May 2023 Newsletter

Metal Fabrication Students

Back in 2020, PLH sent two young men, Fed and Doriva, to a level 1 welding workshop at Extollo. That winter, they assisted with erecting the two metal buildings on the campus. Since then, we have hired them to work on several small welding projects on the campus. Most recently, they built a railing for the PLH kitchen building. 

These two young men have been eager to get more welding training. We contacted Extollo to see what they could do for them. Extollo set up a private class and practicum for Fed and Doriva led by Extollo’s Haitian welders. In the mornings, they went through the new Metal Fabrication course, and in the afternoons, they put what they had learned into practice creating a rebar storage rack.

Training like this is incredibly important for Haiti. Too many young men sit unemployed with nothing to do. Then, a gang comes in and offers them purpose and power. If young men are taught valuable skills and provided with employment, they will see hope and future and not be won over by gangs. Training and education opportunities build their skills and give them purpose and hope for their future! 

Sacrifices for Education

While the insecurity and gang fighting in Haiti makes traveling anywhere dangerous, young people still know the value of an education and are willing to risk everything to learn a skill that will help them in their future. PLH has four students from Camp Marie on scholarship studying auto mechanics and electricity in Port-au-Prince. 

When school started in January, the main highway to Port-au-Prince was completely impassable due to gangs and the 6-hour detour had become riddled with gang fighting as well. The students, determined to not miss any more days of school, jumped on a bus taking a 12-hour route to get to Port-au-Prince. 

On top of that, the neighborhood in Port-au-Prince where their school and house is located has been disrupted by gang fighting. The students have to keep their ears open, eyes peeled, and heads down. They, like so many others in the country, continue their lives in the midst of war and terror because giving up is not an option. If they can get through school, become skilled in their trade, and find work, they can build up their life. If not, what future do they have? 

Do you want to be a part of building these young men’s lives? 

The total cost of the metal fabrication training was $500. If you would like to donate towards Fed and Doriva's training or support future training opportunities for other young Haitians, click here! 

The cost for the auto mechanics and electrical students (including tuition, rent, and a small living stipend) is about $1,500 per year per student. Click here to contribute to the scholarships for Clotaire, Whensondy, Chrisman, and Tchuky. 

Soccer Matches

Before we can send young men and women to receive job skills training, they have to navigate childhood and teen years. This time is equally challenging and also has the risk of losing kids to gangs, crime, alcohol, and a general lack of direction, purpose, or hope. The PLH soccer academy is about so much more than soccer. While we strive to nurture skilled soccer players, we also strive to ensure they remain in school and on a path to success. At PLH, kids find a place where they can just be kids. Here, they have a safe place to play, coaches that care about them, and adults to look up to and model their life after. Kids are shown the love of Christ, are treated with kindness and forgiveness, and are challenged to reach their full potential. 

This spring, the PLH soccer academy has organized several matches with other teams in the Saint Marc area. Players are so excited to be able to compete against other teams and test their skills. The teams have done well against the competition. One mother who came down to visit the PLH campus shared with the staff how important this academy and especially the matches are for the kids. She congratulated PLH for organizing this program for kids to play, grow, learn, and have fun. 

2023 Programs Are up and Running

By Laura Polynice

After a quiet fall on the PLH campus, programs are back up and running! 

This fall was plagued by a long gas shortage which meant the PLH staff couldn’t keep up with the grass on the soccer fields and English students and teachers couldn’t find transportation to come to class. While soccer and English had to take a break, the youth artisan class was able to continue throughout the fall, a champion in Oregon provided a 7-week personal finance course for the staff via zoom, and PLH grew in partnership with the 15 churches in the area. 

January brought fuel and with it increased programming on the campus.

The soccer academy is back to practicing every weekday afternoon and every Saturday morning. More than 80 players from the community and surrounding area participate in the PLH soccer academy. Our coaches and staff have noticed a decline in the players’ nutrition. Like most of the country, our players are suffering from food insecurity. In response, the academy now provides a meal to the players each Saturday and game day, and once the PLH kitchen is operational, we will provide a meal with each practice. The players are excited to be back to regular practices, grateful to receive a meal, and motivated by several matches on the schedule. 

English classes are also back in session. Every Saturday, there are three classes that meet on the campus: Level 1, Level 2, and a specialized advanced course on Teaching English as a Foreign Language. Students continue to be motivated to learn despite all the challenges and obstacles before them. 

The artisan class continues to provide youth with skills in artisan crafts including beading, weaving, soap making, and more. 

Watch for an update soon on the Valentine’s Dinner PLH hosted for couples from the community. 

While the challenges in Haiti continue, we are thankful to again have soccer, English, and other activities happening on the campus every day. Please continue to pray for Haiti and for the community of Camp Marie. 

PLH Summer Kick Off Event in Stayton, OR

On June 23rd and 24th, PLH hosted its second annual Summer Kick Off sports camp in Stayton Oregon. Sixty kids from the community came out to participate in basketball, soccer, and volleyball training. The seven volunteer coaches from the community did a great job and the kids enjoyed learning about the game, improving their skills, and playing scrimmages at the end of the day. 

To close out the Summer Kick Off event, kids and adults from the community participated in a fun run on Saturday, June 25th. Many of the kids from the camp came out with their parents and many others from the community joined in. A total of fifty runners participated in the trail run through the Stayton Middle School Nature Trail. Congratulations to Tyler Franklin, the overall winner of the 5k race! 

The goal of the sports camp and fun run is to provide a fun experience for kids and families in our local community and to spread the word of the work PLH is doing in Haiti. PLH believes that sports and opportunities to play and learn are hugely influential in the lives of young people. This is why one of PLH’s four areas of focus is athletics. 

Thanks to generous sponsors and the registration fees of participants that paid it forward, the Summer Kick Off raised $1,500 to go towards the PLH summer kids programs in Haiti! This July and August, the PLH Haiti staff is organizing 8 weeks of soccer tournaments, English classes, artisan classes, soap making classes and more for kids and youth in the Camp Marie community. These programs will provide kids with a safe place to come play, learn and grow this summer. Stay tuned for updates later this summer!

A Look Back at 2021

Happy New Year! Or as they say in Haiti, “Bon Ane!” We hope all your holiday celebrations were blessed and that you are facing 2022 with hope and purpose. We wanted to take this opportunity to share an overview of some of the things God has done in Haiti through PLH in 2021 and what we pray He will do in 2022. 

Though this past year was full of challenges, God did so much! 

The PLH campus continues to develop at a steady pace despite increasing material costs and the inability to send volunteers or containers to Haiti. In March, the first basketball court and a bathroom and locker room facility were constructed. In August, the classroom was insulated and the first PLH office created, providing a reception area to welcome students and guests and to carry out registration and business transactions. More than 300 fruit trees were planted throughout the campus and three wells were dug. 

The PLH classes and athletic programs were able to run on their normal schedule, providing training, education, and encouragement for more than 200 players and students. This year, we offered specialized classes in Medical English, Teaching English as a Foreign Language and a Survey of the Bible. The advanced English students, hungry for learning, enjoyed each of these courses. The courses also attracted many new students from nearby areas. We look forward to offering additional specialized courses in 2022.

In 2021, we added four new staff members to the Haiti team. PLH now has 18 salaried staff and 11 contracted workers. Our staff participate in team devotions each morning. This has been a good way for them to grow together and for those with a deeper relationship with Christ to minister to and disciple those who do not have a relationship or are less committed to their faith. As they take on more responsibility, we have seen the staff grow and come together as a team and the leaders step up into their roles. We look forward to continuing to train the staff and add new workers to the mix. 

This fall, PLH sent three young men to start a 3-year study in auto mechanics. Two of these men have been working for PLH for a couple years and the third has been a student in the English program since it launched in 2018. They are excited to have this opportunity to learn a valuable skill, and PLH is excited to have our own well-trained mechanics to work on the PLH vehicles and work in a PLH auto mechanic shop one day. We have also identified two young men to be trained in electricity. They will attend some short-term training workshops until they can join a formal school in the fall of 2022. Qualified, skilled and trustworthy professionals can be hard to find. We are excited to offer these young locals this opportunity and to be able to utilize them for future projects. We hope to provide them with continued training when we are able to bring in experienced professionals from the states. 

With the vocational center being completed in December of 2020, PLH had its own covered, lit, spacious area to host community events. PLH staff and community members came together for worship nights, family date nights, and parties. These special events offered hope, unity and fun for families and individuals. We loved witnessing parents and children laughing and playing together and our staff stepping up to plan and lead these events. 

If God could do all this in 2021, we cannot wait to see what He will do in 2022! More on that in our next blog post next week.

PLH Summer Kick Off

By Sarah Comstock

Project Living Hope’s mission is to empower Haitians to build a stronger Haiti, so why run a sports camp in Stayton and a fun run in Sublimity? Really, it is all about engaging with our community. Not everyone is able to travel with us to Haiti, but we hope all our Champions can engage with the mission of PLH.  One of PLH’s focus areas is athletics. Through athletics we offer children and youth a safe environment where they can play, grow, and be trained holistically in their faith, sport, and future. In the United States we often take for granted the opportunity for our children to participate in athletic programs. But, in Haiti, children typically do not have those same opportunities. Extracurricular activities are a luxury that few can afford, which means many children and adolescents fall prey to gangs or other harmful choices.

This past year has taught us all in the US to stop taking these opportunities for granted as well. So, when PLH started to see that there may be an opening in our hometown to engage the community, we decided to offer a sports camp for local kids, like we do in Haiti. For three days, June 23rd to the 25th we had over 120 kids out to the Foothills Church camp for 3 and a half hours of sports and fun! Kids were just getting out of school for the summer and we took this as an opportunity to show our home base how we work in Haiti.

Fortunately, we had a team of volunteers to help us bring this opportunity to our community. Thank you so much to Bill Pilgeram and Taylor Kelly head women’s and men’s basketball coaches from Corban, Tyler Butenscheon from Foothills and our very own Bethany Ferrigno who served as head basketball coaches for the camp! Thanks also to Jess Caze FSF Instructor from Oregon State and Jason Clark PE Teacher from Santiam Elementary School who served our local youth in our soccer program.

It was such a fun week.  We had about 80 kids in our basketball program and 40 in our soccer program.  Plus, another 30 volunteers gave of their time to help with this effort!  Each kid got to develop their skills at various stations led by leaders in the sport. They had snacks, free time and some fun doing Haitian inspired crafts. Amy Bentz our creative Communications Coordinator led the kids in crafts that helped them understand more of life in Haiti.  The soccer kids made cardboard cutout shin guards and were informed about how kids in Haiti are unable to afford nice things like store bought shin guards and soccer cleats, but they make do. The basketball kids got to make a ping-pong basketball craft that allowed them to see that kids with limited means can still do things to have fun. At the end of the week we even had special visitors from the Timbers U23 team!

We ended the Summer Kick Off camp with a fun run on Saturday, June 26th in Sublimity. About 100 community members participated in the first PLH 3K and 5K Fun Run and Walk. We took off at 9 am and it was already a record setting 80 degrees! By the time the run was done we were nearing 90 degrees in one of the hottest weekends on record in Oregon. Not surprisingly, our first-place finisher in the 5K was our very own Guesly Dessieux. Maybe the “Haitian” weather helped propel him along?

We had many sponsors and volunteers that helped make both events possible. Overall, we were able to raise about $2,000 to put on the same events in Haiti. We plan to run a sports camp like the one we ran in Stayton and will do a fun run on the road to our property. This will be our second fun run in Haiti. Ultimately our goal was connection: connecting our Oregon community with our Haitian community.  We believe this goal was accomplished. Our Stayton and Sublimity partners know more about the work in Haiti and their generosity has helped empower Haitians to build a stronger Haiti.  Thank you to all who helped make this possible!

Right now, we are running the annual Join the Community campaign. This campaign invites you to join the PLH community by becoming a monthly donor. Monthly giving fuels the programs and projects that provide hope to the community in challenging times. Just $15 a month helps to:

• Educate current and future professionals by providing English classes and other job skills programs.

• Empower youth by providing soccer and basketball programs that holistically train athletes in faith, sport, and future.

• Employ staff and construction workers with jobs to provide for their families.

• Expand the campus to better serve the community.

Thank you for your continued prayers, support, and partnership. 

THE VISION

Written by Guesly Dessieux, Founder and Executive Director

As we enter a new year, I believe that God has great plans for Project Living Hope, the people of Camp Marie, and the people of Haiti. A few years ago when I started talking about this idea, this big vision and dream of starting an organization that empowers people and creates disciples, I was sure my wife thought I was crazy. She knows I don’t do things small. For me, it’s always “go big or go home.” Sometimes, we can have such huge dreams that we are afraid to even talk about them, but this was something I wanted to share with others and act on, no matter how big the task seemed.

In Ephesians 3:20, Paul refers to God as, “Him who is able to do immeasurably more than we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.”  Like anybody, I sometimes battle the fear that I am not capable of succeeding at this, but I always come back to believing that God can do something huge through us. Do you believe that? That God can do immeasurably more in you and through you than you could ever imagine? Is He just waiting for you to take the needed steps in obedience?

We believe that God wants to use Project Living Hope to reach more people for Christ. Our vision as an organization is to empower Haitians to build a stronger Haiti. We focus on purposefully training up strong, future disciples that will have a heart for Christ and that will train up more disciples. We want this movement to change Haiti. Right now, there are 11 million people that live in Haiti with less than 20% of the population being devoted Christians. As an organization, we want to be part of reaching both young and old for Christ. We focus primarily on reaching Haiti’s next generation for Christ through purposeful discipleship and we believe that God can do immeasurably more through them to change their families, their friends, their communities, and their country than they could ever imagine. We are not looking for a quick fix but are undertaking a process that takes time and requires investing in relationships.

THE KING CENTER

We are planning four weeks of construction this March to place drainage pipes, resurface the soccer fields for future turf placement, address erosion, and build a shop and garage. We have purchased three shipping containers to send equipment and materials to Haiti. The first two shipped out in late January and include the backhoe, miscellaneous tools, erosion control materials, HDPE pipe, tables and chairs for the English class, and balls and cleats for the soccer program. The third one will follow in February and include the building materials. We may face obstacles and setbacks but we move forward in faith knowing God can do immeasurably more than we can ever imagine.

FIRST TWO BUILDINGS

These first two buildings will allow us to start offering job skills programs as well as provide a shaded area for Bible training with the children and youth in our sports programs and for staff meetings and trainings. It will temporarily house English classes until we are able to build the education center.

• Is God asking you use your talents and skills to be part of His story in Haiti and go on a trip with us this year? For more information click here.

• Would you donate financially to the programs and building projects?  To give, click here.

We believe that God can do immeasurably more through each one of you than you could ever imagine. Thank you for your support and prayers!

Pray for Haiti

by Sara Dessieux

PLH Board Member and Founder

Life in Haiti often feels like one step forward followed by one step back.  Making progress in Haiti is so difficult.  But currently, we are seeing Haiti taking huge stumbles backwards with no steps forward.  Recurrent fuel shortages have turned into a fuel crisis that seems to be the new normal.  Constant political protests and roadblocks not only disrupt everyday life, but also turn into violent events in which vehicles and businesses are burned and lives are endangered.  Not only has the value of Haiti’s currency plummeted over the last year but prices for food and other necessities have dramatically increased.  Then things just snowball from there.  

Many kids have yet to start school this year.  People cannot find work.  Even people with money in the bank and family members overseas who can transfer money for them have limited access to cash.  Everyone struggles to find means of transportation.  People with cars and motorcycles stay for hours in line and often still aren’t able to buy fuel.  Fuel is sold out of barrels on the black market for as much as $10/gallon ‒ four times the standard price.  In a country where very little electricity comes through the power lines and people depend heavily on generators, everyone is left in the dark.  Hospitals have to shut their doors and the sick, injured and pregnant struggle even more than usual to find medical care.  And our dear little island nation seems bent on self-destructing.

We were supposed to be in Haiti right now.  Our family had plane tickets to fly down two weeks ago.  Yet here we are in Oregon, and nearly every day one of our kids asks us when we’re going to Haiti.  And we say, “Not yet.  There is still too much trouble going on in Haiti.”  We want our kids to keep loving Haiti and not be afraid of it, so we don’t go into much more detail than that.  Then we run into friends around town or at church and they too ask, “When are you going to Haiti?”  We give them a few more details but still the same answer, we don’t know. 

Guesly and I ache to be back in Haiti, as does my sister, Laura, who has been living down there for more than a year but who came to Oregon to speak for our fundraising event.  We long to see our friends and staff, launch another soccer season, work with our English students, and help Project Living Hope keep taking steps forward.  Yet our sadness about not getting to be down in Haiti is nothing compared to the sadness we feel when we think about all that is going on there.  

What is behind all of this?  Oh, how I wish I knew the full answer to this.  All we can do is make our own evaluations based on the information we have gathered through reading and talking with people.  When asked to explain any of Haiti’s problems to someone, I always start with, “It’s complicated.”  Every issue is so multi-faceted and has so much history behind it.  If I had to sum it up in one word, it would be “corruption.” There is a whole bunch of it and everyone knows it, but it’s still hard to know who the most and the least corrupt players are.  That’s the trouble with the current political situation.

A news article in the Miami Herald this weekend proclaimed, “Thousands Rally in Haiti Against President Moise.”  But I’d say, “Millions in Haiti Struggle to Go About Daily Life as a Small Percentage of People Call For the Elected President to Resign.”  Maybe the president is guilty of corruption, I don’t know, but some of the senators definitely are.  They have refused to sit down with the president and they are encouraging the lawless behavior of the protesters, most of whom are unemployed young men who are grasping for any form of control and power they can find, which in this case, is ruining others.

Photo source: Miami Herald

How is all of this impacting Project Living Hope?  Our community in Camp Marie has stayed peaceful, and our staff continues to frequent the PLH property and keeps us informed about all happenings. We planned to be well into the second season of the PLH youth soccer league by now, but since people can hardly get around, that has been postponed.  The new year of English classes was supposed to launch September 16, the same time this current round of trouble began. With the teachers and many students unable to get to class, we have had to postpone that as well. We will all be so happy when games and classes start up again!  We become more convinced all the time that Project Living Hope is on the right track.  

Young people need a purpose, they need community, they need moral standards, and they need Jesus.  They also need education and employment.  We know that empowering Christian Haitian leaders to effectively reach the young people and families around them is what we want to stay focused on.  Haiti is actually full of innovative, hardworking, and compassionate young people who want to see their country grow stronger.  We just want to help form more people like that to tip the scale away from this cycle of turmoil that Haiti has been stuck in.  

Eventually, somehow or another, Haiti will calm down again.  And then we will get back to work there.  Thank you for believing in the work of Project Living Hope and thank you for caring about Haiti. The Haitian people need you to remember them right now and they need you to pray for them.

Pretend Play

By Guesly Dessieux

For past week, we have unfortunately been unable to hold soccer games or practices on the Project Living Hope fields due to two nights of heavy rain that left the fields partially flooded. As the fields began to dry out we waited to play because we did not want the smooth surfaces to be damaged.

About ten of us men have been working endlessly this week to dig ditches and place sand bags around the tops of the fields to divert future rainfall and prevent flooding. Yesterday we reopened the fields for practices and we hope we will be able to have games this coming Saturday.  

Around noon today, as several of us were digging ditches, I looked over to see three boys around 15 years old walking on one of the soccer fields. They were all nicely dressed in their school uniforms with backpacks on their backs. I wondered why they would make the one mile walk just to come to the field. Kenson, one of our newest Project Living Hope employees, and I stopped working to see what the boys were up to. What I saw was interesting. The boys put down their backpacks and began pretending they were playing soccer. One of them got into the goal and the other two pretended to shoot on him.  The one playing goalie would dive and the other two would cheer and run in circles like he had scored. It brought smiles to both of our faces, knowing the fields had been closed and the boys had made the walk up the hill just to see if we had reopened them.  I called to them and said, Would you like to use a real ball?” Their eyes lit up and with big smiles all three said, “Really?!”. We kicked a ball to them and they continued playing, this time actually shooting goals.  We continued to watch and smile. Kenson told me how this place already means a lot to the town of Camp Marie and I told him it was wonderful to see that we are creating a place where youth feel comfortable, cared about, and safe. 

After they were done, one of the boys brought back the soccer ball and said thank you. He commented that the field had been closed for a couple of days and they had missed being here. They just wanted to check it out prior to having practice tonight. It is amazing to me the hope we can already sense in the youth that are involved in our soccer leagues. To have a place to play along with all the equipment they need is uncommon in Haiti. I am grateful for all our donors and volunteers who have helped us come this far. Project Living Hope is not currently at a place financially where we can install artificial turf on our fields, but it will indeed be amazing when we are able to replace the dirt fields with turf ones. Until then, I look forward to more pretend soccer games as we continue to trust God with every step. 

If you would like to support PLH, you can do so by following this link. 

MISSION EXPERIENCE UPDATES: SOCCER AND BASKETBALL TRAINING

In the midst of all the news about construction and the launching of our youth soccer program, we also had two teams visit Camp Marie to train soccer and basketball coaches.  Here is a brief synopsis of each trip.

Soccer

By Collin Box

January 2019

We started with seven of us driving to PDX in the pounding rain with 11 full-sized bags full of soccer equipment, not including our personal items. After nearly 24 hours, picking up other team members from Eugene, Colorado, and Kansas, we made it to our home for the next week just outside Camp Marie. The home was a hostel of sorts with 35 beds, of which our team took up 11, along with our driver, security and 10 Haitian coaches from Port-au-Prince who were there for the coaches training.

After catching up on some rest and settling in, we went to church in Montroius (pronounced Mowi) on Sunday morning. I had been to this church one year before, and as we sat on the hard wooden benches in the back of the concrete church building, Benedic, who I had met last year, opened the service.

After he said something in Kreyol, we began to sing. The highlight was a line from one of the songs - “Li Kapab” - He is able. The phrase stuck with me throughout the week.

After the service, we visited the Project Living Hope Property, had lunch, and then decided to head out to the field in Montrouis for a soccer game against the locals. This was by far the best American team I’ve played with down in Haiti, but the terrain still made it difficult. The game finished 3-0 in our favor.

Our coaches training began the following morning and would continue through Friday. We had about 35 coaches at the training. In the morning, we met in a small church building right next to the road. Guesly brought a battery powered projector that allowed Aaron Lewis and myself to show some slides and video each day. We also were equipped with two 18”x24” white boards and a bag of mostly dried out markers. We had a classroom session assisted by several translators, and then spent part of our time on the basketball court across the street demonstrating drills. Intermixed with our coach education were some powerful devotionals and trainings on how to be a “coach de vie” - a life coach. The intention of Project Living Hope is to utilize soccer as a means to create community and make disciples. These trainings were provided by both Guesly and Thonny.

After lunch inside the church (which was getting pretty hot by that time), we had the coaches plan their session in small groups before heading over to the soccer field at the Project Living Hope property just down the road. We walked the mile down the newly completed road, side-by-side with the Haitian coaches as they offered us free Kreyol lessons. We also seemed to accumulate kids everywhere we walked. One of the days, I was walking towards a girl who must have been two years old as she announced over and over again, “Blanc! blanc! blanc! blanc!” (White, white, white, white!)

After school got out, the kids began to arrive. We had around 200 kids by the end of the week, who were divided into smaller group. The Haitian coaches took the lead as we gave a little advice and simply participated alongside. It is amazing how quickly relationships can happen with a ball at your feet.

My biggest takeaways from the week:

1. After coming for the first time to this community last year, it was incredible to see the amount of progress that has been made. One year ago we did our first coaches training in the area, had our first English classes, didn’t have a field to play on, and PLH did not have any staff living in the area. One year later, they have a soccer field, a road, weekly English classes for three different levels, four local staff coaches, two administrators, a land manager, a U23 league, and a youth soccer program. There are some great people on the board at PLH, but it is apparent to me that God is behind this and is very active in the community. The people are excited, and the culture is already changing.

2. I was really impacted by the relationships we formed with the Haitian coaches and staff that we stayed with. I had met some of them before, but this time I felt like we really got to be with them and understand their way of life more than ever before.

3. There was one night in particular where we were back at the house after a long day of soccer. After dinner, we had a devotional that Josh Noonkester led. Then one of the Haitian coaches spoke up and called out in front of everyone else, “Two of you are here who are not followers of Jesus. How can you claim to be a ‘life coach’ if you don’t know the One you are leading them to?” These two coaches then proceed to, in front of all 30 of us, tell everyone their reasons for not following Jesus and then both asked us to pray for them because they wanted to do so. It was a special night.

Thank you to all of you for your prayers and support. It was a blessing to go and play a small part in helping empower Haitians to build a better Haiti.

To read more about the soccer mission experience here is a blog post written by Ryan Botkin who served on the team.

Basketball

By Tyler Butenscheon

March 2019

Empowering Haitians to Build a Stronger Haiti is the heartbeat of PLH. I saw this in right before my eyes on a trip to Camp Marie, Haiti in March. Every morning trained coaches were taught, encouraged and then released to lead their own kids basketball camp in the afternoon. Can empowerment be effective with that short of a turnaround? The answer is a resounding yes. 

We had dozens and dozens of coaches that came out each day to the community basketball court right in the center of town. At the end of our training we had 35 coaches receive a coaching certificate. These are the coaches that were with us every day. They listened, worked hard and implemented our skills and leadership principles. Beyond that we had dozens of more coaches and community members who came out to watch and learn about basketball and PLH for one or more of our training days.  

Because of the draw of our coaches camp there were a couple of great scrimmage games that we got to be part of. One was the American coaches verses the Haitian coaches. The Haitians loved seeing how they matched up with us. Their skills are still developing but their athleticism and tenacity are phenomenal. The other game was two local adult Haitian teams that squared off against one another. This second match brought people out from everywhere in Camp Marie. The sidelines were filled with people 3 deep trying to get eyes on the game as we simply provided referees and cheered them on. What a beautiful site it was to see how sport can bring a community together and build relationships. 

Part of our training with the coaches each day was an opportunity to remind them just how important the afternoon would be as they coached and led the kids camp. Sure, we taught them some fundamentals of the game (dribbling, passing, shooting, defense, rebounding, etc). And yes, we coached them in how to run drills to help kids practice and develop those skills in fun ways. But beyond that, and more importantly, we emphasized over and over how these coaches weren’t just coaching kids in a sport but they had opportunities to coach kids in life. They had the opportunity to empower the next generation to be the leaders necessary to change the course of Haiti. They had a platform to show the love of God and share the gospel of Christ. 

We were amazed each afternoon as the coaches stepped up and led the kids camp. All in all there were 80-100 kids throughout the week who were led by these newly trained coaches. The coaches were passionately engaged in their interactions with kids. They were nurturing in their approach. They were wonderful examples of sportsmanship and hard work. Ultimately, they were great examples of Jesus to their players. The highlight of the kids camp was when the coaches specifically paused to gather the kids and teach them about Jesus. It wasn’t forced or awkward. It was simply coaches who were empowered and passionate about their first love, Jesus, and sharing him unashamedly. It was a beautiful site to see.  

Athletics is one of 4 main areas we focus our work at PLH. We say, "Lives of young people can be drastically changed for the good when they become involved in an excellent, Christ-centered sports program.” We saw truth that first hand. We witnessed relationships blossom. We saw confidence rise. We experienced the love God among people. Basketball was the bridge we used to aide these endeavors. As one coach put it after receiving his certificate, “Thank you. You changed my life."

To read more about the basketball mission experience here is a blog post written by Jacob Biviano who served on the team.

PLH Youth Soccer League Kicks Off

By Sara Dessieux

Organized sports for kids is not a thing in Haiti.  Yet here we are trying to launch a youth soccer program on a massive expanse of dirt up in the hills beyond the village of Camp Marie, Haiti.  Guesly has been participating in youth soccer programs in the states as an athlete and then as coach for more than thirty years. I’ve been a soccer mom for five years.  We know how youth soccer programs are run. And we know Haiti. Could we make the first happen in the second? I’ve referred to it as “the big experiment”.

Now Guesly apparently does not believe in starting small.  He said we’d run a program for 600 kids. We arrived back in Haiti on April 4 and we learned that only a few teams had been formed.  That sounded alright to me. Start small with a manageable number. But I guess coaches were just wanting to know that the league was actually going to happen.  One week later I was given a small stack of team rosters. The next day I received more as we photographed more than 200 kids. Then the next day I was given a few more and I took pictures of more kids.  This week I worked like crazy to organize team lists, pictures, and uniforms. Guesly worked on creating a game schedule for the 40 teams we now had registered and assembling goals and lining out five fields for different ages.  We met with the coaches and went to bed not knowing how the day would end up going.

On Saturday, April 20th our family was at the field at 7:00 AM.  Two of our employees were already there. Five games were set to start at 8:00 AM.  Well, games did not start on time but it seemed that in no time people were pouring in.  Coaches, players, referees and a bunch of kids and some adults just coming to see the excitement.  And then, yes, it felt chaotic on every level. But, games were played! Players looked awesome in their made-in-Haiti uniforms and coaches and referees took their roles seriously.  

I spent most of the time in a shipping container we use for storage giving out soccer cleats for players to borrow so I did not get much chance to watch games or walk around.  But every time I looked around it was pretty incredible. So many people had walked the almost one mile up our road. Coaches had loaded up their entire teams into tap-taps to bring them from neighboring towns.  All for some organized soccer.

One man that we’ve known for many years came from his town a couple hours away to take part in the event.  I asked what he thought of it and made my comment about how I did not know why my husband needed to start so huge.  This man gushed about how no, no this is just as it should be. He said that it’s a movement. I’ve heard a number of people refer to it in this way.  And as he pointed to the hills around us he said, you’re going to see houses springing up all around here. People are going to want to be a part of this.  

Well, I personally hope we don’t lose the out-in-the-country feel we currently have, but I know they are probably right that this is going to be big and it’s impact is only going to keep growing.   It’s helpful to keep that in mind when we’re struggling through daily things like mounting bills, national fuel shortages, endless requests for jobs, roadblocks, lack of rainfall, dry wells, insufficient facilities and equipment, and car troubles.  Troubles such as these and way more are just a part of life for everyone here in Haiti. Life in Haiti is not going to get easier anytime soon but we do what we do because we to spark more hope despite the situation. We want to empower Haitian people to make their country stronger.  To use this new soccer league as an example, they benefited from our ability to fundraise among people who have money to give and our ability to purchase and transport equipment and supplies. They benefited from skilled volunteers who created level playing fields and others who trained people in their community to be skilled soccer coaches.  They benefited from our understanding of how sports leagues are organized and our computer skills. But then they were empowered. The Dessieux family were the only non-locals there. And in a couple weeks, they could probably do this without us. But we’re not leaving because this is only the beginning! There is more to come.