25137: Hermantin(News)Westminster Academy students deliver gifts, school supplies to po (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>


Westminster Academy students deliver gifts, school supplies to poor
islanders



By Nazish Ahmad
Special Correspondent

May 18, 2005

Small actions can produce big changes.

For three years, Westminster Academy students have been fund raising on the
school's Fort Lauderdale campus, collecting money in empty water jugs placed
throughout school and conducting car washes.

Through those efforts, the students have helped build three schools and a
technology lab for children in Pignon, Haiti.

And in March, during their spring break, 17 Westminster Academy students
visited Haiti to connect with the people they were helping.

The group distributed more than 1,000 pounds of gifts and school supplies,
poured the concrete slab floor for the third school and performed Gospel
skits for more than 1,000 school-age children.

They learned a lot in the process.

"The people live differently. Life is definitely not as comfortable or as
easy as it is here," said Anna Butler, 18, of Pompano Beach. "They are very
poor, and are without electricity, without TVs or radios. All they have is
God," she said.

International mission trips for teenagers are not common, but some schools
and churches offer spring break and summer opportunities for high school
students.

"We took this group of teens to Santiago, Chile, in order for them to help
meet the needs of the young Christians there and to build incredible
friendships," said Kay Hoyt, a youth ministry leader from South Florida
Church of Christ. "The teens gave all of their hearts and served endlessly.
The trip brought out the best in all of them and the people they were with."

The group led workshops for teenagers in the church, attended worship
services and visited a nursing home for the elderly.

Hoyt said the experience changed them. "Traveling outside of your comfort
zone really makes you take a deeper look at who you are and what you really
have to give. It also became apparent how much each of us had to learn from
those we were trying to help," she said.

"I personally learned that it's a whole new world down there. Our lives
aren't the standard of living everywhere," said Kristi Colson, 15, of
Plantation.

"The people there are more real," said Tyler Owens, 15, of Davie. "They have
such a love for life that is hard to find in the United States. They keep
life simple."

Continuing efforts

The Westminster Academy spring break trip was part of an ongoing ministry at
the school to help the poor children in the Central Plateau region of Haiti.

The school's commitment to the region has allowed students to establish ties
to the people there. "I couldn't wait to get back," said Whitney Whittaker,
17, of Pompano Beach, one of two students who made the spring break trip for
the second time.

"The first time around I didn't know what to expect and just had to rough
it. At times, there was no electricity and we had to use the outhouse," she
said. "But this time around I wanted to meet the people I had developed
friendships with and I wanted to give more, even though I feel I left with
more than I gave."

A high-tech link

The highlight of the trip this year was the construction of a technology lab
with 12 computers at the school. "It is the hope that these computers and
school supplies will augment the education of young Haitians by exposing
them to technology the rest of world takes for granted," said Kirby
Williams, a computer teacher at Westminster and the organizer of the trip.

"We believe that education is one key in pulling them out of the intense
poverty that binds them," he said.

Although this is the second year Williams has led a mission to Haiti, he has
been working on goodwill projects with pastor Sidoine Lucien since 1998.
Lucien founded the Jerusalem Baptist Church in Pignon and has worked to open
a number of Christian schools in the area.

The students began with sending gift packages for Christmas and buying
uniforms for the schoolchildren. After fund raising, they were able to do
more.

So far, the students, their parents and members of the Coral Ridge
Presbyterian Church, which founded Westminster Academy, have raised about
$12,000. Each school in Haiti costs about $4,500 to construct and each can
accommodate 300 students. Fund raising is continuing for a fourth school.

Planning, transport

The students on the trip formed a Mission Society and met monthly since the
beginning of the school year.

"It's quite a process to get there," Williams said. "We serve mostly as
transporters, and we have taken more than 1,000 pounds of gifts."

Fund raising covers not only the cost of the school buildings, but the cost
of the school tuition as well. In Pignon, where 40 students used to go to
class in a wooden shack, more than 200 students are getting an education at
the cost of $20 American per student per year, Williams said.

"We try for the students to understand that they can pay for a child's
tuition for an entire year for the price of two pizzas. Haiti is not very
far from us, but since no one sees it, they are not aware of it," Williams
said.

The students said their peers are paying attention. "I think our works have
definitely struck an interest with the kids at school," Whittaker said.
"It's a cool tradition, and I would tell the underclassmen that if they want
to feel closer to God and see life without the distractions we have here,
then definitely go to Haiti. It was spiritually exhausting, but really a
privilege."

One of the most satisfying parts of the trip, the students said, was setting
up the computer lab for the children. Access to the Internet and e-mail will
allow many of them to see beyond the boundaries of Pignon for the first
time.

"The entire experience was such a liberating one," said Jesse Thompson, 16,
a sophomore from Fort Lauderdale. "I couldn't think of stopping now, when we
have so much left to do."

Special Correspondent Brett Denoux contributed to this report.


Copyright © 2005, South Florida Sun-Sentinel