ASLAN changing outlook for local, Haitian youth
Walk for Haiti
set for July 20 will
benefit mission project
Jane Waterhouse Craig Bogard of Tinton Falls, Donna Steiner of Fair Haven, Kennetha Williams of Long Branch, Joe Atkins of Red Bank, and Justin Gazi of Long Branch have big plans for the ASLAN Walk for Haiti project.
Sixteen-year-old Kennetha Williams is on a mission. As one of the teens involved in the ASLAN Youth Ministries Haiti project, she’s trying to raise enough money to return to the remote village of Ouanaminthe where, for the past three years, she’s assisted in the clinic and helped to run a day-care program for impoverished kids.
Although it’s located only 700 miles off the Florida coast, Haiti is worlds away from the kind of life most Americans live.
"It’s not a Third World, it’s a Fourth World country," said Craig Bogard who, with his wife Lynn Ann, founded ASLAN to serve the needs of at-risk urban youths in the area.
The average Haitian child rarely eats one meal a day and Haiti is listed among the four poorest nations in the world, he said.
"Yet despite having to live in crisis mode," Craig Bogard said, "the people have a beautiful nature and a vibrant faith."
While these abject conditions make Haiti a less than ideal summer retreat, volunteers who have made the trip before can’t wait to get back. "It’s a very personal journey," said Joe Atkins, whose grandson, Lynn, is one of the teen volunteers.
It’s also a journey that ASLAN only undertakes with the help of generous friends and donors — people like 84-year-old Ray Jannell of Fair Haven who, along with his pals at the Rumson and Fair Haven Lions clubs, has collected almost 10,000 pairs of eyeglasses for the Haitian project over the past four years.
Justin Gazi, who made the trip in 1999 and is returning again this year, convinced his boss at Etonic to donate hundreds of running shoes.
"It all comes down to funds," said Donna Steiner. "When we travel, we each carry two 70-pound duffels. Still, things have to get left behind. It costs a lot to ship the goods we collect."
As much as the ASLAN volunteers give to the Haitians, they never leave the island empty-handed.
"One of the wonderful things is being able to expose our young people — the majority of whom are Afro-American — to a true African culture," said Craig Bogard. "Many of our teens come from economically depressed situations here at home. This trip helps them to look beyond their own problems."
After spending all that time in the clinic, Kennetha Williams has decided to go into the field of medicine. Her cousin, Alexus Williams, a four-time veteran of the project, wants to become a missionary.
The total cost to send an ASLAN volunteer to Haiti is $1,000, but the returns in hope and inspiration for both the ASLAN and Haitian kids are immeasurable. "People ask us why we do it," said Craig Bogard. "They want to know what can we possibly accomplish in the face of all that misery? Our philosophy is not to look at the massive problems, but to focus on the individual.
"Who knows? Maybe a kid who attends our day-care school will turn out to be the president of Haiti some day," he said with a smile.
In order to raise funds for the mission, ASLAN is sponsoring a Walk for Haiti July 20 in Asbury Park. The scenic and easy-walking 2.5-mile course begins at Library Park. Sign-in time is 8:30-10 a.m. For more information, to sponsor pledges or to make a donation, call ASLAN Youth Ministries at (732) 741-7824, or visit the Web site at www.aslanyouth.org.