Dear Reader,
Welcome to our 2022 11 Days in Haiti Campaign!
We started this project in response to a volunteer trip that we took in the summer of 2018 to Saint-Marc, Haiti. In partnership with the Archdiocese of Baltimore and Mortel High Hopes for Haiti Foundation, we traveled with the goal of providing educational and creative outlet opportunities for elementary-school aged students during a week-long summer camp at Les Bons Samaritains school. The day we planned to leave, violent riots that remain on-going today began in response to a stark and sudden increase in fuel prices, trapping our group in the country for an additional four days and bringing our trip to 11 Days in Haiti.
Like many who travel to provide volunteer work in developing nations, our group struggled to adapt back to American life and culture upon our return. It bothered us that we got to leave the country behind and flee to safety while the people who called it home were left in turmoil. Haiti has a long and complex past contributing to the modern-day conditions, and over the past several years, new chapters in their history book have only made future outlooks more onerous.
In the summer of 2020, the world was forced to take a step back from daily routine as the COVID-19 pandemic proliferated. In seeing the ramifications in even the most advanced of nations, we knew that when the virus spread to Haiti, the impacts would be harrowing. As a way to keep the story and the voice of the people there present, we launched the campaign, sharing stories and memories from our trip and raising over $4,000 in the process to assist with building hand washing stations and purchasing necessary sanitation equipment.
In 2021, we ran the campaign again with the focus on spreading awareness of the events transpiring in Haiti. President Jovenel Moïse had been assassinated four days before we planned to launch the campaign, and all the world’s attention was now on the country and how it would move forward. We tailored our efforts to ensure the focus was where it belonged – on the people, on their story, and on how we could help them.
This year has not been easy on the Haitian population. The continued residual impacts of the riots from President Moïse’s previous policies, the aftermath of his death and new leadership taking office, and a stark increase in gang presence and violence have compounded to create new levels of challenges for an already struggling country. For these reasons, the importance of education are only underscored: the Mortel High Hopes for Haiti Foundation educates the leaders of the future so they may bring a brighter and more hopeful future for their families and country. But the education sector also struggled uniquely over the past year. Between the shutdowns for COVID-19 and for safety, teachers struggled to remain connected with and optimistic for their students. Similar to the United States, many expressed that they were not supported, that the structure they were working within was not conducive for success, and that they wanted to leave the field.
This year, our goal for the campaign is unique, because it represents a tangible means to create a new impact in the classroom. In addition to sharing the stories of Haitian culture, students, and the current climate of the country, we will be raising funds to go to the first ever teaching grants for educational advancement at Ecole Les Bons Samaritains. With the funds raised, teachers at LBS will have the opportunity to apply for funding to support a new initiative or project aimed at expanding the impact and potential for education at LBS – anything from new textbooks to training and advancement opportunities. Each year, we hope to award one, if not more, of these grants to teachers so that the opportunity to have their ideas and needs for teaching successfully effectuated.
As always, the primary goal of 11 Days in Haiti remains to raise awareness through educational materials and through stories. Despite its past and despite its challenges, Haiti continues to persevere and survive because of its spirit of optimism, commitment to faith, and culture of kindness. When we expand our viewpoints to people and places beyond what we know, we prepare to be a part of a brighter future for ourselves and the world around us.
You can check back here each day to read a new blog post written by one of the students from the trip that started 11 Days in Haiti and track our progress toward this year's fundraising initiative on the homepage.
Thank you for being a part of the hope and a part of the future. We are thrilled to launch the 2022 11 Days in Haiti Campaign!
- Olivia, Brooke, and the 11 Days Team
To donate to the 11 Days in Haiti Campaign, click here.