Nastacia Voisin |
They pinky-promised: “Friends for life.”
Katy Jo Novinger would say the first part in Creole: “Nou se zanmi,” meaning “We are friends.” And Ralph, a young Haitian boy, would add in English, “For life!”
The bond Novinger forged with Ralph during her second service trip to Haiti was exactly the reason she’d felt compelled to lead 19 people to the Caribbean island over winter break.
“I think there’s power in making connections,” Novinger, a senior education major, said, “I think there’s power in that kind of experience.”
Last spring break she’d been inspired by her first service trip to Haiti, when she joined 22 UP students and two hall directors for a week of aid work in the village of Mariani.
“It captured my heart,” she said. “The first day I fell in love with the country. And the relationships I made there made me want to go back.”
And during the first week of winter break, she made that trip happen, this time to the community of Mayotte. In partnership with Forward Edge International, a Christian program that organizes international relief work, the students helped a nine-person family add two rooms to their house, played soccer games with locals, handed out hot meals and interacted with children in their sponsorship program.
For Derek Block, a senior theology and history major, this second trip to Haiti helped him put parts of his life in perspective.
“What caught me off guard – and what I found most rewarding – was getting to know the people. Learning their stories,” Block said
After he witnessed the joy of the children he passed out Christmas gifts of soccer balls, stuffed animals and coloring books to, Block said his definition of gratitude changed. He resolved to to refrain from unnecessary purchases once back in the U.S., and to try to finish all the food on his plate.
For others, including Lauren Bene, a senior nursing major, working with Merilan Luma and Magdala Luma enlarge their house was a rewarding experince.
In the two days the students spent hauling cement and putting up the extra rooms, the Luma’s worked alongside them.
“These were people who couldn’t pay for school, had no steady income and were living in a place with no running water or electricity,” Bene said. “There was a language barrier, but there was so much joy and friendliness, it didn’t really matter.”
Bene’s volunteer experience made her determined to sponsor a Haitian child after she graduates, and to someday return to Haiti.
Novinger, Block and other students from the trip are already thinking of making a return journey. They realize that one-week mission trips are small windows to make a difference, but they hope their work will create a trickle-down effect of service and interest in Haiti.
“Giving money is great,” Block said, “but going there, and experiencing it in a very human-to-human way – you can’t buy that. You have to make the trip.”
Nastacia Voisin is Copy Editor for The Beacon. She can be reached at voisin15@up.edu.
