in new children has been the reactions of the other children who are already living here at Be Like Brit.  As most of you know, Kervins (Chacha) was our first child to come home to BLB. He reigned as the first and only child here for about a week, and his reactions to the arrival of our new children have ranged from indifference to excitement to downright annoyed! In his most adorable, haughty just-turned-three year old way, his face will often scowl as he points and says "HEY!" with a bewildered look on his face. It's become a bit comical among the staff at how protective he is of his space, but we've also made great strides with him in this area.  With the arrival of a new child, we gather everyone together in their collective common area, their own "space", and introduce all of the children to each other.  In a fun name game, we see who can guess the names of the other children, who knows who the new children are, and who wants to be responsible for making sure they are welcomed with open arms.  I find this a great opportunity to see the older children step up and say they want to help! The purpose is two-fold, as it gives us an opportunity to reinforce the significance of each child's identity and place here at Be Like Brit.  To be fair to Chacha, he has been running a bit of a fever - so we think that may be why he's a bit grumpy.  He only takes his medicine from Gilbert - which is funny to us - but we're happy to have Gilbert on hand to make Chacha feel better when he needs a dose!

Like a good boy, but only for Gilbert! 

The children really do assimilate almost amazingly well.  I had anticipated the first few nights for each child to be somewhat tough - I expected lots of tears, for the children to be socially withdrawn a bit, and to some extent we've had that.  In every case, though, I am reminded of the amazing resilience of children in adapting to new environments.  It's never long (a night, maybe two at the most!) before everyone seems well adjusted to their new life and friendships are being made every day!

Socrate and Ephesiens - one caped crusader, one sweaty boy after running from his would-be captor!

Indeed, we are so blessed to have a great group - albeit a small group, we believe we are taking the necessary time and steps to ensure that the assimilation process into this new place is done with the utmost care and concern for all involved.  Sometimes I find myself laughing at the everyday chaos that ensues when you bring children from homes which consist literally of tarps and ropes with no amenities which we take for granted and introduce them to this very Western, very foreign home.

Believe me when I say that at times, one has to have a bit of a warped sense of humor to get through the day.  The morning, for instance, when one of our children was using the sink as a toilet - my first response was "No! No! No!" - while at the same time appreciating that this whole concept of using a toilet was entirely new and obscure to this child - I later had to laugh - this child at least was trying to get it right - and while the mistake brought a bit of a chuckle to a few of us, it really does put into perspective the stark contrast between their lives before Be Like Brit and their lives now.

I'm happy to report that all of our children are now using the toilet.  The sinks are safe. :)

Saturday morning - no school! Lots of time to play and learn! 

As we navigate the everyday, behind the scenes challenges, like toilet training, brushing teeth, using a napkin at dinner, eating with utensils, etc., we have a lot of fun.  The children are so quick to learn - our staff is so loving and caring and patient with each of them - that while the events leading up to getting 11 children seated at the table, napkin in lap, eyes closed, ready for prayer are chaotic, the sound of them giving thanks for all they have been so blessed to receive right before they eat is the most calming, peaceful, and rewarding few minutes of every day.

Midlens - age, unknown?

"Kouman ou rele?" I asked our newest boy.  "Midlens" he replies.  I check the name he gives me against the name listed on the birth certificate provided to me by his uncle.  It checks out.  "Ki lag ou?" I ask, (how old are you?)  "I don't know" is his response.  Understandably so.  We were told he was a boy of 2 years, and just two years at that.  It's more likely that he's around 4 or 5.  As he's never been in school, we can't find out through records.  In Haiti, when you need a birth certificate, I'm told that many times the person working for the given authority will just look a child over and assign (at random) an age and a date.  So, while his paperwork might indicate an age of 2, we know that's not likely accurate.  It just adds to the reality of how broken this system is in Haiti - and while Haiti is making great strides in a post-earthquake situation, the fact that so much of the country was reduced to rubble has resonating effects throughout all areas of everyday life.

Steeve, Ephesiens, and Midlens:  Just like brothers!

We have a few sets of siblings here at Be Like Brit, including our newest two girls, Daphney and Saradina.  Part of our commitment to maintaining the integrity of family units wherever possible is to keep siblings together, even if it may go against some of the guidelines our program committee set in place.  We recognize those guidelines as just that - guidelines - not fixed, but rather flexible.  When you are dealing with human beings, no policy can be rigid.  It's up to me and with advice from the program committee to make some tough decisions about when to invoke the "flexibility privilege."  Daphney was one of those times - as she is 9 years old.  Her younger sister, Saradina, was brought here early on and considered for enrollment, but I hesitated as she had this elder sister at home.  After visiting their home and seeing the conditions in which they were living - absent of love, affection, education, food, clothing - I knew we had to help.  I'm happy to report that even after just one night, Daphney has taken on a role of "big sister" to not only Saradina, but to the others here at Be Like Brit.  She's a joy to have around and is looking forward to starting school on Monday...for the first time ever!

Daphney

Our staff, as I said, has been wonderful.  While it's not necessarily traditional in these types of settings to have male caregivers, we at Be Like Brit like to be unique! We believe strongly that a positive male role model in our children's lives will only contribute to positive growth and development.  Not just for our boys, but our girls as well.  Nico has been one of our great male role models for our children.  As an interpreter, as a caregiver, as a coach - Nico is leading exercise programs on Saturday mornings, along with teaching the children some basics about the English language.  We are happy to have him here at Be Like Brit, along with all of our other great caregivers!

Nico comforts Saradina, who just had a bit of a fall while running around the courtyard!

We know there's always more going on below the surface than what we can ascertain from casual observation - and we work on that regularly with our children.  But sometimes there's just no denying that these smiles are genuine and these children are happy!

Loobens and Ephesiens

See? Even Chacha can break out into a smile, despite being dethroned as King of the castle! :)

Adjusting, slowly but surely!

We are blessed with more wonderful staff! Madame Evana is a cook for us here at Be Like Brit, but it's not unusual to see her taking a break from the kitchen to show the children a few things and help them out in the morning as we scramble out the door to make it to school on time!  She works so hard in the kitchen and goes above and beyond those duties!

Amazing woman, Evana!

Carline is one of our newest additions to the staff here at Be Like Brit.  She's a singer in the Choir at Church and has our children sounding like a well-trained group.  One of my favorite sounds is when she and Elsie work together with them on traditional Haitian songs and poems.  As I sit on the 2nd floor terrace tapping away at my laptop, the sound of children singing in unison makes the hair on my arms stand up and brings a smile to my face.  It's a beautiful sound!

L-R: Loobens, Mirna, Germanie, Love na, and Carline.

 Even Madame Santana, who cleans for us 6 days a week at Be Like Brit is happy!  She gets some interesting bathrooms to clean, indeed, and washes the children's shoes and clothes.  She's one of the hardest working women I've ever met - even coming in on days off to take clothes off the line, despite my telling her it isn't necessary for her to do it, that I know how to fold laundry.  She just won't have it! We love having her around, and on occasion I enjoy catching her singing or whistling while she keeps Be Like Brit clean and safe for all of our children.

Santana, you left the water running! 

Tricking Chacha into taking his medicine, before Gilbert arrives to do it with ease!

And then there's this...

Mirna

If you haven't sponsored a child yet here at Be Like Brit, we invite you to check out our link:

sponsorships.belikebrit.org

None of this is easy:  With each child we bring in, a serious amount of resources, work, time and money are expended.  Upon their arrival, children are given new sandals, new shoes for school and church, clothes, a backpack, school supplies, school uniforms, personal care items like powder, toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo, ribbons and barrettes for hair, sheets, towels, plates and cups for school snacks, and more! This is just to get them into Be Like Brit!  As they progress in school, their needs will grow, and so will ours.

Your gift of sponsorship will allow us to continue to bring smiles to these faces.  As our family grows (and believe me, it's growing!) we hope you'll follow us along and help where you can!

We are proud to report that all of our children start school the next school day after their arrival!  We are proud that they are well fed, dressed, loved, and provided for.  The reward is their smiles, their joy, their thanks.

Each day when our children come in from school, they greet every member of our staff with either a handshake or a kiss on the cheek.  I'm pretty proud of that - as they did this of their own volition.  Nobody on our staff asked them to do this - and so for me, it's proof that in the right environment, these children will continue to grow, learn, thrive, and love.

Thanks for reading,

Jonathan

And Then There Were Seven

On January 21, 2013 we welcomed our first child in to the Be Like Brit Orphanage here in Grand Goâve, Haiti.  This date was significant in that it just so happens to be Brit’s birthday.  Believe me when I say that the timing was serendipitous.  We had considered trying to bring a child in on that day for obvious reasons, but decided that we would wait for it to happen naturally – to not confine ourselves to a boxed window of time for the sake of symbolism.  So, when it just so happened that Kervins came to us on January 21, 2013, it’s clear that fate played a hand.

Kervins on his first day of school!

As the program director, one of my duties is to search for children who might be eligible for our program here at Be Like Brit.  In a place like Haiti, when word gets out that the new orphanage on the hill is ready to bring children inside its protective walls, the response is overwhelming.  For the first week or so, women brought children in by the dozens, some with heart-wrenching stories of abandonment, desertion, unemployment, starvation, and of course, death.    Others, though, seemed eerily happy at the prospect of bringing their child to our doorstep; they may not have as dire a need as some of the other women, but rather regarded the opportunity to come to Be Like Brit as what we might recognize in the West as the equivalent of admission into a prestigious boarding school or elite club.

Overwhelmed by the response, and quite frankly a bit taken aback by how freely women would offer up their children to us, seemingly without emotion or consideration, I decided to shift my approach.  Instead of asking women to come to us, I made up my mind to reach out to the community myself.  Alongside my Haitian sidekick Rosenie, we took to the roads and mountains in our area in search of children we had heard needed to be helped.

I’m no stranger to community outreach work.  I’ve conducted research in some of the poorest areas of New Orleans with chronically homeless, mentally ill, HIV-positive, and substance dependent individuals.  I’ve witnessed what I thought were tough conditions. 

A decade ago or so I worked in international business in China, Vietnam, Malaysia, and the Philippines.  I’ve certainly seen some of the world’s worst slums; some of the most vulnerable and exploited people in factories and on assembly lines working 15 hours a day for pennies and housed en masse in tenuous dormitory housing.

Most recently I spent three months in Rwanda working with an orphanage there, and was exposed to the harsh realities of life in East Africa in a post-Genocidal society still reeling from civil war and the unraveling of the social fabric of the country.

I figured I’d be prepared for whatever I might find in the hills and mountains of Haiti.  I was wrong.

While I don’t mean to bring my readers “down” – the reality, the truth – is that the conditions in which the Haitian people live in are among the worst in the world.  Time and again, as we would round a corner and come upon the next “house” where we knew orphaned children were living, my level of tolerance would be breached, like the levees in New Orleans, and the flood of emotion and visceral reaction to what I found before me was exceeded time and again.

So, one by one, I interviewed these families.  I interviewed the children through the use of an interpreter.  I tried to get some insights into their life, though in all honesty, one doesn’t really need an interview guide and assessment tool to figure out if this particular family or group needs help.  It’s obvious in the smell that invades all five of your senses.  It’s in the sights that make your stomach turn and your eyes wince.  It’s in the tears that well up in your eyes when you bid a one room house of 10 a “Bonswa” and a “Mesi” while you climb back into your ATV and record notes on people who can’t even sign their own name in order to give away their children.

The decision on whether to bring them to Be Like Brit or not is never one taken lightly.  It’s never easy.  I never feel great about taking a child or children from the only home and family they know.  Moreover, it’s never easy on the children.  The first night with each of our new children is almost invariably a long one.  Tears, confusion, lost little eyes looking for something, anythingfamiliar. 

But then there’s the second day, and the third day.  And watching these children transform from naked, hungry, and neglected to clothed, fed, loved, smiling, playful, happy children – even in as little amount of time as a week or two is why I am here in Haiti doing what I am doing. 

And then there’s this morning:  After an emotional week for all of us, especially the children who find themselves here, waking up early, dressing well for church, eating breakfast, laughing and smiling all along the way – this is when I feel good about my decision.

After a few takes, almost everyone is smiling for the camera!

Don’t get me wrong.  I recognize that there is an adjustment period for everyone involved.  For those who arrive new, they must get used to their new environment.  From the taken for granted things in our everyday lives like turning on a sink to brush your teeth, or sitting on a toilet and flushing it away, to flipping on a light switch when it’s dark – all of this is new and amazing to them.  For those who are already here, the status quo gets shifted, and our obligations as caregivers and providers grow exponentially in negotiating that delicate balance of making everyone feel safe, loved, worthy.

I loved my work in Rwanda.  I got to spend three months with 100 children.  They were an established, existing organization.  I didn’t have to hear their stories, meet their families or be witness to their squalor.  Starting from scratch, every detail on every child makes its way through me.  In that way, I feel very blessed and very fortunate.  I will know each of their names, each of their families, each of their histories.  I will know them.  Because of this, I have been able to forge the greatest of relationships with each of the children that Be Like Brit now cares for.

Being a part of this process is unlike anything I had imagined.  Even when it’s hard – and we all knew it would be hard – it is the most precious and wonderful way to spend a day, a week, and now – a month!

First there was one, and now we are seven.  Our work is important, our work is good.  And our work depends on the continued support of readers like you.  Thank you for helping realize Brit’s dream, and through that, letting me live mine.

All smiles! 

Thanks for reading,

Jonathan