The Blog

Toward Firmer Foundations

“Want a different ethic? Tell a different story”

–Thomas King

As the news page of our web site shows, lots of stories have been told about Jamie and Ali and their work before the earthquake that devastated Haiti two years ago today. Chances are you’ve heard some of these stories. Perhaps you saw the press coverage of the dramatic evacuation of the children in their care one week after the earthquake. Maybe you follow Jamie and Ali through the fantastic blog of our board member Virginia Montanez, That’s Church.  Or perhaps you’ve read the eloquent article another board member, Jonathan Wander, wrote about Jamie and Ali for Pittsburgh magazine.

And I’m sure you have heard a lot of stories about the frustratingly slow process to rebuild, about contaminated drinking water and impassable roads and tent cities and rubble yet-to-be-cleared. Those are probably among the first images that come to most people’s minds when they think about Haiti, along with images of tragedy, poverty, scarcity, despair.

It is true that most Haitians live in poverty. It is true that too many still live in tents. And it is true that many, many parents place their children in orphanages for the sole reason that they are too poor to take care of them. And here is another truth—the one we around here find the most tragic: orphanages are usually the only places families in crises can go to for help.

 

 

 

At least that was true before Jamie and Ali returned to Haiti and decided to refocus their dedication to children by helping families rebuild themselves. Before they dedicated themselves to changing what we think of when we think of Haiti.

Today is a painful day for Haiti, and a painful one for those of us who feel a connection to Haiti and its people. But it is also the first day of our January campaign to raise awareness about Jamie and Ali’s Haitian Families First, a day that honors the past by changing the future.  In the days to come, you’ll hear more about Junia, who we’ve introduced on our web page already, and you’ll meet other brave Haitians with whom Jamie and Ali work. You’ll hear about those of us in the U.S. who support their work. And you’ll hear in great detail how Jamie and Ali spend their days and the impact they have on people’s lives. As they go about their days living and working in Haiti, among Haitians, Jamie and Ali have noticed that, to many of the people they meet, family has become even more important than it was before the earthquake. It is the hope that remains amidst the despair.

Rubble. Tents. Scarcity. Poverty.

Family.