Philippe Bergeron saw Haiti through the eyes of a foreigner and what he saw had a life-changing impact on him.
“Every little baby I held, every fist I bumped . . . I’m sure it made a change. It made a change in my heart and I’m sure it made a change in their heart too,” the 18-year-old local said of interacting with children at a missionary-run school and orphanage in Haiti.
Last year marked the one-year anniversary of the 7.0 magnitude earthquake that devastated the country, but even in the midst of crumbled houses, disease, orphaned children and other troubles, the people of the country believe Haiti can stand on its feet again, according to Bergeron. The hope and optimism of the people was an inspiration for him.
“The people there have the right to complain, but they don’t,” he said, adding this has taught him not to complain about his own problems.
The roots of the trip began last fall. His older brother, Mathieu, had planned to go on a Mission Youth trip with some friends, and suggested he could loan his younger brother money to buy a plane ticket to join the missionaries.
“I had no idea what we’d be doing there but I thought it would be a good experience to do something like this while I was still young.”
So he joined the trip as well, and from Jan. 3 to 10, lived and worked in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Bergeron and the three other males in the group stayed at the Missionaries of Charity guesthouse in Haiti, while the 13 girls stayed at a secured hostel. While staying there, the sisters of the missionary asked the group members to help out in painting murals in the missionary-run school and to fix desks that needed repair. Using money they had fundraised, the youth purchased lumber, varnish and other materials to build new desks for the students.
Whenever they had any spare time, the youth would go to the orphanage that the sisters ran for infants and children up to the age of 10. The babies and children both craved love and affection, and wanted “just to be held,” said Bergeron, adding, “Once you pick them up, there’s no way you can let them go.” He would end up holding as many as three young ones who refused to be put down.
On the last day of the trip, the group got a tour of Port-au-Prince. “That was like – ‘Woah,’” said Bergeron, recalling seeing a running stream full of garbage and people living in tent cities because their homes have yet to be rebuilt.
He was able to speak in French to some of the locals, and even with all the challenges they face, they expressed hope to him. “They look forward. They never look back,” he said, adding, “They really believe their country can be changed.”
Before, when he heard about natural disasters devastating countries like Haiti, he felt “that’s what happens in those countries because they’re poor.” After visiting the country, he realized that disasters might happen, but there were ways the situation could improve. The current government needs to change, he feels, pointing to the example of the government stopping its supply of water to the tent cities and issuing orders for people to move out of these settlements without giving any land, housing or means to the people to help them move. There’s still much to clean up as well, with the ruined remains of houses still littering the streets.
But he feels as if his presence, and the presence of other foreigners who have come to help out, has helped boost the hope of people living there. For instance, at the end of the youths’ visit, the children at the Missionaries of Charity-run school sang songs to them in the church and offered them thanks. The mission youth leader is planning another trip in July to put on a summer camp for the students, and although Bergeron doesn’t know if he can go, he says he would like to, if only to be with the lively and affectionate children there again.
“For me, it’s going to have an impact on me for the rest of my life,” he says of his experience.
