“In a heartbeat,” responds Senior Emily Jacobsen when asked if she would like to go to back to Haiti after her first mission trip there. On March 21, 2016, eleven TG students along with two teachers set off on an unbelievable journey to Haiti in hopes to make a difference in one of the poorest countries in the world. Group members were Delaney Finn, Emily Jacobsen, Rachel Schick, Camille Lilleberg, Ben Kearney, Blake Walczynski, Sam Presseller, Marisa Merritt, Caitlin Foht, Cailey Banken, Neal Duong, Laura Welciek, and Mark Loahr.

Prior to leaving for the trip, the group worked to collect donations to bring with them on their trip. There was school wide competition to see what grade (including teachers) could bring in the most items to donate or the most money for the cause. The senior grade ended up winning this out-of-uniform day, but this was not really the point of the competition. The goal was to get as many donations as possible in hopes to help those in Haiti.

After donations were collected, the group had a “packing party.” This consisted of packaging up all donations to take with them to Haiti. After packing the donations as well as their own bags, they were finally ready to take off on a life changing trip.

The group spent a total of six days in Haiti that consisted of distributing clean water, playing with kids at a local orphanage, helping out wherever needed, visiting a hospital, and meeting the people of Haiti. Although seeing the poverty and suffering of Haiti was very hard, the students still said they saw so much love in the country.

Not only did the students see love, but they gave it too. When volunteers were asked about how they impacted the people in Haiti, many of them said that they helped make them feel loved. Senior Emily Jacobsen shares, “I hope I touched hearts while I was in Haiti. My goal was to just show them that there are people out there willing to give their time to serve them and love them and to show them that they’re not alone in this.” This impact of love is very important to leave with the Haitians, but that is not the only thing that needs to change in Haiti: a lot of aid is needed medically, financially, and educationally. Senior Sam Presseller states, “It’s gonna take a lot more than a group of a dozen people coming there once or twice a month to change anything there.”

Love was not only given by the volunteers to the people of Haiti, but they saw love in the hearts of the people there as well which left a long lasting impact on the volunteers. Senior Delaney Finn shares, “I still think about all the people I meet every night. I am more grateful for the little things in life and appreciative.” Math teacher Mrs. Welciek shares about the impact she felt as well, “I have a newfound appreciation for the life I have, and a stronger sense of the service I need to do for others. I am already planning when I will go again.” Mrs. Welciek was not the only volunteer to want to return to Haiti. All interviewed volunteers shared the same answer about returning to Haiti: that they would love to go back.

Healing Haiti is a nonprofit organization founded in 2006 by Alyn Shannon. Shannon and her husband went on a mission trip to Haiti earlier that year. Alyn’s husband Jeff shared that the trip, “broke their hearts wide open.” Upon their return to the United States, they started up Healing Haiti with the goal to make a difference in lives of the people suffering in Haiti.

The value of family is an emphasis of Healing Haiti. A belief of the organization is that strong families make the world a better place, so they strive to help Haitian families. This in turn will strengthen the community in Haiti and help to break the continuous cycle of poverty in Haiti. Delaney shares another goal of Healing Haiti that she found on her experience to Haiti, “They go by the saying “If you give a man a fish you feed him for a day, but if you teach him how to fish you feed him for a lifetime.” Their goal is to help Haiti grow and rise up from its poverty gap.  It is such an inspiring purpose to me, that I wanted to be apart of.”

The organization also has a center on Christ. They work to spread the love and Word of God as well as help the people there. They have set up churches there and given the people an opportunity to worship and learn more about God. They also strive to live out their own faith life through this organization which is to care for the poor as Jesus did. An experience that the volunteers of TG had in Haiti was washing of the feet- similar to what Jesus did to the disciples on the Last Supper. Delaney Finn shares, “One of my favorites was visiting the elders. They have lived through so much, yet each one said they live their live in praise to Jesus. It was such an inspiring day to meet them and see their faces light up when we brought them food, washed their feet, and painted their nails. It was especially remarkable to me because we visited them on Holy Thursday and that is the day Jesus washed the disciples feet.” As stated by Delaney, the organization incorporates Christianity and faith into their service in many ways.

Although Healing Haiti is making great progress and helping many, there is a lot more to be done according to Sam Presseller. He states, “It’s gonna take a lot more than a group of a dozen people coming there once or twice a month to change anything there.” Healing Haiti does make a significant impact, but more help is needed in order to help the millions of struggling people.

The organization sends volunteers to Haiti for a week long period. Volunteers must be 15 years or older, but there are ways to help Haiti without making the actual trip there. People can donate items to send there that makes a huge difference in the lives of the people there as well. Healing Haiti encourages everyone to get involved in the healing of Haiti whether it be through their program or others because we are all called to love and help God’s children especially in their time of need.

“One memory is that at an orphanage/school/hospital called Grace Village (run by Healing Haiti),I met a little boy named Jeziche. He is six, just like my own little brother. We really connected and he clung to me the entire visit. He even taught me how to say different words in a book we read together. He also taught me other words for random things we would pass around Grace Village. He was so kind and sweet and I will never forget him.”

• Delaney Finn

“Water Truck day was definitely the most memorable day of the trip. We went to Cite Soleil, which is one of the poorest slums in the world. There were a ton of children running around either partially clothed or completely naked. If they had clothes, they were extremely dirty and worn out. The children ran up to us and just wanted to be held and loved. It was hard to see how/where they lived and how they were content with just being held by someone.”

• Emily Jacobsen

“One of my favorite memories of the trip was on the third day we were there and we had the option to either go to Mother Theresa’s (an orphanage for kids up to 2 years old)   or Daries (an orphanage for kids with special needs).  I picked to go to Mother Theresa’s. When we got to the orphanage we had to put on aprons. Once the aprons were on we had to do chores such as cleaning cribs, floors, walls, and ceiling fans. After the chores were done we got a chance to pick up a kid.  I chose I kid who was crying all alone in his crib. I picked him up and went outside to a shaded part where there was a line of chairs for people to sit in to visit with the kids. Right away I could tell the baby who was less than a year old was sick. After 10-20 minutes of holding him he started to cough more violently and eventually throwing up all of me soaking through the apron which was intended to protect me against such events. My first reaction was to hand the baby off to someone but before I got the chance to he laid his head down on my chest and fell asleep. At that moment I realized he trusted me and was only wanting me to hold him and love him especially when he was sick like that. So I held him for a while longer with him just sleeping in my lap. While he was sleeping in my arms, I got to thinking where were his parents? His mom should be here right now instead of me to take care of her sick son. That part really got to me, thinking about my own mom in how I would not be where I am today without her. And after thinking all that, I just got really sad knowing this kid will never have the love and support from his parents or anyone for that matter. This is a memory I will never forget and will forever haunt me in a way knowing that was just one kid out of thousands who will never have the love and support I have had in my life.”

• Sam Presseller

“One moment that I will carry with me forever is the moment when I saw a small two week old baby girl laying in her crib. She was not breathing well and there was no parent to be found. As I picked her up her eyes opened and she looked at me and instantly my heart was broken. All I could think of was my week old nephew back at home that was born into a nice hospital and had all the correct care and had his mommy and daddy by his side the whole time, but this poor little baby girl was left in her crib alone, and sick with no one to show her compassion and love. I also noticed her diaper was dirty and I had asked a nurse for a diaper and wipes to change the baby but they had nothing, thankfully our group had brought with diapers and I had to improvise for wipes. After I had changed her diaper and picked her back up I kissed her cheek and she just smiled. She had the biggest and brightest smile after I had given her just a little drop of love and compassion. Having to leave and put the baby back into the crib put tears in my eyes knowing that, she does not have the care she should be receiving and she is not getting the love she needs as a baby and the compassion.”

• Camille Lilleberg

“I remember meeting a woman named Marie. She was 106 years old and we visited her home to deliver a meal and care for her. She lived in a little shack and was laying on a piece of cardboard when we got there. It looked like she owned very little beyond the clothes she was wearing. Yet, I remember most how happy and joyful she was. She loved the music we sang for her, and appreciated all the care we gave her. When asked what brings her joy her answer was simply, “Jesus.” Her faith was inspiring and humbling.”

• Mrs. Welciek