Visit with Pastor Mioche

This blog entry was made in light of our recent visit from Pastor Mioche Rock, our leader and project facilitator in Bouyaha, Haiti.  Pastor Mioche is the key piece to the construction of the medical clinic in Haiti, and is our “boots on the ground”, living in Haiti and guiding our project…

Needless to say, the last two years have been a rollercoaster, and have changed some aspects of “normal” life forever.  These changes unfortunately rolled into our plans to build a medical clinic in the rural village of Bouyaha, Haiti.  In November 2019, we held our first ever in-person event as an organization. We shared our mission with our Close Connections and felt empowered to begin the daunting journey of building the medical clinic. We had ambitious plans for 2020 and were so excited to finally construct the medical clinic that would bring essential healthcare to those who need it the most.

We all know what happened next.  All of our lives were put on hold for a period of time, and so did our organization.  Instead of asking others to participate in funding a medical clinic, our focus shifted to maintaining our own health, jobs, and livelihood.  Uncertainty for the future meant all fundraising activities were put on hold, and so was the construction of the clinic.

Fast forward two years…  Unfortunately, COVID has etched itself into our daily lives. Political turmoil has further divided people. A health crisis became a political agenda. Misinformation spread rapidly and became almost as much of an illness as COVID.  These societal challenges have been difficult to say the least, but we aren’t the only ones facing them as we learned with our recent visit with Pastor Mioche.

Previously weakened by COVID, the economic infrastructure of Haiti is quickly deteriorating. Haitian President, Jovenel Moïse, was assassinated in July 2021.  Since the assassination, the political structure of the country has slowly dipped into utter chaos. Gangs control the entire nation’s fuel supply, cutting the rest of Haiti off from receiving essential supplies. The Dominican Republic closed their borders due to political conflicts, further suffocating Haiti from the supplies it so desperately needs.  Businesses, Schools, and even Hospitals have been forced to shut down.  Patients needing treatment are left without the care they need, killing the most vulnerable.  Our friends in Bouyaha have been feeling this pain as well. The school in Bouyaha is down to its last week of food supply.  The school usually supplies all 405 children one meal a day. Due to shortages, parents of the children now line up around the bushes surrounding the school’s property in hopes of getting leftovers if there are any.  Fresh water is hard to come by since most of the wells are closed due to no electricity (stemming from the fuel shortage).  The list of challenges that our friends are faced with is seemingly endless.

Our group sat in silence as Pastor Mioche shared his updates.  While we knew there was some political turmoil, we had absolutely no idea how drastic conditions were.  Simply put, there are no words to describe the suffering and anguish Haiti is experiencing.  Through our discussion with Pastor Mioche, it became evident that the conditions will need to stabilize prior resuming construction.  The greatest need of the people in Bouyaha and Pignon are the basic necessities of food, water, and shelter.

While our goal is to supply Pastor Mioche with the resources necessary to construct a medical clinic, we realize this goal is nothing without the people of Bouyaha.  Ultimately, the health of the community cannot be sustained if they are deprived of basic necessities. For this reason, we have shifted our immediate priorities from the actual construction of the clinic to provide whatever resources possible to help in whatever way we can. 

Initially, we planned to donate some funds to help with immediate needs.  In attempt of maximizing the allocation of our donations, we have invited our followers on Facebook to donate in a matching campaign.  Since a vast majority of initial funds were provided by board members and close family and friends, we felt comfortable offering a match of our donations in hopes of sparking additional giving during this time of need.  So far, we have raised an additional $600 in a few short weeks that will be given for food, water, and other supplies.  Even though construction is halted, we hope the efforts of our donors can bring some relief to our friends in Haiti.  Every day brings new challenges, but we pray things will get better.  We will be sending these funds to Pastor Mioche in the next week to help with the immediate need in Bouyaha and Pignon.

In light of the information shared in this blog, I’d like to give my own thoughts on these issues…  I found it extremely difficult to properly communicate the information shared in this blog post.  No configuration of words can truly portray the challenges our friends in Haiti are facing.  I often find myself wondering how and why this could happen… truthfully, my faith in humanity has dwindled- this path of thinking is so easy to slip into, and so hard to shake….

But we have to remember that in the toughest times, we cannot count on others to give us hope- we have to create it. Take Pastor Mioche for example. He would never say this about himself, but he is a saint. He built a school, two churches, a radio station, a community center, has given people jobs, sent people to school, given people hope… and when Haiti is at such a low point, he continues to inspire and create hope.  No matter how bad conditions are in Haiti, Pastor Mioche’s spirit is never broken and creates hope for his community.  I can’t help but think of how many little girls and boys there are in Bouyaha that could be the next Pastor Mioche, growing up in a school he built, working towards a better future.  When there seems to be no hope for Haiti, Pastor Mioche creates it. As friends of Pastor Mioche, I think we can learn a great deal from his work…

If we are ever having a hard time finding faith in humanity, maybe that is our sign that we should create it… just like Pastor Mioche.

Thank you for following the journey.  If you have any questions about the current conditions in Haiti, please don’t hesitate to reach out.  Also, if you have the financial means to do so, please consider donating: https://www.facebook.com/donate/1254975334976878/

Thanks for your time and support.

Best,

Broc