Q&A with the Executive Director

As most of you know by now, in 2011, HFHF welcomed Lydia Dant on board as our first U.S. full-time employee and our Executive Director extraordinaire. Lydia has been at it for about a month and already has great ideas for how to help HFHF grow and expand our work in Haiti. We wanted to give you all a chance to get to know Lydia as she takes on this big, awesome new role! We hope you enjoy hearing more about Lydia's heart for Haiti, her vision for the organization and some tips for what to buy on iTunes this week :)

How did you first find out about/get involved with Hope for Haiti Foundation?

I was introduced to HFHF in 2008 through a colleague in graduate school, Mahsa Abassi. She was a medical student who had taken a medical trip with HFHF. She was so passionate about Haiti and talked so highly of the trip and the organization that I had to get involved. Mahsa and I filled our internship requirement for school by designing and implementing a health assessment survey for the Bainet area. We spent one month traveling to each district, working with the community leaders and interviewing Haitians about their health care needs and the current health system in the area. We discovered that access to healthcare was extremely limited and that people were desperate for emergency care, especially for pregnant women. This instigated HFHF’s plan to collaborate with Bainet’s MOH (Ministry of Health) to open an emergency medical facility, as well as provide focused maternity care and introduce community health workers.

When I returned from Haiti, I kept working on the projects, and have basically never stopped. It was evident from day one of our trip that something special was happening through this organization – it was real people making a difference. At that time, the organization was entirely volunteer and supported entirely by individual donations. Most importantly, the relationship with the Haitian community was genuine and full of trust. There was an attitude of collaboration. Because of this alone, they had accomplished more tangible results than many other international non-profits that I was familiar with.

What made you decide to apply for the Executive Director position? What was your reaction when you found out you would be HFHF's new Executive Director?

I studied international public health because I wanted to dissolve the drastic inequality and injustice that I saw in the world. Naively, I also thought that the challenges of the developing world would be easier to solve – providing clean water seemed easier than trying to figure out the stock market. Of course, I’ve since learned that behind every basic problem is an extremely complex web of social, political, historical, behavioral and environmental factors. But my desire for justice never wavered.

Working full time for HFHF has been a dream of mine since my first trip in 2008. I was constantly scheming up ways to earn an income with as few hours as possible so that I could devote more time to working with HFHF. I’m sure you’ve heard the question “What would you do if you didn’t need to get paid?” For me, this job is it. I know that most of HFHF’s dedicated volunteers feel the same way – which is why they give up their nights and weekends to do this work. For these reasons, I feel extremely fortunate to have been chosen for this position. It took several weeks for the realization to sink in. I still have to remind myself daily “This is my JOB.” I am extremely honored and grateful.

As you take on the challenge of being HFHF's first U.S. paid staff member, what are you most excited about? What are you most nervous about?

I am most excited about getting the word out about HFHF. We’ve been operating “under the radar” so to speak. I know there are many people who are looking for tangible ways to get involved in helping Haiti, but aren’t sure where to start. HFHF offers an opportunity to not just give out of obligation or to appease your conscious, but to really get involved. Jean Eloi, HFHF’s founder, says it best when he says you become a “victim of Haiti’s passion.” Once you see what is happening in these small communities that we collaborate with, it is hard NOT to get involved.

I am most nervous about the enormous responsibility that I feel to lead while being a servant. HFHF’s vision is to help Haitians help themselves – to provide an environment that grows a generation of Haitians that can lead Haiti into a brighter future. We hope for a day when organizations like HFHF will not need to exist, because Haiti does not need our help. For this to happen, we must approach our work in a way that does not inhibit the future growth of Haitians or Haiti. This is an immense challenge, and something that I am constantly considering.

What are your goals for your first year in the position? In what specific ways do you hope to see the foundation grow?

We have only just begun 2011, and yet I am already looking toward December and thinking twelve months is not long enough to accomplish everything that we would like. One important goal for us this year is partnerships. Haiti is said to have the most NGOs per capita than any other country. I don’t know if that is factual information, but it certainly represents a truth. Because of a long and complex history, many NGOs in Haiti are working toward the same goals right next to each other, without any knowledge of it. Although collaboration brings a new and complex set of challenges, I believe it is necessary to foster a community approach to solving problems. There is an African proverb that says “If you want to go fast, travel alone. If you want to go far, travel together.”

That being said, HFHF has accomplished a tremendous amount in a short time. When HFHF began its work in Zorange 10 years ago, there was no education available, no medical care and very little work. Today, there is a thriving clinic that sees over 50 patients a day, a primary school, secondary school, and high school, radio station, soccer league, and much more. Each of these programs has supplied jobs for the area as well. Our work in Zorange is nearly complete to the point where we can expand to another village and strengthen their community. It may take another 10 years – or more – but we are ready.

Explain your vision for Haiti and why the work of organizations like HFHF are important.

My vision is that of the Haitian people – to see their country restored. I would like to see the children in Haiti today grow up with the opportunity to get an education without being hindered by money, disease or corruption. I would like to see them reach their full potential, and not be held back by malnutrition or lack of access to clean water. I would like to see parents have the opportunity to work and provide for their families. I would like others to look at Haiti and see its beauty, rather than its struggles.

The work that HFHF does is important for two reasons. It is important, first, because Haitians themselves do it. The community is in charge of the work, making decisions about what they want and how it should happen. Our staff in Haiti is 100 percent Haitian; Haitians changing Haiti. The second reason that HFHF’s work is important is because it is about collaboration. Whenever we take a trip to Haiti, the exchange of information is mutual. American physicians are teaching Haitians about cardiology. Haitian nurses are teaching U.S. medical students about tropical diseases. It seems like an overused metaphor, but the best way to describe it is as a family. This is important because by actually seeing and understanding other people’s lives, all of us – Haitians and Americans – can begin to shift our perspectives and underlying assumptions about the world, moving toward greater unity.

What would you say to someone considering taking a trip to Haiti with HFHF?

Great! Be prepared to have your life changed. I would absolutely recommend it. And, I would also say, unless you love cockroaches, make sure you always go to the bathroom before dark.

In all seriousness, the trips can be extremely challenging, but they are the best way to understand what this work is about. And, most of those who go to Haiti once go again and again and again.

You've been to Haiti several times. What's your favorite thing about being in Haiti?

The area where we work, Zorange Bainet, is absolutely beautiful. It is an entirely different world from Port au Prince. While everyone is working extremely hard from sunrise until well after sunset, there is a peacefulness that can be felt all around. This is not to say that grief, tragedy, struggle, frustration and difficulty do not exist. But above it all, there is a sense of true peace. It shows up in long conversations after the sun goes down, in a group of children playing in the river or even in the elderly lady yelling at me in Creole not to go down the hill because I will certainly fall and hurt myself (which she is totally right about). Without your cell phone buzzing, e-mail to check or news to catch up on, you can really feel it. I guess what I am really describing is true community. To me it is a glimpse of what eternity will feel like.

Anyone who's been to Haiti with HFHF knows it's a long, bumpy ride to Zorange! If you were to take a playlist for the car ride, what would the first five songs on it be?

1. New Day, Robbie Seay Band

2. One Love, U2

3. Beautiful, Christina Aguilera

4. 500 Miles, The Proclaimers

5. You’re Just too good to be true, Lauryn Hill (this would be playing as we drove into Zorange and were greeted by all of our smiling Haitian friends!)

To someone visiting Haiti for the first time, it can be overwhelming to see so many ways that people are suffering. It seems hard to know where to start. If you could fix one thing in Haiti first, what would it be?

There are so many things that I would like to see improved in Haiti. It is difficult if not impossible to single out a particular issue, as so many of the problems are interconnected. However, if I had to single out one thing, I would focus on corruption. Corruption not only causes many problems, but also exacerbates problems that already exist. So, that seems like a good place to start.

Resilience in the Rubble: One Year Later

I don't remember where I was at 4:53 on January 12, 2010, but there are 9 million people in a small Caribbean nation who will never forget. As I likely rinsed out my coffee mug and filed away e-mails, preparing to leave work for the afternoon, Haiti was being devastated as a 7.0 earthquake ravaged the nation's overcrowded capital and the surrounding areas. In just 30 seconds, a nation was changed forever.

I do remember the day that followed the earthquake, as the reports poured in and we began to realize the scope of the event. “More than half of Port au Prince destroyed” the headlines read, pictures of the collapsed presidential palace reminding us that earthquakes don't discriminate. As the death toll rose, we struggled to comprehend what was happening. It was so much bigger than anything we'd experienced, so widespread that it almost didn't seem real, so hard to translate to our real lives. What would it look like if half the buildings in Raleigh were suddenly turned into piles of rubble? What would it look like if 300,000 people suddenly died, their bodies being left in the street, pushed into mass graves, while families were simply left wondering? What would happen if 1 million people were suddenly homeless – where would they go? As we worried about our friends in Haiti and were heartbroken by the pain on the faces of strangers plastering CNN, we also struggled to understand why; despite the fact that we've experienced enough to accept that the world is broken, we all like to think it has limits, a certain fairness to its blows. We like to think it distributes pain evenly, or has a sense of decency, to know when enough is enough. A disaster like this was unthinkable anywhere; in Haiti, it just seemed unnecessarily cruel.

Haiti already faced so many challenges before the earthquake – extreme poverty, poor sanitation and public health, lack of infrastructure, lack of access to education. How could what little they had be totally destroyed? Not only did our hearts break for the severe pain of the tragedy itself – imagine losing your home, your city, your family, everything you know and love – but we began to realize that this would have enormous long-term structural and economic effects on a nation already struggling to keep stride with the rest of the world.

And one year later, Haiti still struggles to recover. While some progress has been made, sadly some places look very much the same, despite the amount of aid that poured in following the event. One million people still remain homeless, especially in the capital of Port au Prince, where sprawling tent cities fill city parks and even the medians of highways. Conditions continue to worsen as sanitation becomes more difficult, gang and sexual violence increases and a rare cholera outbreak threatens the public health of these overcrowded areas. Haiti very much still needs our help.

Thankfully, at Hope for Haiti Foundation, we've seen great progress in the areas where we work. We've been able to help more than 3,000 families get back on their feet, rebuilding more than 400 homes and providing cement to repair 22 schools and three churches. Construction teams continue to work daily to fully repair our school, and we've been able to operate the clinic and hold classes in the portion that remained standing, finishing the school year on time and even building a computer lab! We're so thankful for our supporters who came together to make this possible, and we're thankful that we were able to get on the ground quickly and make a tangible difference, especially as we saw so many organizations that faced red tape or serious logistical difficulties. We now must focus on continuing with our mission, projects and goals and not let the devastating event distract us from the vision we have for Zorange and the surrounding communities.

But, one year later, as we remember the Haitian earthquake, more than focusing on what HFHF has accomplished, we want to honor the strength and resilience of the Haitian people. Not only do they live with strength through often unspeakable conditions in their daily lives, they also have not lost their joy, love or determination, despite having their homes, lives and families completely torn apart in just an instant. We are daily impressed by our friends there who carry on, who work in the hot sun to repair their lives and who grit their teeth and move forward – pursuing an education, investing in their communities, finding ways improve to conditions for themselves and their children. Not only do they refuse to give up through daily challenges and after countless natural disasters, but they dare to dream for something better. While they have every right to be punch drunk, they keep getting back up - with a smile on their face, love for each other and extreme generosity for outsiders. It's this spirit that convinces us that Haiti is not a hopeless nation and that keeps us doing what we're doing. The resilience we see in the eyes of the Haitian people and their desire for a better life tells us that, if given the right tools, they will change their nation for the better. That's why we continue to strive to empower and equip our friends there with education, medical care and spiritual and community developments, so they have the opportunity to make a better future for themselves and for Haiti. Where the world might see poverty, social issues, corrupt government and now piles of rubble, we see potential.

[his sign says "You learn how to walk by falling." Photo credit: Jeremy Cowart, Voices of Haiti]

There is no doubt that the earthquake has changed Haiti forever. That level of widespread devastation takes time to recover from and the psychological effects remain, as some people still fear future earthquakes or more buildings collapsing. 4:53 p.m. one year ago today will always be a defining moment in Haiti's history – but we have hope that it will eventually come to define the nation's turning point and strength, not its pain and tragedy. We hope to look back on January 12, and without forgetting those whose lives were lost, remember it as the day that the world started paying attention to Haiti and that the nation was finally given the resources it needs to develop. We pray that as Haiti rebuilds, it rebuilds stronger than before.

Please join us in remembering the victims of the earthquake, celebrating the strength and hope in Haiti and dreaming about what Haiti can be someday. If you're in the Raleigh area, you can join us on Sunday, January 16 at the Oxford Gastropub as we host an event in honor of the one year anniversary of the earthquake. The event, which will be held from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. will feature live music and a silent auction, and all proceeds, including 10 percent of the Oxford's food sales, will go directly to HFHF. We hope you can make it!

Denim and Drinks

Have you seen that YouTube video of the little girl named Jessica? The girl of "I can do anything good, I like my cousins, I like my school" fame? After this weekend's festivities in downtown Raleigh, I feel a little like jumping on my sink and telling myself how much I love my city, my job, my family and my friends.

My boss, the one and only Mr. G Patel, has challenged our company (Eschelon Hospitality) to raise $50,000 for Hope for Haiti Foundation in 2011. G actually traveled with me to Haiti in May of 2010, shortly after the earthquake, to help with various projects in Zorange. I seriously have the best boss ever! I mean, how many people can say that their employer not only cuts them paychecks but also supports the causes that you love like crazy?

This weekend was Eschelon's first event in an effort to reach that big $50k goal. It was hosted at our brand new boutique & bar, Dapper Style House, on First Friday in downtown Raleigh. There is also this amazing local company, S2 Jeans, that creates designer denim that also benefits HFHF. One of the things I love about my job and this city is how things all start to come together - a denim company that loves HFHF, a clothing store that loves HFHF and a boss that wants to raise money for HFHF- it all adds up to a big WIN for Hope for Haiti Foundation!

On Friday night, S2 Jeans had a trunk show, where customers could try on and purchase their crazy-comfortable and durable women's denim. First Friday is all about art in downtown Raleigh, and the ladies from S2 Jeans crafted some of the most gorgeous cupcakes for our guests. Dapper's bar was open, there were yummy snacks from The Oxford, and the crowds started to pour in - my cousins, my brothers, HFHF's founder, my uncles, my aunts, my friends, my Yelp friends, my co-workers... random new people off the street... it was great! (Note: this is the point in the evening where I probably started sounding like little Jessica. In effort to NOT scare off the crowd, I did not jump on the bar and start spouting my love for the party-goers).

Then the best part of the evening commenced: the improv art contest! I've never seen anything like this. There were four artists, four easels and tons of paint supplies (all courtesy of Jerry's Artarama). Every ten minutes, the artists would switch easels. For inspiration, Dapper's manager Betzi Hekman prompted the crowd to answer random questions. "What one word comes to mind when you think of Haiti?" ... "Sweaty!" ... "What celebrity would you want to be stranded on an island with?" ... "Johnny Depp" and so on. Guests placed bids on the artwork during the process and then there was a live auction (hosted by yours truly) at the end of the contest.

The amazing improv artists' work raised more than $575 for Hope for Haiti! We love fun, outside-the-box fundraising events like this one and I can't wait to see what else we can come up with for the rest of 2011!

Hope you enjoy some of the photos from the event below - and hope to see you at our next event!

- Tara, HFHF marketing team

[Designer Denim and cute T's from S2 Jeans]

[Delicious (and beautiful) cupcake treats from S2 Jeans]

[The beginning of the Live Artist Improv]

[Round 1, Finished works of art]

[Tandem painting, Round 2]

Our New Year's Resolutions

Happy 2011! We hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Years! Here at Hope for Haiti Foundation, we're not wasting any time! The marketing team, Elade, Ti Piti and Lydia and Brian, who are finally official NC residents (RAISE UP!), met bright & early this morning to discuss our marketing and fundraising plan for this year. Not only did we enjoy having a mini September-Haiti-trip reunion (though bagels and Folgers just can't compete with the bread and coffee we all bonded over in Haiti), but we're excited about all the big changes that 2011 brings. After all, today was our first meeting with our new executive director and in our new office, where we're still trying to get the interwebs up and working - which means that our friends in Haiti actually have better internet than we do (they're so spoiled...;))

As we start off the year, we're really excited about finding more ways to raise awareness, more ways to connect with y'all and more ways to help you look cool while helping Haiti ;) (one word: awesome bumper stickers. we hope.). We did some SWOTing (file under "Threats": my Haitian coffee supply is running dangerously low), brainstorming and dreaming, a little bit of tweeting and a lot of drawing on big white boards (we're the marketing team - what else did you expect?).

While there are a lot of cool ideas up there on that white board, one of the most exciting things that we nailed down were our top 5 goals for what we'd like to accomplish on the ground in Haiti this year. Our New Year's resolutions, if you will (and you will). And FYI: none of them involve losing weight. Have you TASTED Vierge's pate?

[We realize most of you probably haven't, but we're adding "how to fit Vierge in our suitcases" to our next meeting agenda - or you could just come with us on a trip!]

Top 5 Things We'd Like to See Happen In Haiti This Year

1. Trade School

Number one on our agenda is to open a trade school in Zorange, to help teach people in the community practical skills that would allow them to seek gainful employment. The school will start out teaching tailoring and design and expand to other skills. Building this school would essentially complete our work in Zorange (other than the daily maintenance and operations of our projects there) and allow us to begin implementing similar models in other communities in Bainet. With the trade school, we would have a fully functioning primary and secondary school, a trade school, a full-time clinic and a church in the community...and the ability to follow @hopeforhaiti on Twitter from the computer lab. Why would you ever leave?

2. Clinic in Gandou

We would like to open a clinic, modeled after our Zorange clinic, in Gandou, another community in the Southeast department of Haiti, west of Zorange. This would allow us to bring access to medical care to people who can't reach our clinic in Zorange.

3. Feed the Children

We'd like to start a school lunch program for the kids at our school in Zorange. Because we don't currently offer lunch, we are only able to keep the kids in school for about four hours a day (many of them walk two hours each way to get to school, so that's already an eight hour period of time where they might not have access to food). Not only would adding a lunch program provide the obvious benefits of making sure that kids in poor communities receive at least one solid, nutritious meal a day, but it would help us improve the quality of our education and increase our teachers' employment status to full-time employees. It only costs about $1/day to feed a child, but with one of the biggest schools in the area with 500 kids in attendance, it's a big project!

4. Keep the Lights On

Now that we have solar panels and electricity in Zorange, we can mean this literally! But really, we're talking more generally about maintaining our day-to-day operations and making sure all of our staff in Haiti are paid consistently and on time. It only costs about $16,000/month to keep more than 60 people employed, but it is a big chunk of our resources, and something we want to make sure we are always able to sustain.

5. Best Buy [or something like it]

Whenever we decide to start a new project in Haiti, the first question we ask ourselves is "is it sustainable?". We don't want to introduce something to the community that we or they cannot maintain (one of the reasons we don't have a lunch program yet - we're not going to start it until we are sure we can continue it). Now that we have electronics in Zorange with the building of the computer lab and other electrical technology, we need a place nearby where they can get new equipment, parts or tech support. We'd like to open an electronics store in Bainet. Our version of "Best Buy: Haiti"...even if it resembles "The Shack" at first ;)

[a re-branding effort from RadioShack that we'll never understand]

Of course, these aren't the only things we'll be working towards this year. We're always looking for partners and ways to fund and grow our current educational, medical, spiritual and community initiatives (oh, and we still want to build that hospital), but we're excited to have focus and some tangible goals, with numbers attached, to work towards. Stay tuned for ways you can help - and how you can score your own official Hope for Haiti swag ;)

[not exactly what we're going for with our bumper stickers, but you get the idea!]