10 days in Haiti

By Jessica Hewell

Me overlooking Port-Au-Prince at The View

Recently, I spent 10 days in Haiti with a friend of mine, Kerry. I wanted to give back to the Haitians in their time of need. Kerry offered me an opportunity to do that. When I arrived in Haiti, I’m not sure what I expected… maybe something similar to what a nation would look like right after an earthquake. I didn’t expect the progress that Haiti has made in the past two years. It was a pleasant surprise.

Over the next week and a half I had the opportunity to visit a few orphanages or missions as they are sometimes called in Haiti. At one orphanage we did activities with the kids. We got supplies so they could finger paint, something that I’m sure they don’t get to do often.  During that visit we were asking the kids what they were thankful for in Haiti. All of the answers were very humbling to me.  A few of the kids said they were thankful for school. One girl said she was thankful for the breeze… That answer for some reason really made me stop and think about all the things I take for granted. I loved working with these kids. When we were done finger painting, we washed our hands in water and bleach. I learned throughout my stay that bleach was used to clean pretty much EVERYTHING in Haiti. It was funny because the kids really scrubbed my hands and made sure to clean out under my finger nails. Several other children tried to clean under my finger nails on several occasions. When I asked Kerry about this, she said it was probably because the children had been told that cholera could spread through the dirt left under your finger nails. It made me smile to know that the kids were looking out for me.

I demonstrated how to finger paint

Finger painting at the mission

The kids washing their hands

He's busy cleaning my nails- cholera prevention?

At a different orphanage we did a medical clinic. Basically, I had gathered supplies in the US from many generous donors so that we could tend to any medical needs the children at the orphanage had. Luckily, most of the children were only in need of vitamins. I was glad that I had brought a lot of vitamins with me, but who knows how long they will last.

Dokte Minaud with one of his patients :)

Besides helping in the orphanages, I was able to learn about the history, culture, and people of Haiti. The history of Haiti is not always pleasant, but it involves people who would not be held back or silenced.


Culturally, I learned that Haitians are a very cohesive group. They are focused not only on their needs, but also on the needs of their family and friends. Each person I came across in Haiti was very pleasant. They may not have had much, but I’m confident that they would have given me the shirt off of their back if I had asked for it.

"Culturally, I learned that Haitians are a very cohesive group.
They are not only focused on their needs,
but also the needs of others."

At the end of my trip, I got to go to a memorial service for the 2 year anniversary of the earthquake. The entire service was in Creole (which I don’t understand), but I didn’t have to understand the words to know the feeling that was going through the church. People remembering loved ones and being thankful, so immensely thankful for everything they have. It was an intense feeling to be around hundreds of people who had overcome so much. It was almost as if they were saying, “You took your best shot, earthquake. But guess what? We made it. And we are still making it every single day.”

I’m glad I had this opportunity. I learned so much and I have so much respect for the Haitians and how they live. It’s not an easy life for most Haitians. Everything involves work. But they keep the most amazing attitude through it all. I’ll never understand that, coming from a country where people grumble over much less, but it was so refreshing. I don’t think anything will be crushing the Haitian spirit any time soon.