MILT THOMAS

It is better to light a candle than curse the darkness. The origin of that saying is debatable but its truth is not.  There are still countries in this world living in perpetual darkness because they can’t afford the candle or they are afraid to light it. One such country is right at our doorstep – Haiti. We have all heard about its tragic history, but the candle may be right here in Vero Beach and it is named Haiti Partners.

Haiti Partners is one of 10,000 organizations operating in Haiti trying to improve the fortunes of ten million Haitians. While many of them provide food, clothing, housing, medical and other basic needs, Haiti Partners tries to provide a future. The organization’s mission statement is to “help Haitians change Haiti through education.”

Co-directors of Haiti Partners are John Engle and Kent Annan. As Annan explained on a recent InsideVero radio show, “Our focus is education. We aren’t going down to fix Haiti, but to equip Haiti’s children to grow up and help make a better life for themselves and their country.”

To accomplish that, they have established seven elementary schools, four of which were completely destroyed in the 2009 earthquake that killed 200,000 people.. Since then they have rebuilt and added three more. “This has all been accomplished through private donations,” says Annan, “but the real story is what goes on inside these schools.”

“In Haiti, only ten percent of schools are public, the rest are run by non-profits and churches. As a result, only half of Haiti’s children ever go to school,” adds Annan.

For the 1100 children lucky enough to attend a Haiti Partners school, they are taught by teachers who were selected and trained to provide a quality education. “These kids come from families who probably had no formal education ,” says Annan. “So, we also train administrators, community organizers and church leaders who go out and gain support for our mission. Our goal is to transform communities of people who have only known oppression and hopeless poverty into hope-filled, productive leaders.”

A brand new Children’s Academy will serve multiple purposes as an early elementary school, training facility and even a bakery. The bakery, along with two poultry farms operated by Haiti Partners, teach farming and business skills, but also provide a revenue stream to help fund daily operations of the schools. “We feel it is important to teach people how to be productive, effective and ethical, and we make sure the community is involved every step of the way.”

This is such a far cry from Haiti’s tragic history. Haiti gained its independence in 1804, the only French slave colony to overthrow its masters. But the U.S. government under Thomas Jefferson and the British government, fearing repercussions among their own black slave populations, would not recognize the new country of Haiti. (The U.S. finally recognized it after our Civil War).

Haiti could only find one trading partner after independence, France. But the French imposed reparations as a precondition that were not paid off until 1945. A succession of harsh dictators, most famously Papa Doc Duvalier, along with overpopulation, deforestation and a series of devastating hurricanes and earthquakes, all conspired to keep Haiti the poorest nation in the western hemisphere if not the entire world.

Haiti’s current president, Michel Martelly, has so far risen above the corrupt and violent practices of nearly every past administration. It would seem an organization teaching people about free enterprise and democratic principles might attract unwanted attention. But as Kent Annan says, “We do everything through the community, which gives us great support once they understand that we are helping to give them a future. That keeps us under the radar so to speak.”

Also, it is a Christian organization in a Christian country.  “In addition to the schools, our Micah Scholarship program trains future church leaders , so that support will only grow.”

Nevertheless, it takes a brave soul to work in a country with so many problems. John Engle first moved there in 1991 to work with Dr. Tony Campolo’s organization, the Evangelical Association for the Promotion of Education (EAPE), and early on saw education as the only way to ensure a future for the Haitian people. “Ninety-eight percent of Haitian children neveraH graduate from high school,” says Engle, “and today 70 percent of the adults do not have gainful employment.”

Engle co-founded an organization within Campolo’s EAPE called Beyond Borders. That’s when he met Kent Annan. Both lived in Haiti alongside the people they served, learned the language and worked side-by-side with them.

In 2007, Engle and Annan decided they needed to be based in the U.S. as well as Haiti to develop support for their efforts and increase their donor base. So they formed a new organization, Haiti Partners, and moved to Vero Beach.

Once they became operational, Engle returned to Haiti with his wife, Merline, and their two children. Annan remained in Vero with his wife, Shelly Satran, who serves as Associate Pastor of Our Savior Lutheran Church. Annan has written two books about his Haiti experiences, Following Jesus Through the Eye of the Needle and Aftershock: Searching for Honest Faith When You World is Shaken. He travels around North America giving lectures and visits Haiti often.

Haiti Partners under John Engle and Kent Annan, their staff here and in Haiti, donors from all over North America, and of course, the children, are all candles shedding new light on a country that has only known darkness.