Pair from the area working to brighten and improve lives in a Haitian community

By Stuart Hedstrom 
Staff Writer

    What began as a chance meeting on a mission trip over a decade ago in the Caribbean nation of Haiti has become a school designed to change the lives of children for the better, with benefits for the larger community as well and more improvements to come in the future. His Light for Haiti provides education and meals, which for some is their only food of the day, with plans to expand with a trade school to further help those being served be able to help themselves in the future.

Photo courtesy of Janet Grant/His Light for Haiti

    HIS LIGHT FOR HAITI — For the last several years area residents Janet Grant and Laurie Harvey have been working on a school in Haiti through their His Light for Haiti program. The school, funded entirely by donations, provides an education for children in a community in the central part of the Caribbean nation as well as a daily hot meal which for some students is their only food of the day. His Light for Haiti will in the future offer a trade school to provide more opportunities for members of the Haitian community to be able to help themselves, and then in turn others as they “pay it forward.”

    Despite both growing up in the area, and being only a few years apart in school, Janet Grant and Laurie Harvey had never met until the two were on the same mission trip to Haiti. “We became best friends down there,” Grant said as the two have since made many more trips to the impoverished nation on the western side of the island of Hispaniola.
    In Haiti the two met a pastor, Wandestrant “WaWa” Jean Baptiste, and Jean Baptiste “told us what his dream was and we fell right into that,” Harvey said. In the small town of Hatte Borel, located in central Haiti a few hours north of the capital Port-au-Prince, the two worked to establish a school in 2011 which began with 35 students and since has grown to an enrollment of over 100 pupils in grades 1-5.
    “When we started there was nothing there and we asked him how we can help,” Grant said. She said Jean Baptiste told him that only three members of his congregation could read and write and the community’s children needed to educated in order to have a better life. “We sat down and came up with a plan,” Grant said.

Photos courtesy of Janet Grant/His Light for Haiti

    SAFE SCHOOL — Janet Grant and Laurie Harvey are trying to reverse the troublesome trend that most Haitian children drop out of school before they reach grade three. At their school in Hatte Borel called His Light for Haiti, children, pictured above and below, not only find a protected learning environment, but receive a nutritious meal — sometimes the only nourishment they get for the entire day.

    The plan became His Light for Haiti, which has a mission statement of the belief in working alongside those in Haiti to spread and live the word of God with the goal to provide opportunities for the people of the Hatte Borel church to learn skills that will enable them to become independent and have a better life. They are also encouraged to then pay it forward and give back to their community.
    “We are making a difference one child at a time, reaching in to the community and making a difference there,” Grant said.
    According to the two, 50 percent of Haitian primary school age children do not go to school. Harvey said attendance is not mandated as in the U.S. but what is required is the purchase of a school uniform which for many families is beyond their means. Of the students who attend Haitian schools, half do not reach the third grade
    “But that is what we are trying to change,” Grant said. She said she and Harvey realize they cannot change the course of an entire country but “we are trying to make a difference in this one community. It is all about building relationships for Laurie and I, it is all about them and showing the love of the Lord through us.”
    Harvey explained at His Light for Haiti the students enter in grade 1, with the ages varying depending on when the children start their classes. Those in Hatte Borel speak Creole — Grant and Harvey said they travel with interpreters — and lessons in English are among the school curriculum.
    Three women from the community work as school cooks on the daily hot meal, “so we are not only educating the children but providing jobs as well,” Harvey said, as the school employs 16 people.
    She said the idea of a trade school to provide for vocation training beyond the elementary school has always been on the minds of those involved with His Light for Haiti. They have purchased a parcel of land behind the church/school building to serve as the home of the trade school, which will provide lessons in areas such as welding, plumbing, iron work, animal husbandry and crafts.
    “We also want them to give back,” Grant said about another teaching of His Light for Haiti. She said this concept is not new to those in Hatte Borel as families, despite having very little, will bring in water and charcoal for use at the school. “We are amazed, even though they have nothing they are giving back to the school,” she said.
    “We did a presentation and they told us they will always be thankful, they realize what they are getting,” Grant said. She said during a presentation the students told them that since starting school they now aspire to become doctors, lawyers, teachers and more. “We are amazed at their dreams and now that they have dreams,” Grant said.
    His Light for Haiti is funded entirely by donations. Harvey said a sponsorship program has been started in which donors can provide for a month of schooling and a daily hot meal or just the schooling or meals. One-time gifts can provide for a hygiene pack or a Christmas box. His Light for Haiti also has baskets, bracelets and coffee for sale, all made in Haiti by Haitians.
    Grant said those contributing can know “all their money is going to Haiti, we don’t take any money out of His Light,” with the two covering all of their own expenses such as travel costs and bills.
    A silent auction is being planned for May 3 at the Abbot Evangelical Free Church. “We love to speak to area churches and civic organizations, we would love any opportunity to share what we are doing,” Grant said.
    For more information on His Light for Haiti please go to www.hislightforhaiti.com or find the organization on Facebook. Grant and Harvey can be contacted at 343-1197, 564-0722 or via email at hislightforhaiti@ymail.com.