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One of my favorite things to do is spend time with people in remote areas and in communities hearing their stories and developing relationships with them. Especially sitting with moms and women and encouraging them and praying for them. Having the opportunity to spend time in the Dominican Republic during such a chaotic time in Haiti has been difficult but life-giving for me!
Recently I visited a brand new Haitian community that our team met that is very close to our new campus. For those of you who have been to Haiti, this may be hard to imagine, but the people I saw in this community are much worse off than most of our friends in Haiti! Any words to describe what I saw cannot explain the gravity of the situation. They are desperate for education, nutrition, better sanitation, medical care, and love. They live in constant fear and are in a place of barely existing—trying to be invisible.
-we.jpg) In the middle of this community, on top of everything else I was trying to process, I walked into this yard…
There is a large building with a row of rooms. One family per room with no running water or electricity. The day I visited there was a woman who looked beaten down with a 8-month-old baby asleep face down on her lap. Another baby, barely a year old, sitting in the dirt with a sopping wet diaper on his bottom, probably from the night before, all by himself maybe six feet away, screaming and crying. His nose had not been wiped, his eyes had not been dried, and it looked like he had been rolling around in the dirt. He looked like he just woke up from a nightmare, but no one had taken the time to console him. He was shaking with every breath.
At first glance, it looks like an overwhelmed mother with two littles—but like in most cases, there is more to the story. Just hours before visiting this community, immigration descended and wreaked havoc for this family. At 5:00 am, before the sun came up, while they were all in bed, immigration officers barged into each home and took six people who lived there. My mind goes to so many places of what this must have felt like in that moment—shock, urgency, fear, and helplessness! And in the middle of it all was this 12-month-old child screaming in utter confusion as his mother was one of the six that they drug away! Where is she now? What is going through this little one's mind? When will they see each other again? Did she leave screaming for her baby, or did she act as if he was not hers so that he could remain in the DR and not have to return to Haiti?
Many things have rocked me to my core over the years since 1998, and this one is one of the worst. As a mom…as a human, I want to know where is the justice? How are people treated this way? What can be done?
I am quickly reminded that my first response is to cry out in prayer, which in that moment, honestly, was all I could think of! God, what do I do here, how can I fix this, what are the greatest needs? As if these people have not been through enough, why this? This is no way to live…this is merely existing! Why did you bring me here to see this and break my heart?
To break my heart for what breaks HIS is always the answer! All of these people, created in His image, were treated as though they were disposable.
After seeing what I saw and knowing what I know, my heart has not been able to settle. There have been restless nights and a lot of tears. I am grateful that through the funds the Lord has blessed Women’s Empowerment with, we were able to act right away and do something.
We were able to quickly assess the situation, gather details of the population, and determine the greatest needs of the community.
Our first steps of action were to purchase and package enough food to help 20 families in the area as well as enough hygiene products, diapers, and towels for over 50 people. With the help of Liphat, a local leader from that community, some of our Haitian and Dominican staff delivered everything Sunday night in order to not draw attention to this area and these people who are essentially living in hiding.
While we are not in the position to fix every policy issue, we know we are commanded by the Lord to seek justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with Him. We know that every person we encounter is created in His image and is full of dignity. We know that people are hurting, and together WE can help lend a shoulder to cry on and a community to be a part of—to remind them of their value.
We don’t have all the answers to fix all of the problems, but we do know that we will do for one what we wish we could do for all.
First, please pray for this community and for all of the people who are experiencing the fear just like this family. Second, when you support Women’s Empowerment, you enable us to respond on the frontlines with immediate help.
With Love,
Vanessa Johnson
Director of Women's Empowerment
Mission of Hope
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