Haiti Teen Challenge visit - Wednesday

Today was a day where progress was shown. Yesterday was a very difficult day for the team and me. We witnessed the worst starvation and poorest districts I’ve ever seen in my life. I don’t understand why Haiti is this way. I’ve had trouble thinking about how it could get this bad and why we can’t permanently change the country overnight. I’ve fanaticized about having super powers so I could lift the entire county up and carefully place every single structure, man woman and child down on the ground in a new paradise. But I can’t, no one can and I now understand the reality of true hardship… Hardship is not enough. Survival! Real survival. This is not a movie, not a bad day at work, not the type of difficulties most of us go through because we can’t afford what we think we need. This is true survival and it tore me apart yesterday. Yesterday my word of the day was disappointment. It was the only thing I could think of because I couldn’t (still can’t) understand how a place full of so many people can be such a hard and miserable place to live. However, today my word of the day is progress.

            Today I traveled with part of my group to Teen Challenge, an organization from Minnesota that expanded its efforts to Haiti. For those that are not aware, Teen Challenge runs a program that helps people conquer alcohol and drug addiction. In Haiti they do the same but also put a great emphasis on helping the next generation break the generational curse. It was explained to us that in addition to drugs and alcohol an extremely significant aspect of this country’s troubles are rooted in broken homes. It is a normal way of life for men to have multiple children with multiple women and then never take responsibility of those children. It’s been going on for generations and seems to be the rule, not the exception. Most young men in this country don’t care about family, don’t care about morals and think the only way to break out of poverty is to do it immorally. To rob, cheat and steal is the fastest and easiest way to earn a buck. Many do all of these through the drug trade and become dealers, users, or both; and on top of that don’t respect a family life that could save their children and guide them in a moral direction. It’s one of those “I saw my dad do it so I can too” type of scenarios. In order to break this generational curse this next generation of young men needs to understand that you can live with integrity, moral guidelines and still make it out of poverty. It may not be the easiest way but it is the correct way.

            Teen Challenge educates these men how to live morally through teachings of the bible. This two-year program also provides education for specific trades in mechanics, computers and science etc. When they complete it, they will have marketable skills in an extremely poor job market. They assist the men in building personal relationships with business owners so they become next on the hiring block once a job position opens. They also graduate respecting the importance of raising their own children so their sons and daughters grow up with a solid moral foundation built on integrity. What is better, getting out of poverty fast with evil, or a little slower the right way?

            I didn’t get the story of all the men I met today but I can say with my own integrity attached that the ones I did meet are good men. They have a chance for a future and if they can stay on track and live the moral life that the bible teaches this generational curse will eventually be broken.

The progress I witnessed today was unexpected and amazing. I now know not all of Haiti is broken. Healing Haiti and Teen Challenge have so many years of hard work ahead of them but I can at least fall asleep tonight knowing that progress is indeed being made.

Dustin Imholte