The Story of Bon Samaritain Orphanage

Bon Samaritain Orphanage from outside the walls.

It is estimated that over 5 million children go to bed hungry each night in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.  Out of these, many are displaced.  They have lost their homes and even their families during the 2010 earthquake or the violence thereafter.  In the midst of this tragedy are overcrowded orphanages that do their best to help as many of these children as possible. Bon Samaritain is one of these orphanages.

Getting water from the well.

Deep in the heart of Port-au-Prince, the Bon Samaritain Orphanage seeks to shelter children in need.  The orphanage, with the leadership of Madame Paul, currently houses 102 orphans ranging from 0-18 years in age.  She seeks to provide them food, shelter, love and education.

Unfortunately right now all 4 of these essential needs are difficult to find.

The Bon Samaritain Orphanage is a fairly large building, but not large enough for 102 orphans.  The 5 bedrooms are cramped and not well ventilated.  Many of the children end up sleeping outside on the balcony.  The bathrooms, like in much of Haiti, are practically nonexistent.  The toilets don’t flush (nor is it likely that they will ever flush due to a lack of infrastructure in Haiti) and the children are left to go to the bathroom on concrete slabs (think shower stalls) and then wash the slab off afterward.

The Kitchen

The kitchen is a veranda with a rudimentary grill.  They buy charcoal and cook their food in pots over the fires.  As far as I am aware there is no refrigeration.  The water source is a well outside that is almost certainly unsafe to drink.  Unfortunately this isn’t even the most tragic part of the Bon Samaritain orphanage.  This week, Madame Paul told Stan Horrell (the coordinator for this particular Mission Discovery project) that there was no food for the orphans.  Stan went into the storehouse and found that the shelves were bare.  The only food that remained was about two handfuls of corn, hardly enough to feed 102 orphans.

In Haiti, most orphans are forced to leave the orphanage when they turn 18.  Without the necessary skills found through an education, many of these children will end up begging on the street, in a gang, or dead.  Education is essential for the future of these children. To meet this need there is a small school on the grounds of Bon Samaritain.  It’s basically a shack (that most Americans wouldn’t even trust to house their animals.  There is one teacher to try to teach all the orphans basic reading, writing and math skills.  There are better schools, but schools cost money in Haiti.  They are private and rely on tuition to pay the teachers.  Many of the orphans at Bon Samaritain are good, smart students but simply don’t have the money to receive specialized instruction.

The baren food shelves.

Finally, there is the story of Madame Paul.  Although she has a desire to spend every day with the children, Madame Paul spends most days lying on her bed in severe pain.  The sacrifices she has made has taken a severe toll on her body to the point where she doesn’t believe she will live much longer.  Most days she can’t even stand up.  She is afraid that when she dies there will be no one to take care of the orphans.  She prays for relief from her pain, but even more she prays that the orphanage will continue to run after she is gone.  The orphanage has enemies that want to take over the building and use it for their own purposes.  So far she has been able to keep the children safe but she doesn’t know what will happen when she dies.  As of this moment there is no one likely to take her place and she doesn’t know how much time she has left.

Making sandwiches for the children.

It’s a tragic environment, the worst orphanage that many of us on the Mission Discovery staff have ever seen. And so it was in this environment that we at Mission Discovery devoted much of our resources last week.  We sent in volunteers to address some of the basic needs of the orphanage.   First and foremost we brought food.  As soon as we saw that the children weren’t eating we put together funds to buy 2-3 weeks worth of meals for the 102 children.  We also purchased bread and peanut butter for sandwiches as a special treat.  The children were so thankful that many of them sat in the laps of the Americans and preferred that the teenage volunteers feed them the sandwich so that they could feel more love from the Americans.

The school at Bon Samaritain

This was perhaps the greatest gift that we had to give…love.  As soon as the high school students arrived in the orphanage the orphans began crawling on the Americans.  Most of them didn’t want to play.  They wanted to be held.  They weren’t asking for gifts. They were asking to be rocked to sleep.  I have never seen anything like it.  Instead of running around playing games the children wanted to lie in the lap of the Americans and rest.  Not a one of us could sit down without multiple children immediately finding an arm or a leg on which to rest their heads so they could nap.  They simply craved that touch.  We did other things at the orphanage. We gave the entire building a much-needed paint job. We taught VBS.  We read to the children, sang with them and played with them.  However, I believe that the most important thing we accomplished that week at the orphanage was simply letting them know that they are not forgotten.

Stan Horrell prays for Madame Paul.

We have plans for the orphanage. We would love to deliver more food. We would love to give the orphans new beds. We would love to give them clean water.  We would love to give them some sort of sanitation.  However, the situation in Port-au-Prince, and at this orphanage in particular, is very fragile.  There are a lot of external factors that affect this type of work.  For example, the enemies of the Bon Samaritain orphanage will do almost anything to see this place fail.  In addition, unless Madame Paul finds somebody to continue her work after she dies the orphanage will fail.  Simply moving the orphans to other orphanages isn’t a likely option either since every orphanage is already crowded.  There is simply no room.

Jentess falls asleep on my shoulders.

I believe that God was in the Bon Samaritain orphanage last week.  He led us to this place so that we would truly know what He means when he refers to the “least of these.”  By the end of the week, He had given 70 volunteers a passion for the place and for the children. He does not want the orphanage to fail.  So pray for the orphanage.  Pray for Madame Paul, for her health and that she find a strong leader to continue her work. Pray for the children that they might have the most basic of needs like food, shelter, sanitation, education and love.  Pray that the enemies will not win and that the children will stay safe from harm.  Pray for their future so that they will find a way to help Haiti end this cycle of poverty.  Situations like the one found at Bon Samaritain orphanage shouldn’t happen.  It’s time to find a way to make sure it doesn’t.

If you feel like you want to help, go to missiondiscovery.org and donate towards the Mission Discovery Haiti projects. Or better yet, sign up to volunteer your time and you can experience Haiti for yourself.

See more photos from the Bon Samaritain orphanage by clicking here!

The story of the church.

This used to be a rich man's home...

After the earthquake he sold the land to a pastor.  The pastor decided to start a church.  This church meets in a tent that was supplied by China for earthquake relief.

That's right...the People's Republic of China is unknowingly supporting a new church in Haiti.  The pastor has a dream that 1000 people will attend this church.  In order to do this he needs a new building.  Here is the pastor (Noel) explaining his plans for the new building.

This week the work begins.  Mission Discovery participants are beginning to level out the lot for a foundation.  It involves long, hard days carrying rocks and swinging pick axes.

One more thing, this is Pastor Noel's 164th church.

On disaster relief...

Dear family & friends,

It seems like natural disasters are becoming all too common of an occurrence.  Even now as I am writing this I am reading news of even more devastation in Oklahoma due to the recent outbreak in tornados.   In the aftermath of disaster, you see humanity at its finest.  Relief organizations flood in to help the survivors.  Millions of Americans donate time and money to help with supplies and rebuilding.  It’s amazing to see how people come together to show survivors that they are not alone.

While this immediate attention is very helpful in the aftermath of a disaster, the rebuilding process unfortunately continues long after the attention has faded away.  Food & shelter can arrive in days.  Buildings can be constructed in weeks.  But entire communities can take years to rebuild.  People can take a lifetime.

This summer I am fortunate enough to be able to help out in two such disaster areas.  The first of these locations is Port au Prince, Haiti.  On January 12th, 2010, Haiti was hit by a 7.0 earthquake.  Port au Prince was devastated.  The recovery effort has been incredibly slow, as natural resources are very hard to come by and corruption runs rampant.  As the poorest country in the western hemisphere, the situation in Haiti is desperate.  80% of the population live underneath the poverty line & child slavery continues to be an inexcusable problem.  On June 3rd I will travel to Haiti to help provide safe & secure shelters for Haitians so that they will have at least one less thing to worry about.  More importantly, I go to remind them that they are not alone in the fight for their survival.

The second location in which I will be working is New Jersey.  In October of last year, New Jersey was hit hard by Hurricane Sandy.  Many of the small, coastal communities were wiped out by the wind and storm surge.  Most of these communities have yet to be rebuilt.  There are many reasons for this including a harsh winter that slowed down the clean-up process.  However, for many of the poor families living in the region, the problem has come down to a lack of resources.  Houses are sitting empty (some damaged beyond repair) and the families are still living in shelters after 8 months because they haven’t received the money and manpower to begin the process of rebuilding their homes and their lives.  

During my 4 weeks in New Jersey, 450 adults & high school students will be traveling from around the country to begin this process of restoring hope to the community.  We will be partnering with local agencies to clean up debris, rebuild homes, distribute food & clothing, and provide community outreach to show the poor that they are not forgotten.

So in closing, please pray for the people devastated by the tornados.  Volunteer your time and money if you have any to spare.  But don’t forget about them when the media attention goes away.   Also, don’t forget about the victims of previous disasters.  The need is great & the work is waiting for somebody that is willing to help.  If you would like to donate to help me in Haiti & New Jersey, go to www.missiondiscovery.org and click “donate” at the top of the page.  You will find my name in a drop down box.  If you would like to donate to help the tornado victims there are plenty of trustworthy organizations for that as well.  Most importantly I ask for you to give something of yourself.  Money, time, supplies & prayer all have the power to change lives when used appropriately.

Recovery from a disaster is a long process.  Too often people feel forgotten and abandoned.  It is important to rebuild homes & provide people with their physical needs.  However, I believe that the greatest need of any survivor is the need for hope.  They need to know that they are not alone.  They need to know that we are there with them through the storms.  We will mourn with them as they mourn.  We will celebrate with them with there is reason to celebrate.  We will journey alongside them as we show them the love that comes from the God of love.  We will show them that in the end, love always wins.

Thanks for your support!  I’ll be posting pictures to Facebook throughout the summer, and hopefully this fall we will be able join together to offer our time and resources to help restore Oklahoma as we continue to remember those in Haiti & New Jersey.

Sincerely,

Rob Cantwell

Off the precipice into waters unknown but familiar...

Dear family & friends,

In the fall of 2008 I had to make a tough decision.  I was working for Mission Discovery as a project coordinator.  My job, essentially, was to run short-term mission trips in Mexico, Central America, and the United States.  I would go to a place, find a need, then figure out a way to meet that need.  This was a complex 18-month process that began by connecting with locals and ended with groups of volunteers from around the world traveling to help those in need.  It was an amazing experience and I was humbled to be a part of something so much larger than myself.

As a full-time missionary, I was supported by an amazing group of individuals that willingly donated time and money to Mission Discovery on my behalf because they believed that as humans we are all called to do something greater than ourselves.  They saw what God was doing to meet the needs of the world’s poor and wanted to play a part.  They knew that God had given them gifts and resources to be used to bring Him glory, and through Mission Discovery, they were a part of a team that was was changing lives.  They were using their time and resources to give God glory by providing for the “least of these.”  They were showing the world that there is love, that there is hope, and that there is a God that loves them and is waiting for them with open arms.

It was an incredible experience...one that changed the lives of thousands of people, including my own. Unfortunately, when the economy crashed in 2008, I knew it was time to leave Mission Discovery.  I didn’t have enough funding to be a full-time missionary and I didn’t want my lack of funding to hurt those I was trying to help.  So I chose to return to Missouri and reconnect with my family, my friends and my community.  It was a hard choice, but ultimately I believe that it was the correct choice.

I returned to grad school and received my teaching degree, eventually taking a job as a Spanish teacher in Stockton, Missouri.  I immediately knew that this rural high school was where God wanted (and still wants) me to be.  My experience in the classroom as shown me that although the setting and the rules are slightly different, teachers and missionaries are fighting many of the same battles.  We are fighting against oppression and against apathy.  We are fighting to show the world that there is a better way; that there is a hope for a better future; that what they see isn’t all that there is.

I love being a teacher at Stockton, but my heart has always yearned to continue my work with Mission Discovery.  Mission work will always play a major role in my life, and to deny this is to deny a part of myself.  Fortunately, others feel the same way.  Mission Discovery has kept my fundraising account open hoping that one day I would be able to return.  Finally, that time has come.

After a 4 year hiatus to complete grad school and get settled in Missouri, I am finally able to partner once again with Mission Discovery to help meet the physical and spiritual needs of the world’s poor.  This year they have asked me to coordinate and lead 5 weeks of Hurricane Sandy relief projects.  From June 6th to July 13th, hundreds of High School students and their families will travel to New Jersey and New York to help rebuild what was devastated by the superstorm that is estimated to have caused at least $50 billion in damages, making it the second-costliest hurricane in history behind Hurricane Katrina.  My job will be to work with the local church to organize this relief effort.  I am tasked with coordinating work sites & materials for the volunteers; as well as  coordinating food, lodging and all the other little things that are required to serve those in need.

I am writing you not only to let you know about my reconnecting with Mission Discovery, but also to ask for your help in a number of ways.  First and foremost, pray for the project, the volunteers, and those being served.  There are a lot of unknowns in a disaster relief project as the situation changes daily. Pray that the needs will be met and that above all God will be glorified.  Second, consider giving financially.  I do not want my working with Mission Discovery to take money away from those in need.  Please donate to my account either using the enclosed envelope or online at www.missiondiscovery.org (just click on “donate” at the top of the website and find my name in the “staff support” section) to help cover my expenses.  Finally, I have a need for volunteers during the 5 weeks of projects.  At this time, I still need interns & worship leaders.  If you feel called to serve in one of these roles, please call me or email me at robcantwell@gmail.com.  I would love to have your support!

Thanks for your support through the years!  I wouldn’t have this opportunity without you and I pray that God will guide you as we journey through this next adventure together.

Thanks

Rob Cantwell