UUSC Haiti Update & Trip
- Written by Becky Warren
I'm writing you from Haiti's Central Plateau, where volunteers on the UUSC-UUA December 2011 JustWorks trip are helping the local Papaye Peasant Movement (MPP) build an eco-village for displaced earthquake survivors.
Today, I can see the astounding progress that has been made on the eco-village since the first UUSC-UUA trip to the Central Plateau in May. Families have begun moving into their new homes here, and they’ve had their first harvest from the tire gardens we’ve helped build on past trips. Come see for yourself and help us continue this critical work — apply to join us on a spring 2012 trip to Haiti!
These service-learning trips not only make a positive impact in Haiti but are transformational for volunteers. Rebecca Burns, who went on a UUSC-UUA JustWorks trip to Haiti earlier this year, has this to say:
| I was afraid that I would leave Haiti feeling depressed. What I saw in Haiti shocked and deeply saddened me and I often feel overwhelmed at the enormity of the challenges there. I feel angry that such extreme poverty exists in this world, and especially so close to our borders. I feel so frustrated by the apparent lack of progress in rebuilding Port-au-Prince after the earthquake. But the dominant feeling I had leaving Haiti was one of inspiration. MPP’s programs seek to create a self-sustaining Haiti, and I saw evidence of that everywhere — from a solar-panel workshop employing those left homeless by the earthquake to the youth of Haiti growing trees to reforest the Haitian mountainsides and protect the soil which their livelihoods depend on. I saw the fruits of empowered people working together to create the change they wished to see, and for a little while I was part of it. |
Her words will inspire me as I go forward with our work here in Haiti.
If you, or someone you know, would like to travel to Haiti with UUSC’s JustWorks Program, we have trips coming up March 10–17, 2012 (application deadline: December 18, 2011), and April 28–May 5, 2012 (application deadline: February 5, 2012). Fill out our online application or call Sam Jones, who handles enrollment for JustWorks, at 617-301-4326 between 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. (EST) to apply by phone.
Hope to see you in Haiti!
Evan Seitz
Associate and Trip Leader
UUSC College of Social Justice
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