The Summer of Haiti

I apologize for the lack of updates throughout the summer. My Internet access is very limited now, so it’s difficult to post anything that’s thought out or coherent. So while I have unlimited electricity and Internet here in the States I’m going to give a rundown of my summer.

In June, I taught an intensive two-week English course at Christianville University located in Leogane. Leogane was the epicenter of the earthquake and the university buildings were destroyed. The university has no running water and the students live in tents. Classes are held in hastily constructed wooden shacks. If it rains you get soaked and it is impossible hear what anyone is saying because of the pounding on the tin roof. But we had class everyday and the students come to work hard.

I was concerned about teaching the class because this was a first for me. My only experience teaching up to this point was teaching small children. Now, I was teaching university students. But in the end found it to be a rewarding experience. I was able to meet and get to know some truly awesome people.

Everyone has an earthquake story, of course. All are powerful but some stay with you longer. One 20 year-old student named Sepora is particularly hard to forget. In the blink of an eye on January 12th she lost her father, mother, five brothers and sisters, home and all financial support. When the semester ended she didn’t know where she was going to live let alone how she was going to live. Can you imagine that? What would you do if the same thing happened to you? What would I do? I don’t know what I’d do. But I know what Sepora did. Every morning she would be smiling and singing praises to her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. She would stop and encourage me when I was struggling with attitude problems. How could she have so much joy with so much sorrow in her life? Jesus died for her sins and she has put her trust in him. Everything in this world will pass away. Everything.

While in Leogane I was able to walk around the countryside and see a side of Haiti I hadn’t seen before. I met many wonderful and simple people living off the land in remote areas. I saw the beauty and variety of the Lord’s creation. I also was able to walk around in downtown Leogane. I never thought I would see such destruction. I had been in Haiti during the earthquake and I had seen the aftermath. But to see this devastation months after the quake was a different experience all together.

I returned to Port-au-Prince and began my normal activities. I teach English two days a week at the church. I teach a beginning class on Tuesday and then on Wednesdays I teach an advanced class. The students always amaze me. They come ready to learn after being in school all day and having to walk miles in 100 degree temperatures. I’ve been able to make some good friends which I’m very thankful for.

Friday nights I lead a Bible study. Some nights we’ll have about 30 or 40 people attend. When it rains we have less because everyone has to walk to the church. We’ve been digging into the life of David and I’ve been enjoying it greatly. The power of the Scriptures is overwhelming. After I give a short lesson people will ask questions for about an hour and a half. It is always a pleasure to spend time in the Word and with fellow believers.

Since I’m a trained filmmaker I decided to write and direct a movie. I had met an actor named Roodly Jules last summer, so I called him and asked if we could shoot a movie. Of course, that’s all I had to say. We gathered some actors and began shooting. It’s called Kraze which means “broken.” It tells the story of a man who lost his family in the earthquake and is now being pressured by some thugs. You can visit the website here. I hope to finish shooting in September. My plan is then to finish editing by December, so I can start entering it in film festivals around the one year anniversary of the quake. Scheduling a film shoot in Haiti has been a learning experience to say the least. I thought guerrilla filmmaking in the States was difficult. I didn’t know what difficult was. It takes so much will to pull everyone together and to give them a vision of what we can accomplish if we do our best.

My short visit to the States will be over soon as I return to Haiti on the 26th of August. Lord willing I’ll pick up where I left off. I thank you all for your support and most importantly your prayers.