By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
Colette King knew that traveling to Haiti with nine classmates and several adults from The Pennington School and the Presbyterian Church of Lawrenceville would likely be a life-changing event.
But just how much it would change her life and the lives of her friends Colette had no way of knowing. That is, until the group returned from the six-day trip last month.
The country is still recovering from the earthquake that occurred in 2010.
Colette and three of her classmates Logan Campbell, Devon Landis and Matt Butler shared their experiences with about 40 members of the Presbyterian Church of Lawrenceville Sunday morning. The trip took place March 13-19.
Colette said she had heard about the trips to Haiti from Logan. Her mother, Robyn Campbell the director of children’s ministries at the church had visited Haiti with a group from the church.
”I thought, ‘That was kind of cool,’” Colette said. So when Devon told her that the school had arranged for a short trip to Haiti in conjunction with a group from the Presbyterian Church, she decided to go along.
”I signed up, not knowing what I was getting into. It was nothing like I had ever experienced before,” Colette said.
When the group arrive in Haiti on March 13, they boarded a “tap-tap” a bus that took them to the village of Thoman, high up in the mountains. They slept or tried to sleep on the concrete floor of a building there. The next morning, they held a medical clinic for the villagers.
Over the next five days, the group held a medical clinic in the village of Leogane and visited schools in that village and in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince all associated with Harmony Ministries, with which the Lawrence church has had a long-standing relationship spanning more than 20 years.
Colette recalled the group’s visit to Harmony Ministries’ school in Port-au-Prince. The children were excited to receive a notebook, she said, adding that she has four notebooks at home and groans at the sight of them because it means “there is going to be a long night of homework.”
The medical clinics proved to be an eye-opener to the students.
The Haitians flocked to the clinic for treatment of what Americans would consider to be minor ailments, such as arthritis, a fever or cold, or back pain, Colette said.
”In the United States, it’s something we don’t even think about. I think I got a very different perspective on life. It is so different in Haiti,” she said.
Devon told the group that she loves children, so it was hard for her to imagine how the children she met could go home and never know where their next meal would come from.
”The children were so happy to be in school,” Devon said. “Colette speaks French, but their native language is Creole. I can’t tell you how many times the children played the ‘Hokey-Pokey’ and ‘Duck Duck Duck Goose.’ You don’t realize how confusing it can be (to explain the rules) until you try to explain it in two languages.”
Devon also reported that Harmony Ministries’ new church, which is being built to replace the one that was destroyed in the earthquake in Port-au-Prince, is “huge” and “sturdy.” She said it is unlikely the church will ever fall down again.
Dr. Richard Levandowski, one of the seven adults who made the trip to Haiti and a member of the Presbyterian Church, thanked the audience members and said the money they donated for the trip purchased vitamins and other medicine that made a difference.
”There is a huge difference that a dollar’s worth of vitamins can make,” Dr. Levandowski said. “You were looking at 14- or 16-year-old girls having babies, and the folic acid (in the vitamins) can make a difference in the babies’ health. It goes to show how a very, very little can make a big difference.”
Robyn Campbell, Logan’s mother, said she was amazed the students never complained about anything on the trip. They did everything they were asked to do, and even more, she said.
”I know they thought they were going to do crafts and play with the children, but when they saw the needs, they stepped right up. Whatever needed to be done, they did it,” Ms. Campbell said.
Ms. Campbell said the new church that the Rev. Luc Deratus founder of Harmony Ministries is building should open next year and at least be earthquake resistant. The church is being built with the help of a consortium of churches that includes the Lawrenceville church.
Colette also commented on the tent cities that some Haitians still call home, two years after the earthquake. The tent cities are dangerous.
”I can’t imagine trying to sleep (in the tent city). It’s a lawless community and people live on top of each other. There is no trash collection and no bathrooms,” she said.
Matt noted that while the hotel where they stayed in Port-au-Prince offered all the comforts one would expect, when he looked outside his hotel window, he saw a 30-foot-tall pile of rubble.
”All you could see was rubble. There was a red tent on top of the pile of rubble. There was a 5- or 6-year-old boy and he had a kite that was broken and he was running with it. It’s how he lived,” Matt said.
While this was the first trip that The Pennington School students had taken to Haiti, the Rev. Aaron Twitchell, who is a school chaplain, said the school is “strongly considering” going back.
For Colette, however, there is no such thing as “strongly considering” going back to Haiti.
”I am definitely going back at some point. Six days changed a lot for me,” she said.
