It’s Always The Quiet Ones
Have you ever heard of Chermaitre? Probably not- most people haven’t. Chermaitre is a small little village in the mountains of Haiti. The village of Chermaitre is a poor village and is low on resources and basic needs. For many, it’s another unheard of place that you read about in articles such as this, or hear about on a commercial in between shows when you get up to grab a snack. But for Lila and Andrew Meade, the village of Chermaitre is quite literally a project.
Lila and her husband started “The Haiti Project” in 2001, a volunteer group who work to better the lives of those in the small Haitian village, as well as sell Haitian art at any kind of art show they get the chance to. They gather as many volunteers as they can, and accomplish much despite not being very popular. Andrew Meade, co-founder of the volunteer group with his wife Lila, lived in Haiti for a few years when he was a teenager and Lila’s mother lived in Haiti during the 1920’s. So in a way, the struggles Haitian people go through really does hit home for them. Andrew Meade is also the director of international students and services over at Vassar College (where The Haiti Project is based out of) so he and his wife have gathered quite the amount of volunteers and support over the last 15 years.
Lila (who brings her dog of the same name to work with her) is a kind hearted soul who encourages everyone she meets to do their part for the world. She sees this as her “project” and “everybody’s got one.” In her office, a room filled with original Haitian art work as well as pamphlets, flyers, and a little space for her dog, is where she does a lot of her work during the day. Though she certainly doesn’t keep herself cooped up there. Lila visits Haiti about two to three times a year to help physically and spiritually in any way she can. She described the trip as a flight to Port-au Prince, and then has to embark on a bit of a road trip through unmarked roads and streams for a day and a half just to get to the village of Chermaitre which is where all of the donations and funding goes to. A priest by the name of Pere Andre Wildaine is the fifth priest in 15 years she has worked with, but has established a trust in all of them, making sure she knows where the money is going and that it gets there directly.
Lila loves helping them. “They are so rich in soul and spirit,” she says, and she “just wanted to do something for them.” Since the volunteer work started 15 years ago, they have built a school with six classrooms, a clinic to care for people’s needs, and even have a full time nurse and a part time doctor helping there. They also accepted a $55,000 grant to purify water and bring them access to water through piping. They even planted 15,000 trees to help rebuild forests in the area. On their website, you can find their five initiatives, “education, medical access, reforestation, water purification and women’s leadership.”
Lila recently hired a Vassar graduate named Melanie as a post-baccalaureate fellow, which basically entails supporting other student volunteers when they have academic conflicts or helping Lila with whatever needs to be done that day. Melanie too traveled to Haiti last March and described it as “definitely life changing” and a lot of work, but really enjoyable and learned a lot. “You sleep on a concrete floor in a sleeping bag and don’t shower for the three to four days you’re there.”
Lila is a strong believer in helping others, and told me, “The first day the clinic opened, there were 300–400 people there, who had never seen medical care before and the priest had to basically initiate crowd control and tell them to come back tomorrow.” Though she knows she is helping better the lives of so many people, and that’s what drives her everyday. “We as human beings, have a responsibility to care for those who have less than we have,” Lila tells me, as she believes everyone has a right to basic needs like food, water and shelter. Lila now estimates that they raise about $100,000 a year, and make sure it is acted as more of a partnership with the Haitian people; they listen to the people, and then try to get them whatever it is that they need. Lila is fond of any donation, no matter how big or small dreams of a day where she can show off the Haitian artwork to a gallery on a grand scale to help further their cause for years to come.
