2020 Celebration
2020. Likely one of the toughest years of our generation. In Haiti, 2019 and 2020 have been arguably the worst in the country's history. While we had been operating the soccer academy for several years, Lespwa Lavi launched publicly in 2019, just as Haiti spiraled into months of political riots and gang violence, locking down highways and shutting people into their homes. People were starving. No food or trucks of supplies could get to Verrettes in the interior of the country for months. We knew any day we would begin losing children to the consequences of starvation. But through a series of miracles (which you can read more about on our blog), our staff in Haiti finally brought a truck of food for 270 of the children most in need on Thanksgiving Day. Since then the nutrition program has not missed a day. We have 300 children in the program now, with more added every week!
Just as the gang violence finally seemed to be calming in February, 2020 and schools re-opened, COVID-19 hit the globe, and Haiti shut down again in March. Lespwa Lavi was able to continue the daily feeding program safely and church met out on the hillside. Thankfully, the novel coronavirus did not affect Haiti as much as feared, and school was finally able to resume in August. Unfortunately, the strain of the pandemic on the world's economy continued to impact Haiti and political leaders continued to use corruption to their advantage. Gang violence multiplied, and many areas of Haiti continue to be extremely dangerous. Thankfully, the community of Verrettes is relatively safe, however the roads are still blocked going into the city. Miraculously, every month our food truck gets through.
While 2020 may have stamped a delay on Lespwa Lavi's plans to build our school campus and church building in Haiti, our programs in Haiti have thrived as we could never have imagined. The child advocacy program (also called child sponsorship) grew from 23 children in 2019 to 75 children currently. We hired 8 Haitian advocates to mentor and support these children while educating the community on the value of childhood. The children in the program come from a variety of backgrounds - many of them are living as orphans or "restaveks", a dangerous form of foster care. Our sponsors show them that they are loved and treasured!
The Lespwa Lavi church in Haiti continues to grow, and is partnering with Evangel Church in the USA and other Verrettes area churches to spread the good news.
The soccer academy has been a thriving source of consistency and stability for the families in Verrettes. With some precautions, they were able to continue training and games throughout the year. Although travel has been limited for tournaments, the boys and girls teams are having a great time. Lespwa Lavi also runs a semi-professional men's team, which is internationally recognized.
In an unexpected response to critical need, we launched a clean water program! We hired a community educator and distributed 50 water filters - including filters to be used by our nutrition program, soccer program and the church! Many children fill their water bottles at the nutrition program so that they do not have to drink dirty water at home.
Our staff in Haiti grew to 12 full or part time individuals. The only reason we cannot list more job creation is because our director and dozens of volunteers at the nutrition program, church and soccer program refuse to accept a salary. These amazing Haitians believe in what God is doing in Verrettes, and they just want to be a part of that!
One of the biggest miracles of the year was that despite the economic uncertainty in the USA, every single one of our corporate sponsors kept their financial commitment for the year and we had over a 98% retention rate for child sponsors. We are truly thankful for these partners who see the value in bringing Hope.
As we end the year, we are preparing for a HUGE Christmas feast in Haiti to feed the entire church and surrounding community. The children in our programs are also planning a Christmas day soccer tournament and a party where they are expecting to have special food and plenty of fun, but they will also get a very special surprise - their first Christmas gift ever.