Stories

The following Stories are written by people who have spent time in Haiti and would like to share their experiences.

Haiti on the Verge

– A report by Jenifer Grant

Up until very recently, we have been blessed by the fact that rural Deschapelles has been outside of the mayhem and disruptions that have plagued the area around Port-au-Prince. Inflation, lack of fuel, and difficulty in getting actual cash from the bank for our programs in Deschapelles have made an impact, but otherwise things have been calm. The Sister Cities Essex Haiti Library activities, music, tennis, and robotics programs have continued to provide opportunities for the town of Deschapelles and its environs. Our Sister Cities Essex Haiti organization has been able to be fully operational, as most activities take place during the day and are not dependent on travel or supplies.

Unfortunately, not all is calm elsewhere in the country. The month-long blockade on the Varreaux fuel supplies has had a negative effect. Most of Haiti has been brought to a standstill by gangs that have continued to expand their areas of control through ongoing kidnappings and most importantly their blockade to the fuel supplies. Transportation is almost impossible. Schools have not re-opened. Many hospitals and health centers in the capital area have closed or have greatly limited their services. An additional blow is that Cholera has returned – identified mostly in the Port-au-Prince area and mainly a result of water purification systems lacking the fuel to produce potable water. Food is also scarce as Haitian vendors cannot get to and from markets. Telephone and internet services are not reliable.

There have been protests in some of the larger outlying cities, basically about the proposed increase of the cost of fuel. The protests were originally peaceful but have become more intense and, perhaps egged on by others, buildings have been ransacked that held back-up storage areas of food, medical supplies, etc.

Hospital Albert Schweitzer, with its outlying clinics, is one of the few hospitals that remains operational. However, it is now facing several challenges including an increase of patient loads due to the closing of other medical facilities in the area, cholera cases, shortages of medical supplies and, most importantly, obtaining fuel to run energy producing generators. The Hospital has adapted to meet these needs. The recently installed solar power system is currently the only supply of energy. Solar provides power needed to keep the Hospital and other buildings functional during the day. The hospital is dark during the night.

Recently I had a Zoom call from friends who live in Haiti. One person said “90% of the Haitians are good people who want to be part of a restored Haiti.” Another said, “it’s 95%.” I totally agree. I am the eternal optimist, and I have always felt that Hospital Albert Schweitzer, Sister Cities Essex Haiti, and the Crosby Fund for Education’s locale in rural Deschapelles have been important in giving the town a positive outlook. However, these are difficult times in Haiti, and the humanitarian need, especially in the capital city area, will have an impact on the rest of the country including Deschapelles. Fortunately, efforts to find a way to resolve this humanitarian disaster in Haiti are underway. I truly hope that a way will be found to turn this situation around. It is a very complex situation with funding for the gangs coming from somewhere, with various reports of how and why they choose to do what they are doing.

Currently, there is not a lot that we can do ourselves to make change. I wrote this for you to have a fuller understanding about the situation in Haiti in general and the impact in Deschapelles. For more historical and in-depth information, Lydia Polgren’s article in the October 13, 2022, issue of The New York Times is informative.

An Interview With Anny Frederique, SCEH Liaison in Deschapelles

Jenifer Grant (left) with Anny Frederique (right)
2021

Anny Frederique is our liaison in Deschapelles for the SCEH library. The following is a small look into her interesting life.

Beginnings – Ties to Deschapelles

Anny is the youngest of three children born to Esther Eshelman, a Mennonite nurse from Pennsylvania, and Gérard Frédérique, a Haitian ophthalmologist. Her parents worked at the Hôpital Albert Schweitzer (HAS) in Deschapelles, Haiti. Anny lived in Deschapelles until her family moved to Port au Prince when she was three. However, Deschapelles remained a primary source of experience in her life. Every summer the family visited for a vacation to reconnect with friends, HAS staff members, and the hospital’s benefactors Dr. Larry Mellon and his wife Gwen Grant Mellon. Jenifer Grant, daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Mellon, and one of SCEH’s founders was one of these friends.

Off to the US and then a return to Haiti

Most of Anny’s schooling took place at a private Catholic school for girls in Haiti. Beginning with her tenth year of instruction she was whisked away to an American school. Anny states “I remember thinking how odd it was to see boys and girls in a class together.” College years were spent at Goucher College in Baltimore, Maryland, and Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida. Anny, homesick from being away from her family and country, moved back to Haiti shortly after getting her degree in marine sciences.

Start in the working world

Anny’s first job was as a representative with the World Wildlife Fund. While with the organization she helped set up a marine park. Later, Anny moved on to settle in Deschapelles and began her career association with the HAS’. She entered employment with the administrative team. In time, Mrs. Mellon, who knew about her passion for conservation, encouraged her to become part of HAS’ Community Development team. She had also read and followed the logic of Albert Schweitzer’s Reverence for Life, therefore, she made the decision to join the team. During her time on the team, one of her primary accomplishments was creating Ti Jaden (or small gardens). Ti Jaden encourages pregnant women to have small gardens close to home to produce food. Helping the community with reforestation and soil conservation has also been part of her work life.

Marriage, family, off to the US again, and the return to Haiti

In 1993 Anny met John Chew, an American missionary and a skilled builder, while he was working in the next town. They married, bought a farm in the Deschapelles area, and raised three sons. After years of steady life, a major decision was made to temporarily move the family to the US to make money to buy a tractor for the farm. The temporary situation lasted 13 years due to an international embargo on Haiti and political instability. The 2010 earthquake strongly prompted the couple decided to move back to Deschapelles to help the country rebuild. John helped with the construction of hospitals and schools. The family farmed their land and Anny, with the encouragement of Jenifer Grant, joined the Organization pour Development Economique et Social (ODES). ODES is a local Deschapelles development association with a mission to promote agriculture, stimulate the economy, plus improve and enhance education, culture, and the environment. Jenifer also encouraged Anny to follow her passion for libraries and tasked her with helping establish the SCEH library in Deschapelles.

Questions and Answers

We presented questions to Anny for more information about her life. Enjoy getting to know her.

You could choose to return to the US. What keeps you in Haiti?

I am still in Haiti as I am preoccupied with the future of our children, our environment, and our legacy. These are all long-term goals and are often thankless work. I am presently working on bird, or more specifically parrot repopulation, and habitat conservation.

Do you miss anything from your time living in the US?

I miss a level of organization that is not present in Haiti. My children are in the US and I miss them although we visit often.

You have worked for several organizations. Do you want to describe any of them?

I most enjoyed my first consultation in 1990 with the World Wildlife Fund, an initiative that brought together fishermen, ecologists, and the tourist industry in the coastal village of Lully Haiti.

Next, my work at HAS in Community Development and small gardens was priceless as I operated alongside people who had accomplished much in their professional lives, changing communities, and improving the quality of life for many, namely the Berggrens, the Flanagans, and the local community leaders.

More recently, in 2014, I spent two years with the World Bank’s Competitiveness and Innovations Program trying to put producers in a position to benefit more directly from the fruit of their labor and their production of mangoes, avocadoes, and honey to name a few. I learned about systems, trade, and innovative ideas.

Currently, I help manage JSC Construction, my family’s company, and this has helped us keep our favorite pastime, farming, afloat during the political and economic turmoil of the last two years.

What kind of crops do you grow on your farm in Cano?
We are peanut farmers but have diversified to legumes and we are now also planting orchards (namely mangoes).

Haiti is going through difficult times. You seem to be involved in several positive activities such as your Genesis Farm and the Sister Cities Essex Haiti programs. Will you tell us a bit about your work in these activities?

I am blessed to be able to work daily at our organic farm; we have a small team of men and women who accompany us as organic farming is laborious.

I thoroughly enjoy my work as a member of the Advisory Counsel of the library with old friends, meeting new ones and the upcoming generation gives me hope. My friends in Essex mean a great deal to me and they are so generous and dedicated. This is a daily inspiration in a country drowning in overpopulation, environmental degradation. and educational and medical challenges for which we see little hope of resolve. The library is a beacon in the grand scheme of despair. We need to augment the number of visitors, and this is the challenge year after year.

How do you think the programs including the library will help Haitians especially children and students who are the future of Haiti?

Our programs must be creative to attract users who are not used to reading for pleasure (this is not the case of the elite, this is mostly a dilemma in rural Haiti, and I imagine urban populous neighborhoods). We must draw them into the library and once they are hooked, we know that the young girls are less likely to have children at a young age, young boys will be less idle. We offer interesting panels and a variety of topics with mostly local professionals, but these vary in attendance.

What is your philosophy about aid to the community?

I am a product of the school of thought that one is to serve her community and that is a philosophy I grapple with daily. I believe that it is best to enable communities to believe in themselves and lift themselves up; this is a change that will take generations to happen and I do get very impatient!

Has the COVID-19 pandemic changed your work habits?

COVID-19, yes, national insecurity as well has hindered our movements. I travel a lot both around Haiti and abroad and so both covid and political turmoil has kept us home and farming.

What are some of the specific things that you do that you enjoy the most? What are your passions?

I love to read but do so mostly via audiobooks, I love to plant and to bird watch but unfortunately, most of my day is spent on organizing our busy workdays or on a computer either helping Terry Parkinson (SCEH Board of Directors member) to figure out budgets or handling boring accounting tasks for our construction company.

I recently took a three-hour hike on the other side of the river where I live. I was reminded of how much I love to walk and discover new countryside. I love to write, and I am still trying to edit a book/journal that I wrote in 2011 after our return to Haiti.

Besly Belizaire: Rising Up to be a Leader in His Community: 2020

Back in March of 2020, when the world first learned about Covid-19, one of the things we heard over and over again was “wash your hands.” For those of us in the States, that is a fairly simple task; we have running water at our sinks, and we can purchase soap with a simple trip to the grocery store. For our friends in Deschapelles, Haiti, that is a luxury that not many have.

Besly Belizaire, our SCEH Library Administrator, heard these words and knew immediately that frequent hand washing was going to be difficult or impossible for most members of his community; most households do not have running water. Besly had seen a simple hand-washing system using a 5-gallon bucket and a spigot, and took immediate action to help keep the people of Deschapelles safe and educated. With his own money, he bought a number of buckets “boukit ak tap” to place in the main public gathering areas and enough soap so that people would have access to handwashing. He quickly realized that his own funds were not going to be enough and reached out to his dear friend, Jenifer Grant, for donations. Each boukit ak tap cost $7.00. Jenifer’s friends and family, plus Sister Cities Essex Haiti, were all eager to help. Besly’s goal was to install 50 to 75 handwashing stations, each with a “moun responsable” (responsible person) who would bring the buckets in each night, sanitize them, and put them back out in the morning with water and soap. With donations, Besly ended up purchasing and placing 93 handwashing stations throughout his community, along the side roads and along the main road leading into Deschapelles. Besly also included a friend with a good voice and a loudspeaker on his truck to drive around letting people know about the handwashing stations, and to remind them of the proper safety measures; stay 6’ apart, wear a face covering, and if they got sick to go to the hospital. (Hospital Albert Schweitzer was set up with an adjunct Covid center to care for those who were infected. At this time, HAS has not seen an overwhelming number of Covid cases or deaths.)

In October 2020, at our annual SCEH board meeting via Zoom, we personally recognized Besly for his efforts to go “above and beyond” the duties of his role as Library Administrator with an honorary distinction award. Most rural Haitian people struggle to make ends meet, and don’t have the means or the opportunity to take care of their fellow community members in the way that Besly has done. The vision for our work at SCEH is allow the people of Deschapelles, Haiti to flourish educationally and culturally. It truly makes us so happy to see someone like Besly come so far not only in his abilities within the library, but in his ability to show leadership, compassion and understanding for the people of his town of Deschapelles. In Besly’s thank you letter to the SCEH Board, he stated that (translated from French) “this high distinction comforts me in the path I have chosen and gives me even more courage for the path that remains to be traveled, both in my professional and personal life. Thank you again.”

This is why we do the work we do.

There is a Haitian proverb, “Se le ou nan bezwen, ou konn ki moun ki zanmi ou.” “When we are in need, we know who our friends are.”

Senior Project: Education Documentary

Olivia Henrikson and Gabe Vasquez, classmates at Crossroads School in Santa Monica, CA, traveled to Deschapelles to create a short documentary on education in Haiti for their senior project. Olivia, the great granddaughter of Larry and Gwen Mellon, founders of Hospital Albert Schweitzer in Deschapelles, has traveled several times to Haiti with her parents and grandmother, Jenifer Grant. Olivia went on to Amherst College and Gabe to Yale University. Many thanks to Olivia and Gabe for this engaging and informative film. To see the film, please click below.

Robotics in the Library: August 2017

Patrick Myslik, Sam Paulson and Rocket Otte celebrating a working robot with the youth of Deschapelles! Click on the photo to read their blog.

A group of students from Region 4 Valley Regional High School (Chester, Deep River, Essex) travelled to Deschapelles in the summer of 2017 with their parents to share their love of robotics. Entitled the “Deschapelles Robotics Initiative”, the group spent nearly a week in Deschapelles working with 15 children ages 8-14 on how to build a robotic tractor (the Track3r) and maneuver it using robotic mechanisms. They created a blog that can be viewed by clicking here.

As Patrick Myslik, Sam Paulson and Rocket Otte explain in their blog: “Patrick, Rocket and I all thought it was awesome to share something we are passionate about with other kids who were just so excited to learn something new. Sharing our knowledge with these kids to teach them new skills left us smiling. We felt immense gratification knowing how much we accomplished in just a single day. In addition, we feel really good knowing that once we leave these kids they will have skills to further their own robotics abilities and be able to teach others themselves.”