It's been just over a week since Madame Love joined the Be Like Brit Haiti Team, serving as our Haiti Administrator and working alongside Weenshy in Operations. One of the things that we as an organization have struggled with is the cultural gap between our very American ways of conducting business and the ways things may be done differently in Haiti. As the Director, I pride myself on working effectively with people from all backgrounds, but the truth of the matter is quite simply, sometimes I miss the boat. In an effort to constantly improve on our existing models and structures, we felt strongly that bringing a Haitian-American in on the Executive Team was a great way to help sort through some of these differences, and to help us work more sensitively and effectively with our Haitian colleagues.
Born in Haiti, and raised here until the age of 10, Love brings with her not only decades of business and operations management skills, but is a native Creole speaker, too! Her husband worked with at-risk communities in Delray Beach for years, mainly Haitian -Americans, before he was tragically killed in a motorcycle accident 10 years ago.
Love's compassion and her love of her native country shine through in every sense of the notion, and we are thrilled to have her on our Team. Love offered to share with you all her first impressions after just over a full week here in Haiti. Enjoy!
To think that it’s only been one week since I joined my new family in Grand Goave? To think that a month ago today, I had no idea what direction my life would take? I never imagined that I would be living this amazing life where I’m in a dream surrounded by great co-workers and the most kind hearted, loving children you can ever meet, all 67 of them. While I’m still working on all of the names, I must admit that I’ve made progress. The hugs that I receive as I’m being greeted are so heartwarming. When I look into their eyes, I can actually see the joy and trust that they are experiencing. Marie Lourdie loves to tickle me and startle me; MackenLove is upset with me most of the time, in the kindest way of course, because he wants me all to himself. Tooveno, whom I nicknamed Toutou, always flashes his beautiful smile and melts my heart; I’ve had so many different hairstyles, now I know firsthand how my daughter felt when I would comb her hair and change my mind about five times in one session. The stories I could write about….in just one week.
In addition to these great moments with the kids, I’ve also experienced great joy seeing what a difference we make in other people’s lives with the help of our Britsionarys. A group from High Point University came last week and built a home, yes, you read correctly, built a home in four days and handed the key to a woman with two small children. As I write this story, I’m experiencing the same emotions I felt on Friday, when I felt like my heart was practically going to jump out of my body with love, pride, gratitude and hope for this family. Had it not been for the Britsionarys’ mission trip, like so many others before this group, this young family would be sleeping in a make shift home with no bed, no enclosure where they were not protected when it rained. All I remember thinking through the tears was the emotions that this young mother was going through. She humbled me in a second. While I know that having a safe place to sleep with a bed and being able to lock your door is important, it never occurred to me just how much I take these little things for granted as if I’m entitled to have those material things…when in reality, I’ve just been in the right places at the right times. Here this woman had a one room house measuring 12’x12’, her mansion! You can see the pride as she held on to her key. When she entered the house for the first time, she took her youngest, who I believe is probably less than two years old and put him on the bed. I’m confident that this was something that she never dreamed would happen for her and her children. Can you imagine? As a mother of three, I must tell you that everything is about your kids…you never feel like you do enough and to see her put that baby on the bed told me that she felt that she was doing her job as a mom by giving her children the bare necessities and safety. It was very emotional for me to witness…as hard as I tried, I could not hold back the tears. For as long as I live, I will never forget this moment.
Jonathan, the director in Haiti is such a Haitian…lol. He knows things in creole, that I, as a Haitian native don’t know. I love to hear him talk and make certain gestures as if he’s been here most of his life. I know that working with him is going to be such a great learning experience. I enjoy listening to his stories about the different children, the unique relationship he has with every one of them and you can tell that they know he loves them…they walk into the office and go to his desk to talk to him whenever they want. Sometimes, a few will just come in and hang out and be in his presence. Jonathan has amazing stories about the children and how far they’ve come. I ’ve heard people say that they love to go to work and never understood that phenomenon. Now I can honestly say that I know what it is to walk into a place and be happy with your surroundings. The whole staff is awesome. The Gengels are doing a great job and I’m so proud to be part of this wonderful family. You’re probably thinking that it’s still early and things will probably change, but I beg to differ. While I’m sure that there will be a lot of challenges coming my way in the near future, I feel certain that they will be met with love, kindness, understanding and do you know why……it’s because #LoveLivesHere.
I feel like I’ve been here for months. There is a certain warmth when you walk past the gate and walk on the grounds of my new home... Is it Brit's Spirit? You really do feel like something bigger than you is embracing you and welcoming you, letting you know that you are about to experience the most amazing journey and to just hold on tight because it’s just going to get better and better. What a week!!!!!
