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HILLSBOROUGH: Church group connects with children in Haiti

By Eileen Oldfield, Staff Writer
   Monfort Road resident Alena D’Auria knew the images of post-earthquake Haiti from seeing them on television and on the Internet following the Jan. 20 quake. But spending a week rebuilding houses and parts of an orphanage in Calabasse, a town outside Port-Au-Prince, brought the disaster home, she said.
   ”One thing that definitely stands out to me is the stark differences between Port Au Prince and Calabasse, where we stayed,” Ms. D’Auria said. “During our drive through Port Au Prince, you witness a city of people on top of people. The city was so crowded, with people with small shelters, but so many without. The aftermath of the earthquake and the chaos that accompanied it was still so apparent.
   ”As we headed up the mountain to Calabasse though, the population dwindled and the surroundings became a lot greener. Despite the destruction, the ride through the hills into Calabasse really allowed me to see Haiti’s true beauty.”
   Ms. D’Auria, a 20-year-old political science major at Rutgers University, traveled to the country as part of a relief group sponsored by her church, The Point Church in New Brunswick. The church usually concentrates on the North Brunswick and New Brunswick area, so the expansion beyond towns in New Jersey prompted Ms. D’Auria to join the trip. She joined seven other people from the church for the trip, which was led by David Learn, a church member who lived in Haiti but moved to New Jersey.
   The team stayed at the Haiti House of Blessings Orphanage, with about 20 children who live there, Ms. D’Auria said.
   ”Despite some language barriers, I really came to see that children, no matter where they live, are so similar,” Ms. D’Auria said. “They love fully and openly, but also hurt openly and truthfully as well. Hearing their stories of the night of the quake and the days that followed was the most telling look at the effects of the disaster that I could have received.”
   ”Our team developed a true connection with the children at the orphanage,” she added. “A lot of our time was spent fostering an individual bond with each of them, whether it be through helping them with some of their daily chores, cleaning up around the orphanage, or even teaching them how to play Frisbee. We really felt it was important to lend an open ear to them. Its amazing what you can learn about a country and culture through the eyes of a child.”
   During the week in Calabasse, the team put finishing touches — including stucco work and reinforcing walls with chicken wire — on several collapsed houses, putting hurricane protection straps on houses in the community, and cleaning rubble form the orphanage’s school.
   ”We got to meet the families and children whose house it was soon to be and interact with the surrounding community,” Ms. D’Auria said. “It was really clear to see that these houses were going to become much more than just shelter to these people; they were going to become a real home, a renewed sense of continuity to their otherwise uncertain world.”
   Though it was her first time travelling abroad to help with relief efforts, Ms. D’Auria hopes to return to Calabasse, possibly in summer 2011. The drive to rebuild and support for the community witnessed throughout the trip was another striking feature of the trip, in addition to falling in love with the culture and community, Ms. D’Auria said.
   ”Despite the utter destruction of their already impoverished nation, and long road that still lay ahead for them, there was such a strong sense of community and commitment to get back up on their feet,” Ms. D’Auria said. “… I think when we, coming from a country of such opulence, and enter a country in need of such help, it’s easy jump to assumptions that they long for what we have. The children at the orphanage showed me a different reality, they showed me true contentment with their lives and their situation, and taught me how to ‘work with what you got.’”