The Republic of
Haiti is on the western third of the island of Hispaniola, sharing the
island with the Dominican Republic. About 95% of the eight
million Haitians are descendants of African slaves. Haiti is the
most densely populated country in Latin America and has the lowest per
capita income. About two thirds of the people are unemployed and
three quarters live in poverty.
The
mission team went to Bayonnais, a rural, mountainous area in northern
Haiti. The 65 mile trek from the Port-au-Prince airport to the
village of Cathor took about five hours as a portion of the trip could
only be made by a four wheel drive vehicle, truck or large bus.
The nearest city is Gonaive, about 17 miles from Cathor, but travel
time by vehicle is 1.5 hours. Many people walk the distance.
Bayonnais
is at the point of the blue marker on this Google map.
(Suggestion: Select the
"Hybrid" option at the top of the map to see
place names, and use the scale on the left side of the map to zoom out
to get perspective.)
OFCB Ministries
hosted our team. OFCB was founded about 16 years ago by five
young men from the area. They were committed Christians and
wanted to provide educational opportunities for children from the
area. A church was founded with the school. There are now
1,600 students in a school offering grades K through 13. About
1,000 of the students are in the elementary grades, at the school
during the morning hours, and the other 600 students are in high school
meeting in the afternoon. The church has a membership of about
500.
Cathor has no
utilities. An open viaduct brings water from an artesian spring to the
village. The only electricity is at the school and church; there
are solar panels supplemented by a generator and batteries.
A typical
student would live in a small, stone house, probably with an extended
family. The house would have no electricity or plumbing.
Lighting would be from a kerosene lamp. Cooking would be over a
charcoal fire. There’s a good chance the family would practice
voodoo and would have no exposure to other religions. There is no
employment in the area, other than the school, so the family lives on a
small garden with chickens, goats and pigs for food or trade. The
children have not seen television. They probably have seen
someone at the school use a cell phone, and they may have seen
computers in use at the school.
Click here to
view photos from the mission trip to Haiti by members of the Montreat
PC(USA) congregation.