A Shalom Zone In Haiti

Haiti Mission Blog

After weeks of working the phones, blogging about the need for relief and development, and raising funds for projects, finally I’m heading to Haiti today to help with cash for food, tents, tarps, meds and a security wall around the Shalom Zone.

Christa White, an anthropologist who speaks Creole and  teaches IT at Drew, is joining me to represent Communities of Shalom at Drew; and together we are joining a mission team from Texas comprised of a doctor, psychologist, nurses, physician assistant, and other United Methodist volunteers totally 20 for a week in Mizak, Haiti.

Mizak, as you may know from previous posts, is a cluster of villages in the mountains where there's no electricity, limited nutritional food (I'm bringing protein bars, knowing rice and beans will be available for purchase), and there may be a mattress on a floor on which to sleep, but I’ve been asked to bring a tent to use and leave behind.

Mizak is about 3 hours southwest of Port au Prince, and 45 minutes by motorcycle up the mountain from the city of Jacmel (where Angelina Jollie was reported to have been yesterday as she and Brad contemplate making a huge donation to Haiti relief and development).  That’s where I am today catching up on my travel blog.

Mizak community, pop 600+, elevation 2000 feet, feels remote, primitive in its living conditions, and coping fairly well seven weeks after the earth quake.  There are still rice and beans, citrus fruit, sweet potatoes, pork and eggs to eat if you are a subsistence farmer; or if you have cash to purchase goods from villagers.  HAPI, the organization we are partnering with to create a community of Shalom, is still trying to feed 500 kids two meals a day for three days a week as part of their Peace Pals program, but food in bulk is scarce and so far no international NGO has included HAPI in their food aid distributions, perhaps because the priorities are in the main cities, or because its not in any NGO’s assigned jurisdiction, or because they have no advocate.

HAPI, as you may know from previous posts, stands for Haitian Artisans for Peace International—a 3 year old non-profit focused on honoring local artists and artisans and empowering women in order to work for peace (locally defined as freedom from fear) and build community from the inside out.   Last year they applied for ShalomZone Training and membership in the Shalom network.  On January 12—the day of the Earthquake—their application was approved and prioritized by Drew for Shalom training and the assignment of a Shalom summer intern.

Our Shalom mission this week is limited to three objectives: 1) meet and present the Shalom resource to 30+ artisans working together in the HAPI coop; 2) work with HAPI staff on preparations for the training and summer internship; 3) initiate the construction of the Shalom Wall around the perimeter of the Shalom Zone—a designated zone of safety, security, peace, help, hope, empowerment and all that we mean when we use the term SHALOM.  

With a grant from UMCOR they prioritized building Shalom Wall around their Peace Park (donated land for community center with an international Peace Pole in the center).  Funds for the wall also include the construction of community latrines, cistern and septic area. Once constructed, relief efforts can turn to development work in the community where half of the houses have been severely damaged or destroyed by the earthquake.   The Shalom Zone will serve as a demonstration area for what can happen in Mizak is people work together for peace, harmony, health, healing and wholeness in the name of God’s Shalom.