A Helping Hand in Haiti
A young woman in Brooklyn is changing lives in a Haitian village — starting with school uniforms
Ed. Note: This piece was finalized a week-and-a-half ago and was slotted for publication this week. With Hurricane Matthew’s devastating impact on the island, we weren’t sure how appropriate it was to post. But we then received an update (which you can read at the bottom) from Lori and learned that her friends in Petit Goave were all safe. And while Haiti was hit very hard — with a death toll in the triple digits — we wanted to share to highlight the resilient spirit of the Haitian people that so inspired us when writing this piece.
Lori Gerlach was on a hiatus from work and looking to travel to a new place. Haiti had always been near the top of the travel junkie’s list, so she called up a friend of hers in Kentucky— who’s married to a Haitian man — for some advice.
She was so excited. She was like, “I can have a cop friend of mine pick you up at the Port-au-Prince airport. He has a gun, and he’ll escort you to the village, and you can stay with my in-laws.” I was like, “Okay. I guess this is for real.”
Lori booked her ticket, scrambled to get the right malaria pills and a few days later found herself in a new country. As promised, the police officer friend was there. And they started the three hour drive.
So we drive halfway to the village and the car breaks down. We’re on the side of the road waiting for help. But there was nothing. It was like a 101 intro to Haiti and how there’s no infrastructure.
It would set the tone for the rest of her trip.
After getting back on the road they soon reached their destination, the tiny village of Petit Goave. She was warmly welcomed by her friend’s sister-in-law, Gertha. The whirlwind that would be her trip began right away — starting with unexpectedly finding herself teaching an impromptu English class to a group of about 75 adults. Not long after, Gertha took her to the local children’s school.
The adult school that I went to was in a proper building. There weren’t really windows, but it was a concrete — and very sturdy — building. Then she takes me to this children’s school and immediately we walk up and there’s a half-naked kid. He has no pants on, no underwear. He’s just wearing a t-shirt. I thought, “Oh my gosh. This isn’t a school. This is like a tarp with some wooden beams and a tin roof with holes in it.” There was no electricity.
Lori was aghast at these conditions for the kids. Again, the lack of infrastructure in Haiti presented itself to her. She decided right away that she needed to help — however she could. So she asked Gertha, who was a respected authority in the village, what the children’s most pressing needs were.
She started telling me a lot of the kids didn’t have uniforms. She was pointing out all the children to me. It was very clear which ones didn’t have uniforms, and telling me how much it costs.
Uniforms are required in schools in Haiti, although very loosely enforced. Which shouldn’t come as a surprise as the uniforms ($40) can cost more than a year’s tuition ($30). Not having a uniform often results in shame and embarrassment for the kids whose families can’t afford them.
At that moment she knew what she needed to do: raise $2,000 to provide uniforms to 50 local kids who lacked the means to get them. It was the least she could do.
Afew days later, Lori was back in the US, trying to figure out how best to raise the money. She ended up setting up an online fundraiser on CrowdRise and posted about it through social media. Within a few weeks she had the money. [Note: you can still donate here — additional funds will be used to help build a more permanent schoolhouse in Petit Goave] She promptly wired it to Gertha, who was standing by for the uniform funds, ready to turn this plan into a reality. And she has been tireless in making this happen.
Gertha has been keeping Lori updated throughout the whole process — sending pictures, videos and WhatsApps of every step — and Lori has been passing along these updates to her donors, as well. Updates like this video of Gertha buying the material in Port-au-Prince.
And a couple of weeks ago, Lori received a picture of a local tailor hard at work on the final product — the school uniforms. So now, thanks to the compassion of a young woman in Brooklyn and the generosity of dozens of donors who chipped in, children in a small Haitian village will no longer have to feel ashamed at not having the proper uniforms for school.
Sometime next spring Lori plans on going back to Petit Goave — to see how everything is going and to reconnect with all of the wonderful people she met. Who knows what sort of good she’ll be inspired to do this time?
UPDATE (10/6/16):
Lori’s email in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew hitting Haiti:
Hello friends — a few of you have reached out to me to find out how Gertha’s family & friends are doing in Petit Goave after the hurricane pummeled the country the last couple days.
Gertha’s family spent most of the storm huddled with dozens of friends in a sturdy neighbor’s house. Thankfully they are so far all safe and healthy. However, some trees and fences were destroyed.
It’s tempting to breathe a sigh of relief & move on from thinking about them at this time, but the truth is Haiti is not a country that can easily withstand this kind of situation. Many, many people lost crops, which is the only source of income for so many. Livestock, fruit bearing trees, food storage, rice, & what little belongings many Haitians have have surely been destroyed. It’s a sad thing to consider.
Even something like a roof being blown off could create a very difficult situation for families who can’t afford to replace it right away. There’s hardly electricity in their village as it is, and my usually lively WhatsApp messages have gone eerily silent while all my friends’ phone batteries die out. Not to mention potential cholera outbreaks that happen post-disasters. A simple doctor’s visit for us could be a life or death situation for Haitians.
If you know a Haitian American, ask them how their family is. They’ll appreciate it.
Here’s a beautiful audio message from Mackendy, a Haitian friend of mine who teaches English in Petit Goave. He sent me this in July but it seems relevant & perfect for us to hear at this time.
If you’re inspired by Lori’s story, please Recommend this story so others may find this and follow the Decent Humans publication on Medium for more.
Decent Humans is a series of stories spotlighting the incredible community we witness on CrowdRise doing amazing things for good. By sharing their stories of aid, altruism, and passion we hope others will be inspired to live a charitable life.
