January 3, 2008

Today we visited Doug’s village. Doug does not work for SOIL, but he has been living and working in Haiti for the past 11 years. Doug does many projects in coordination with SOIL and the street kids living in Haiti. Doug’s main focus is the street kids in Haiti. He has begun a three part process to get these children off of the streets and off of drugs in order to assimilate them into the society. The three part process goes something like this:
1. Children in Haiti who make there way to Doug’s shelter in town are given a bath, food, and clean shirt as well as a place to stay. These children stay in this home while they are weaned off of huffing items like paint thinner and recover from the rough life on the streets.
2. After about 6 months to a year in the shelter in town, the children are transported to a village (this is Doug’s village) in rural Cap Haitian. Before they are transported, the members of the children’s families are located and contacted so that a stable connection can be maintained with the family and also to increase the support that the children receive. Once in phase two, the children have two more options:
a. Those children that have family near Doug’s village are encouraged to live at home and come to the school in the village all day, every day for lessons and activities, but they then return to their homes at nights.
b. Those children that live too far from the village or have no family at all stay in dorm style living in the village.
3. After finishing primary education and learning a trade “métier” the children leave the village to attend high school in the city. Again there are three options for the students while they attend high school:
a. Children are encouraged to return to living full time with their family. These family living situations are closely monitored in order to insure that the children continue to improve and succeed.
b. Option number two is to live in rented apartments with a few other students from the village.
c. Option number three is to live in a group home, monitored by a paid staff of the organization. This route is most often used for those students lacking the self discipline to live on their own, and the home is maintained on a strict schedule.

I’m sure that the system has its flaws, but this is a great outline for success with poor children living on the streets in a poor country or city. The children are encouraged to work hard and earn their own living; a skill that many people lack or think is beneath them. All of the children are taught a trade because in Haiti the truth of the matter is that a college or high school degree really doesn’t mean that much. There are not enough jobs available at this level or at any level at all. With the trades and skills learned in the village and at the school in the village, these children are taught to survive and earn a living in the informal sector of the society if opportunity for a formal job does not come along.