Caitlin Green

Holiday for a hero: Mount student travels to Haiti

Written by: Luke Levy, Mount public relations student
Photos by: Caitlin Green, Mount public relations student

A group of young boys are huddled around some hot coals, slowly cooking a few insect-ridden pieces of meat – the only meal they can afford. This is the scene in Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti. Poverty stricken and earthquake ravaged, the people here are in dire need of help.

Enter Caitlin Green, a 20-year-old public relations student at Mount Saint Vincent University. A true believer in the spirit of charity, Caitlin travelled to Haiti earlier this summer to do her part.

“It’s like nothing you’ve ever seen before in your entire life,” Caitlin says, choosing her words carefully. “There is just so much to do,” she explains.

Caitlin went to Haiti for 10 days in May with Hero Holiday, a global humanitarian relief program with Absolute Leadership Development Inc.

Taking the trip was no easy feat for Caitlin; she had to raise over $3,000 to cover the cost of travel and the tools and materials needed to complete projects while in Haiti.

Caitlin’s journey began in Hamilton, Ontario, where she excitedly updated her Facebook status in anticipation of the experience to come. Her trip to Haiti came just months after the devastating earthquake that killed hundreds of thousands of people and left more than a million homeless.

“I wanted to help,” Caitlin says. “There is just too much destruction, too much hurt; no one can deal with that without the aid of others.”

Her last status update before leaving for Haiti stated that she was in Hamilton – she commented on the surreal feeling of getting ready to depart to the most disaster ravaged country in the world.

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Arrival

Driving from the airport to her hotel, it became clear to Caitlin just how much work needed to be done. There was rubble and garbage everywhere; their government cannot afford to remove the damage and debris.

“I wish I could describe the smell,” says Caitlin. “It’s beyond words.”

She and her fellow group of travelers were quickly shown to their hotel room. Then it was time to meet the people.

Caitlin and her team worked in several orphanages in Port-au-Prince. The most memorable for Caitlin were the two she visited on her first day, both run by a man name David and his father. David started the orphanage in his own home, but soon had to expand due to the number of children in need. He and his father currently run the two orphanages.

The team’s work days typically ended at six o’clock in the evening. Back at their hotel, they were surrounded by huge concrete walls that essentially cut them off from the rest of Port-au-Prince.

•        •       •

Being in Haiti

The projects that Caitlin and her group were assigned were fairly simple; build a roof for a church, which also doubles as a schoolhouse, and build a kitchen.

Construction of the kitchen required the team to mix cement and dig holes for supports. Once they had gotten a good start on the project, it was time to hang out with the kids.

“The hardest part was the language barrier,” Caitlin says.

The Haitian people speak Creole, a language based largely on 18th century French. Since the kids couldn’t fully understand English, and the team did not know Creole, there was a real lack of communication, but in the face of their situation, it didn’t matter.” A translator was provided help the group communicate with the Haitians.

Caitlin explains that minimum wage in Haiti is about five dollars a day, if you were to work with the government. Many of the people are self-employed, either working in a shop they set up themselves, or selling food and other goods at the local markets. Lots of people have cars, but they are so old that they often break down, and they are a large contributor to the heavy smog that surrounds Port-au-Prince. There are no rules of the road in Haiti, and most of the roads are in extremely poor condition – save for the roads that lead to the few textile factories. All the structures and buildings are made from concrete – they have no wooden structures. This was a heavy contributor to the amount of rubble and debris caused by the earthquake; the concrete was old and beginning to erode, and the quake shook it all free.

•        •       •

The orphanages

For the next few days of the trip, Caitlin and the Hero Holiday crew split their time between their projects and visiting the two orphanages run by David and his father, as well as the recently erected tent city orphanage which is also run by David. Every person living in the tent city is an earthquake survivor.

The first one they visited was David’s fathers – the all-boys orphanage. They brought the children toys, and it was a whole new experience for them. The children valued a piece of Play Dough far more than most kids would their cherished IPods. The kids liked to take pictures; in fact it was probably their favorite thing to do according to Caitlin.

“Seeing smiles on faces made the trip worth it,” she recalls. “You kind of forget about the situation, the hunger and the damage, and just live in the joy of the moment.”

Along with treating their Play Dough like solid gold, Caitlin was struck by how the kids were careful with everything they received. The new soccer ball they were given was one of the most prized possessions in the orphanage.

“These kids are phenomenal at soccer,” exclaims Caitlin. “I thought I could probably beat a 10-year-old… I mean I am 20, but these kids have some serious talent.”

The next day they visited the girl’s orphanage at David’s house. They spent the day painting the inside and outside of the building, and organizing and tidying the girls’ rooms.

“The thing with these kids is that they always want to help,” says Caitlin. “They’re used to working just to live.”

The next day they travelled to the tent city orphanage and ran a sports camp for the kids. Though they brought lots of things to play with, the highlight was the game of water balloons. They filled up a balloon and threw it back and forth to one another, while taking a step away from each other every time the balloon is thrown.

“Spending time and paying attention to these kids was the best part of the trip,” Caitlin said. “They need this kind of thing – they’re on their own! They don’t have parents or families, so they need to get attention and love from somewhere. We did all we could, and I feel great about it.”

As she spent time in the orphanages, Caitlin came to realize that these kids are like a family. They look out for one another, they are extremely generous with their few possessions, and understand that they need to make the best of what they have.

•        •       •

Departure

For the final few days in Haiti, Caitlin and the team stayed busy. They worked on the kitchen and the roof of the church schoolhouse, ran an English camp and helped teach the kids basic words, colors and numbers, and took a day trip to the beach.

The beach trip was a big event. They drove a bus across town to pick up an off duty police officer to accompany them to the beach while the kids travelled in a separate bus. Then they drove three hours to the rocky beach that was their destination.

“The kids loved swimming and they loved the water,” Caitlin said. “We brought enough food to feed all the kids, and they all waited until everyone had a plate in front of them before saying a prayer and digging in.”
When the rain started they were forced to leave, but not before a solid three hour swim.

Saying goodbye is always hard and for Caitlin, this trip was no exception. Caitlin and the Hero Holiday team travelled to each of the orphanages to see the kids and say their farewells, and both David and his father spoke, showing their gratitude and appreciation on behalf of themselves and the children. Then they were off to the airport.

•        •       •

Caitlin had a life changing trip. She helped build a kitchen so that hundreds of kids no longer eat food that was cooked over open coals, and she contributed to building a roof on a church turned schoolhouse so that the children don’t have to work under the hot sun or the pounding rain.

“There is still so much to be done. Nobody can know what it’s like until you’re there. They have a beautiful country, there are so many gorgeous trees and flowers and sights, and they have a diverse culture, but they don’t have an education system in place, and they don’t have the money to clean up the hand that nature has dealt them.”

Caitlin has plans to embark on this journey once again next year – but she has a far greater goal.

“I want to raise enough money so that David can buy a property and build another orphanage,” she says. “This needs to happen; there just isn’t enough room to house all of those kids.”

She will be heading back to Haiti in August 2011.

“Courage is what comes to mind when I think of these people,” Caitlin says. “They had nothing and they still lived on.”

If anyone is interested in helping in any way, Caitlin asks you to contact her either through Facebook or directly to her email, gmail.com.

To become involved in the Hero Holiday program, visit their website.