Day 7: BRIDGING THE GAP

In our final day of #HDCFam Week we are focusing on the core value that brings us all together- bridging the gap for and with our artisan families. Today’s essay is written by Jerry, the head of quality control and a member of the leather team at Haiti Design Co.

“My name is Evens, but usually people call me Jerry. I have been working at HDC for a while now, and even met my wife there. She has a daughter that I feel is my own now, and we have our first baby on the way. I’m really happy to have them as my family.

I manage quality control at Haiti Design Co., which means that I go through every single product to make sure they are perfect before we ship them to our customers. I also work with the leather team, and help lead tours when visitors stop by to see the workshop. I am also a designer, and HDC always provides opportunities for me to use my skills and create new designs.

Something that I really love about HDC is that most people who begin working with us have no idea that they have the ability to do great things, and have the potential to change their community, and then when they start working at HDC, all of these things are revealed. HDC has provided a lot of training, and has helped a lot of dreams to become a reality.

One of my biggest dreams was to own my own house. My wife and I were always struggling to pay rent every year. Saving for the future isn’t something that exists in my culture or really is even a possibility, but after receiving training at HDC, this changed for me, and my wife and I began saving for our dream.

After participating for a while in a program that Haiti Design Co started called “Save for Tomorrow”, my wife and I sat down and talked with the HDC leaders about our goal of buying a house, and our financial plan to do it. They were so impressed with our motivation and how much we had saved, that they agreed to give us a loan to complete what we needed.

A mutual friend of ours helped us find a house, and we bought it. Now we have our own house, and I am so proud of that. I really like our home because it looks like a cube, and at night there is a nice breeze that sweeps in and helps me sleep. It has been really fun to make our home more interesting. We have painted the inside white, have put down ceramic tiles, and have begun to purchase appliances. It’s a great feeling to not have to worry about next year’s rent, to not be so stressed, and to just feel so comfortable in your own home. Our home is the nicest house I have ever lived in.

I really appreciate HDC because it is such a unique organization in Haiti. HDC wants to see less people living in poverty, and more people living a vibrant life, but instead of just asking for charity, they instead ask people to take a look at the beautiful products that we create. I don’t have enough time to talk about all of the different things HDC does, but getting to talk about the dream that HDC helped me achieve is a pretty great thing that I wanted to share.

DAY 1: F A M I L Y

Every day this week our team members will be sharing based on a different theme that makes up our #HDCFAM! Today we are excited to share an essay on a topic that is especially close to our hearts and the core of why we exist- to support families staying together.

“Hi, my name is Fednold, but everyone calls me Fefe. I am married, and my wife’s name is Guerdine. We just had our first child together, and our daughter’s name is Wenshell. My wife is quiet and funny, and I love my family.
I work with an organization called Ansanm, who’s purpose is to help empower families to stay together. Ansanm helps children attend school, has parenting and spiritual formation classes, helps parents find ways to earn income, and helps with big needs like housing or medical needs. I have taught literacy courses in the past to teach parents how to read and write, I run errands on my motorcycle for different programs, and I am a Bible teacher for the spiritual foundation course.

I have been so excited to become the head of a family, and now as a father, I realize that this is the greatest privilege I can have. It was so exciting to see my baby, and to see the different ways she looks like us, and I feel so proud as I watch her sleeping on my chest. I love watching her smile. I am looking forward to bringing her to church and taking her to school. I can't wait to see her dance and hear her sing.

I hope for a lot of things for my child. I hope for her to love Jesus and to follow Him. I hope for her to always remain with us and to never have to live in an orphanage. All I want for her is to be loved, and to always be in a place where she will find tenderness, affection, and respect, and I know she wouldn’t find this in an orphanage.

When a child lives in a family, they find strength to reach their dreams. In an orphanage, children often times don’t know how to love others well because they are treated badly and don't have good examples to follow. Sometimes they suffer from violence and abuse from workers, directors, and even older children.

The reality of an orphanage in Haiti is that all of their lives children are living in fear and they grieve in their hearts, and they are just waiting for a foreigner to come and give them something for a week out of the year.

In Haiti, we have different levels of abuse happening in orphanages, and social workers are used to placing an orphanage in a certain level. I have personally witnessed some of the bad treatment that is happening here. I have watched directors teach the children to lie to visitors about being orphans so that they can make money. They don't go to good schools, they give them expired medicine, and those are just the small problems.

Because of this reality, with Ansanm, we are trying to restore these children in their families, and prevent children from being sent to live in these kind of situations.
Through attending English classes at Haiti Design Co, I also get to see another organization helping families stay together through creating stable jobs- and I’m glad that there are many different organizations working in Haiti towards the same goal.

Through a family, a child can have a better life, and receive the love they need. I used to believe that one day if I had a child, it would be amazing to find an orphanage for her to grow up, as many people here believe. I thought it was the best thing I could do for her, but now that I have witnessed the true reality, I can’t imagine my daughter ever spending one night in one.

And this is why I am so happy to get the chance to talk about this, so that I can help other parents realize this too.”