16331: Ray: Helping the poor (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Matt Ray <mraymus@yahoo.com>

This subject has been one that has plagued me for years.     I have long struggled with the reasons we help those who are less fortunate than we are, whether it is here in the US or in Haiti.   I know that the discussion here is Haiti, however, I believe it's important for all of us to evaluate our motives when we help the poor.   Not that that evaluation should stop us from helping, but just to understand more about ourselves.    I was on a mission to Haiti in 1984, a church-sponsored, proselyting mission.    I was there for 2 years.    Many of you probably can guess what mission this was.   But while I was there our main purpose was to help people by sharing with them our beliefs.

When I left Haiti I had been so touched by my experience there that I thought about her (Haiti) and her people at least on a weekly basis.    This occurred for the next 15 years as I went to college and raised my family.     In 1997 I started wondering if there was a way I could get back to Haiti.   I was dying to go back.   I so missed the smells and the smiles and the wonderful people I learned to love there.     However, I felt like I was struggling with my own poverty of sorts.    I couldn't figure out a way to justify the costs of going there, especially not on a pleasure vacation.    But then I started to realize that I didn't really want to go back to Haiti on a pleasure vacation.   I wanted to figure out a way I could go back to Haiti and contribute, even if in some small way.     I started looking for a way to go down as a translator for a Non-profit organization, passing on my language expertise to an organization who was contributing.    As I looked I had a hard time deciding which organization to go with.   I found many that seemed to have good causes.    In the end, it came down to a recommendation of a friend of mine who said that "this" organization was doing great things there and they really had Haiti's best interest in mind.     After 3 visits to Haiti with this organization, I've come to realize that this organization is one who has their hearts in the right place and that there are many others who do as well.      However, I have seen other organizations down there that really make me wonder about things.    I guess the conflict comes when you have a Haitian based organization versus a foreign-based organization.     Typically, when you have a foreign-based organization, they are not there to make money for themselves as much as they are there to help Haiti.   However, when you have a Haitian-based organization, the dire straits that Haiti is in makes it important that the people involved make enough money to support their families.    So, at that point it becomes less of a volunteer !
 thing an
d more of a job, despite the good outcome.     Most of us have jobs and we know what that's like.   The main purpose of that job is to provide a paycheck.  The 2nd purpose of the job is to provide goods and services to our customers.    The purpose of the job becomes secondary to our needs.

For example, when I go to Haiti I'm there as a translator for the most part.   However, if we don't take a lot of translators we have to hire translators down there.    I struggled with the idea initially, of paying translators to help us translate when I was giving up my time with my family, taking vacation days, basically, paying to be there and translate, and these translators we hired just had to show up.   In fact, many of my fund-raising hours were spent to hire these guys.     But, I realized that they probably didn't have jobs to take vacation days from, and my mind was able to work it all out so I understood.   What amazed me, was when I learned that some Haitians were actually volunteering their time with us to help.   That's when my heart was softened again and realized the great good that is in the heart of many Haitians.    Did they receive compensation in sorts?   Of course they did.   They were fed when we ate and things like that.   Plus many of them were students in our school, therefore, they were gaining practical experience.

Now, this past year, I took on a little more than I could handle.   I decided to organize my own team to go down to Haiti.    By the end of this trip, I found myself not wanting to go back to Haiti for a while.    It completely stressed me out and took away some of the joy that I typically experience when I go to Haiti.    It really made me question, once again, why I go.    Do I go to Haiti for selfish reasons or charitable reasons?    When I say charitable, I of course mean the higher definition of charity: the pure love of Christ.   Going to Haiti does a lot for me.     It boosts my self esteem.    It makes me feel better about myself.    I get to show off to others my language skills ( Mezami!  Blanc sa pale kreyol pase nou!), both Haitians and non-Haitians.    In fact, I love to speak Kreyol so much and love to talk to Haitians so much that the director of our organization in Haiti asked me to not talk so much because he was concerned about our security by talking to so many people.    But for me, the greatest joy I receive from going to Haiti is in talking to people.   Anybody.   Whether they're poor or rich or whatever.    There's nothing to me, more infectious and enjoyable than a Haitian smile.    When I'm in Haiti, my mission sometimes ends up being to make people smile.    Of course, when people don't smile, what does that do to my spirit?     Well it tends to take me down a bit, but I think it's a good thing, because it helps me to realize once again, the dire straits that Haiti is in.    Don't get me wrong, for what little Haitians have, they are still the most amiable people I know.    But the longer things continue in the way they're going, the less smiles I believe I will see.

Anyway, I apologize about the long message here, but i appreciate the effort that it brings as I learn from myself as I write that helping Haiti is not just a way for me to give back to Haiti, but also a way to give to myself.    Service to our fellowman, whether it's in Haiti or where you live now, is an important thing and is necessary for us to become better people.     We need to look for opportunities to serve wherever we are.    There are many wonderful organizations out there who serve in Haiti and elsewhere and I think we should spend less time debating over whether to serve or not or what service like this actually does and focus more on just serving.      For we could spend all our lives in the service of our fellowman and we are still found wanting, as we have been given all that we have by a loving Father.   It's kind of a weird cycle.   We serve others and help them and we tend to get more from it than we give, and I don't mean financially.   All of us, who serve, with our hearts, only make our hearts grow by serving.

Thanks for the opportunity to send this message.    I hope it's not too naive a view.

Matt





Matt Ray
Healing Hands for Haiti Foundation, Inc.
4212 Danube Court, Bakersfield CA 93308
http://www.healinghandsforhaiti.org
mraymus@yahoo.com
661.588.4400 - phone
801.516.0168 - efax