Aid and Identity Theft in Haiti

Working in Haiti is not always easy. The unstable political environment creates difficulties of its own, but there are even bigger obstacles to working in this impoverished country. Haiti has for too long been a major recipient of all kinds of aid. This has made a profound impact on the identity of many Haitians. Many have come to view themselves as poor, with nothing valuable to contribute, waiting for the next shipment of aid or hand out. Many have given up on themselves.
Floresta works to break this cycle of dependency and help Haitians create a positive identity for themselves, one where they have discovered their unique, God given talents, and use them to make a positive contribution to their community.
A familiar story of this problem is from one of our Haitian villages when Floresta first entered the community. At a community meeting of about fifty farmers, A woman stood up and said, “Another organization was here. They gave us food and left. She went on to list several others. So and so was here. They gave us things and left. A third organization was here and gave us stuff, then left. How are you going to be any different!?”
Floresta told her, “First of all we are not going to give you anything. Secondly we are not going to leave until you are ready for us to.”
Several years later in another meeting in the same village, a different woman stood up and excitedly shared, “What Floresta has given us is the knowledge that we are not helpless. That God has given us talents that we can use to improve our own situation!”
And so villages throughout Haiti, where Floresta works, have begun to improve their situation. They have formed credit cooperatives, which have made and collected hundreds of small business loans, they have planted thousands of trees, they have improved their crop yields and they have learned to work together. After working with Floresta for several years and seeing the difference being made, community members are inspired to give back. A number of them have even donated a portion of their profits to start a fund to build the first church in the community.
This is what Floresta means when we talk about community development. It can take a long time to get started, but it means that the work will continue long after Floresta is gone! That is fundamental to all the work Floresta does. Too much aid has created dependency and a loss of identity for many of the rural poor in Haiti. Floresta is committed to work along side these farmers to help them recover their identity and dig up their God-given talents that were buried under all the piles of free hand outs and aid.
Another related article from the news...
http://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=1955664&page=1

A New Conversation on The Environment

Unfortunately, the environment has not historically been a prevalent topic among Christians. While there are groups commited to caring for Creation, a widespread spiritual conviction to care for the Earth has been slow to develop. While the environmental component has been lacking in many Christian conversations, likewise, the humanitarian component has been lacking in many of the more secular environmental conversations. Both conversations are missing critical elements in bringing about holisitc and sustainable transformation in humans and the environment. Floresta is working to bridge this gap.

Deforestation clearly is a major ecological problem. However, often missing in the conversation on the environment are the practical ways the environment impacts human lives. When we talk about the environment in America, we tend to look at it through the lens of the space outside our urban centers that we must protect for our future enjoyment, beauty, and the preservation of animal life. These are very important, but they imply a human disconnect from nature. By this I mean, from our perspective even most of us environmentalists are not tied to the Earth. We live in Houses, drive cars or use public trans and work in buildings, all while advocating the protection of what is outside, to protect it for bio-diversity's sake and for future generations. However, in the conversation about the environment we need a more integral way of seeing the land. Conservation and protection of open spaces and wilderness implies a dualism between nature and humans. It implys nature should be protected from humans: separated. But God did not create the Earth this way. Humans are an integral part of nature and we are called to protect it and keep it, not stay out of it.

We cannot forget to include in this conversation the voices of those around the world who live in the Earth and not just on it. Those who struggle daily to survive with only what nature can provide them. Those who are directly connected to the ecology of the land, and whose livelihoods come from thier labor in the soil, trees, oceans and rivers. If we want to talk about the environment, we must engage in conversation with those whose homes are among the trees, fields and wilderness. Their transportation is thier feet, the road is not paved. Their work is the land and their tools are their hands. They live the environment. These are the rural poor.

Unfortunately, poverty creates a desperation greater than their reason. Their poverty forces them to deforest the land. This deforestation leads to drought and erosion, which in turn causes deeper poverty, which then creates faster rates of deforestation. The cycle is vicious and spirals downward. The farmers know they are hurting the land but their poverty gives them no other choice.

Humans and the environment are integrally connected and thus environmental destruction is deeply connected to poverty. So it is the voice of the rural poor that must be heard in the conversation on environmental protection. It is they who are most dependent on the land and it is them we are hurting when we carelessly consume or ignore them in the conversation.

Floresta is working to bring these farmers a voice while reversing the vicious cycle of poverty and deforestation adn promoting the restoration of our relationship with God, the Earth, and each other. We have seen great results from reforestation, sustainable farming techniques and community development efforts. As Isaiah prophesied (41:17-20), The poor and needy now find water, we now see springs once again flow where they had dried up, trees planted in the desert, pines growing in the wasteland, and when the people see this they know the hand of the Lord has done this. I used to think this was a metaphor, symbolic of the Kingdom, but since I have been involved with Floresta, I have seen this prophecy literally take place in the places we work. Praise God!