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Category Archives: WWV Blog

May 16, 2012

WWV Gets Great Response to Bill Rancic House Build in Jacmel

It was fun last night watching the hit “Giuliana & Bill Show” on the Style Network, and I couldn’t help cheering when he and his friends met Randy Mortensen, WWV President, at the house in Jacmel, Haiti that Bill had arranged to get built. They all worked alongside a crew of Haitian construction workers that had been trained by WWV. Bill arranged to build the house in order to keep a promise that he’d made to the family of Madame Josette. (See previous blog post).

As part of the show, Bill talked to the camera and told viewers to go to the World Wide Village website to support our work in Haiti. Within moments after the announcement people were on the website. Within 30 minutes after the show was over World Wide Village had received several pledges and several inquiries into taking mission trips to Haiti. We’re confident the interest, and donations will continue, especially since the show will be repeated many times on the Style Network (check listings for show times).

To paraphrase Giuliana Rancic from the show, “We’re really proud of Bill for what he and his friends did in building the home for Madame Josette and her family.” We are proud to be able to call Bill a friend of World Wide Village and look forward to helping him build more homes in Haiti.

If you would like to learn more about Bill, his show, and his connection to World Wide Village, here are a few links for you:

Bill’s Haiti Photo Gallery

WWV Previous Blog Post About Bill

Bill Rancic Blog Post About WWV

Giuliana & Bill Show

Bill Rancic Fitting Hearing Aids in Haiti (video)

 

May 8, 2012

Reality TV Star Bill Rancic Builds a Home in Haiti With WWV

The May 15 episode of the “Guliana & Bill” Show on the Style Network will feature an inspiring story that was two years in the making. It’s the story of Bill Rancic and his friends traveling to Jacmel, Haiti to keep a promise he made after the earthquake to build a home for a displaced Haitian family.

           The story started shortlyBill Rancic House Build in Jacmel Haiti after the January 2010 earthquake when Rancic, winner of the first season of “The Apprentice” went to Haiti with Sara Lee Executive Jon Harris to deliver several thousand pounds of disaster relief food. He was emotionally overwhelmed by what he saw and knew immediately that he wanted to do more to help those so tragically affected by the earthquake.

            It was on that trip that he met Didi Pierre Louis and his family. Didi was in desperate need of medical attention so Rancic took him, and two other children, to Chicago to get the care they needed. Unfortunately Didi did not survive. When Rancic next traveled to Haiti he promised Madame Josette, Didi’s mother, that he would build the family a permanent home. They were living in a “tiny hut with a mud floor, no running water or bathroom or kitchen facilities,” Rancic said.

           In May of 2011 Rancic went to Haiti again, this time as part of a group traveling with the Starkey Hearing Foundation. Starkey is one of WWV’s partners in Haiti and during the trip Rancic met Randy Mortensen, WWV President, and heard about the recently launched WWV Family Housing Fund and it’s commitment to build 500 homes for displaced families in Haiti. Shortly afterward Rancic arranged to fund and build a home with WWV in Jacmel, Haiti.

           In February of this year Rancic and several of his friends traveled to Haiti to work with a Haitian construction team from World Wide Village, and Randy Mortensen, to build the home. His partners on the trip included Jon Harris from Sara Lee, Chicago-based building contractor Bert Connolly of Wescon Builders, (now a sponsor of the Plus One Home Project), and art collector Ari Goldman.  It is the building of this home that is featured on the “Guliana & Bill” Show.

           The experience of building the home so inspired Rancic that he promised to return to Haiti with World Wide Village to fund and build even more homes for some of the 500,0Bill Rancic & House in Haiti00 people still living in tents or temporary structures as a result of the quake. “Bill and his friends left Haiti absolutely on fire with the idea of helping other families,” Mortensen said. “He saw first hand that two years after the earthquake Haiti is still hurting, both physically and spiritually.”

           The homes will be part of a broad effort by WWV to build homes for quake victims. In 2011 WWV launched the “Family Housing Fund” with a large donation by an anonymous donor. “We’re hoping that Bill’s story will inspire people to support our efforts to build homes in Haiti. Unfortunately, too many people have already forgotten the tremendous need in Haiti.”

            World Wide Village’s Haitian housing efforts were expanded just a couple of weeks ago with the launch of the “Plus One Home Project” that seeks pledges from builders, remodelers, suppliers, brokers and agents to help fund the construction of a home in Haiti for every home they build, remodel or sell in this country.

March 23, 2012

Haiti Changed Me

By Nora Romness 

My grandmother’s reaction upon learning that I was going to Haiti in January of 2011 was to say I had “gone and lost all [my] good sense.” In Gramma’s mind, Haiti was a dangerous place full of every stereotype about Third World countries possible, and there was no way hergranddaughter was going to go to such a place. After assuaging her fears, I boarded a plane with Ali Funk (WWV staff) and we both set off for our first trip to Haiti.

Nora and boy

A Boy Who Grabbed My Heart

At the same time, however, I saw HOPE. Volunteers from the U.S. were in Haiti with WWV at the same time as me, and I saw them pour out their hearts for the Haitian people, pour out every ounce of their love, only to return to the same site the next day refueled/refilled by the Holy Spirit to minister to God’s precious children. I saw kids who were just being kids (including pinching one another to see if they could get away with it), parents whose greatest desire was for their children to be healthy, and people dressed in their absolute best to worship the Lord on Sunday. I saw joy. I saw a strength that most in the U.S. can only dream about (superhero kind of internal strength, you know?). I saw signs everywhere of God making good on his promises to take care of his precious ones, whether or not that care looks quite the way we would expect it to.

Haiti changed me. You hear things like that all of the time, but it is no less true. In Haiti, I saw people living in what my parents would call “ticky tacky boxes” – sheds pieced together from whatever materials the people could find, whether that be pieces of tents/tarps, tin sheets, bricks piled to hold up a piece of cloth, whatever.   I saw people digging for food in the same pile of trash where a hog was doing the exact same thing a few feet away. I met a woman who reported having chronic blood pressure problems, but the real issue was that her only source of drinking water was so contaminated that she did not want to drink from it and as such was severely dehydrated. I saw poverty in its truest form.

Nora on floor with kids

Nora Playing With The Kids

Haiti changed me. After returning to the U.S. and listening to people bellyache about their First World problems (okay, so maybe Haiti stripped me of a little patience towards non-life threatening complaining too), I became thoroughly convinced that everyone needs to “step out of their comfort zone, into the realm of the unknown where Jesus is” (as the lyrics go to “Voice of Truth” by Casting Crowns). Here in the U.S. we are embroiled in a political mudslinging contest between those who are in the 1% and 99% of life (i.e. the rich and then everyone else). What would it look like for the 99% in the U.S. to realize that compared to much of the rest of the world, they are the 1%…but there is hope and they can do something for the rest of the world’s 99%?

If you are wondering if you should go to Haiti, GO! Be ready to be challenged in ways that you cannot possibly imagine. Be ready to have your complacency shattered, for the Lord to break your heart for what breaks His, for your world to never be the same. Since I returned from Haiti, I have not been able to leave food on my plate (unless that food is beets, my husband can have those), waste water, or hear children laugh without remembering the children in Haiti. I have not been able to forget the people who I saw purely worship the Lord, singing a sweet song that comes out of depending upon God because there is nothing else to depend upon. I have never forgotten Haiti, and never will. Don’t take my word for it, go for yourself!

My husband and I will soon welcome our first child into the world. If our son approaches us in ten years asking if he can go on a mission trip to a Third World country, I will answer “YES” so quickly he may be shocked. Everyone should go. Everyone should be challenged. Everyone should realize that evidence of God can sometimes be most clearly witnessed in what we might call the darkest of places. We need only follow the command to go and be the hands and feet of Christ. What a cool command!

READ FROM NORA’S HAITI BLOG — CLICK HERE

LEARN ABOUT TAKING A MISSION TRIP TO HAITI — CLICK HERE

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March 7, 2012

Time Hurts When You’re a Hungry Child in Haiti

Written by John Hagerman 

I’m always amazed at how fast time passes. It feels like my son should still be in grade school, but two days ago he officially blew past me in height. And later this month I will celebrate my first anniversary with World Wide Village, though it feels like I started only yesterday. That’s got me wondering what time feels like to the children WWV serves in Haiti?

If you only get one meal a day, does time fly by between them? Or does it fly when you’re full then crawl when the hunger returns and you know you won’t get to eat for hours yet? What happens to time when you only get to eat every other day? Can time turn into physical pain?

What does time feel like when you live in a tent? Does it seem like it was just a few days ago that you had a home with your family, or do memories of the earthquake that destroyed your home distort your thoughts of time into a nightmare? And does the passage of time bring more hope or more despair? What does it feel like to wait to live in a permanent home again, but not see any sign that it will ever happen?

If the lack of steady work since the earthquake forces your parents to choose to send only one child to school, and you’re not that child, does time race by because you don’t have to go to school, or does it drag by while you wait for your lucky brother or sister to get home and share what they learned in school?

Time is a funny thing. When I was a child, time flew by because I was always busy having fun. Is it the same for children everywhere? Today time it usually seems to race by because I’m always busy doing things with my family, celebrating my children’s milestones, enjoying a day of fishing or skiing or traveling, or simply vegging out in front of the T.V. While I often wish time would slow down a little, I’ve never seen it as my enemy or something to be dreaded.

But what about the kids in Haiti, is time their enemy or something to be dreaded? Trying to make time their friend is a big part of what motivates me at World Wide Village. If what I do can help a child not dread the time till their next meal, look forward to going to school the next day, or happily see the days fly by as they watch their new home being built, then the time I spend working will have been time well spent.

What does time feel like to you? Are you ready to make time a friend of a child in Haiti?

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A Child’s Evening Prayer

“I hear no voice, I feel no touch,

I see no glory bright;

But yet I know that God is near,

In darkness as in light.

God watches ever by my side,

And hears my whispered prayer:

A God of love for a little child

Both night and day does care.” - Anonymous

February 29, 2012

A Willing Spirit is a Blessing at Any Age

Written by Shannon Kelley

Ken recently traveled to Haiti with a World Wide Village mission team. He’d been to Haiti 30 years ago on a mission trip and jumped at the opportunity to return and help the people of Haiti. What makes Ken unique is the fact that he is 86!

Ken may be 86 but that doesn’t mean he took it easy while on the trip. He swung a hammer to help build a house; he amazed his fellow missioners as he played with street kids; and he demonstrated a remarkable ability to make friends with everyone he met – kids and adults alike.

But beyond the physical feats, Ken inspired us to no end.  His pure willingness to be here and serve when so many others so much younger than him hesitate, was very touching, and humbling. Unlike many people who have a long list of reasons why they can’t come, Ken made no excuses. He made the trip; worked hard to keep up with everyone, and consistently uplifted the team with his positive attitude.

In the end he said his spirit was willing but the flesh was weaker than what he wanted it to be.  The trying days of Haiti had worn on him and he ended up serving only one week of his originally planned two week trip.

But what an amazing testament to God’s goodness, he uses us even when we are tired and think we aren’t doing as much as we could.  God uses a willing spirit, in ways we can’t even imagine.

Thank you Ken for being willing and for impacting us in ways you don’t even know.  

February 27, 2012

Sacrificing for Lent

Written by John Hagerman

I grew up observing Lent at my church. We were taught that we were supposed to give up something we liked from Ash Wednesday through Easter (except on Sundays, which are feast days). Sacrificing during Lent is supposed to symbolize what Christ sacrificed for us, remind us of all our blessings and help us to remember the poor and oppressed who were so much a part of Christ’s ministry.

It’s been years since I really thought about sacrificing for Lent, but for the past couple of weeks the meaning of this season has been repeatedly being brought home to me. I can’t help thinking that maybe God is trying to tell me something.

It started with a presentation I made at my church about what World Wide Village is doing in Haiti. Sorting through the photos and videos reminded me of the hungry children, the destruction, the driving poverty of Haiti. The technology I was using reminded me of how much abundance I have in my life, and how little the people of Haiti have.

Then I read a posting by a WWV associate in Haiti, Shannon Kelley. Shannon wrote about Angie, a mission team member and child sponsor, and how Angie’s authentic love for the child she was sponsoring was an example of actually living out what God was calling her to do. Angie was taking her responsibility for this child seriously, and Shannon’s telling of the story inspired a number of people to sponsor children themselves. They are sacrificing a little treasure and giving a part of their hearts to make a difference in the life of a child.

It’s pretty hard to avoid asking the question, “What am I doing?” I sit at my desk and tell stories and share the stories of others online. I work to increase the number of people who know about our work in Haiti and try to inspire them to help. But is it enough? Can I do more? What?

I’m reminded of Christ’s charge to His disciples after washing their feet. He told them to “Love one another as I have loved you.” That takes it way beyond, “love your neighbor as yourself.”

I have to ask myself, “If Jesus saw what was happening in Haiti, what would he do?” Then I have to ask, “Do I have the strength to follow?”

February 6, 2012

“We don’t go to Haiti to build, we go to build builders”

Curt Christensen, a Watertown, MN resident and owner of Lee Lyn Construction, traveled to Haiti recently with his daughter Jessica to build homes. A year ago Curt went to Haiti with his other daughter, Dana, to build, and he said he’s already planning a trip down next year. Like so many team members who travel to Haiti with World Wide Village, Curt and his family have fallen in love with the people of Haiti, especially the children.
Curt Christensen in Haiti to BuildThis was Curt’s second building trip to Haiti. Last year he went to Haiti to build homes with his daughter Dana. Curt said he is already planning to return to Haiti again next year — with both daughters?

Curt and Jessica were most impressed with the selflessness of the Haitian people. When Jessica gave a child a granola bar the child carefully broke into several pieces to make sure the other children got a piece, and when she brought water to one of the local Haitians she was working with he made sure to only take a bit and pass it on. Each worker made sure to leave enough so that even the last worker got enough to drink.

While Curt and Jessica went to Haiti to build a home, a snafu with the land title forced them to change plans — a frequent occurrence in Haiti. Instead of building a home, he, his daughter, two other Americans, and seven local men added two rooms to the schoolhouse in Williamson, Haiti. The addition will allow the school to expand from K-6 to K-8 this year. The change didn’t bother Curt or his daughter.

“We don’t go to Haiti to build,” Curt said. “We go to build builders.” That’s a good thought for anyone working to re-invent and rebuild Haiti — “We don’t need to just build buildings, we need to build communities of people.”

Thank you Curt and Jessica.

February 3, 2012

Empowerment and Prayer

Written by Erin Blodgett

In December 2011, a group from Brookview church in Washington traveled to Haiti with World Wide Village.  Part of their trip included conducting self-defense training for Haitian women.  Erin Blodgett tells her story below: 

     ”In the 10 days prior to Christmas 2011, 

I had the opportunity to travel to Haiti to teach women personal safety & survival skills. What an amazing experience! My heart was broken on several occasions, but ultimately I left knowing that I would be back. I quickly learned that my passion for teaching women can be used to meet a need that is so critical. The personal safety/survival skills taught through My Will To Survive empowered & uplifted women who live in fear of their lives daily.

     Self-Defense Instruction in HaitiI traveled with a team from Brookview Church and through a partnership with World Wide Village, we held 2-day clinics with three different groups of women. The first was for a group of amazing and beautiful women in a deaf community outside Cite Soleil. Not only do these women face the challenges of being female in Haiti, but are further disadvantaged and victimized due to their disability. The second group, in a rural village called Luly, had a large representation of teenage girls.  Our final group was in Cite Soleil, the harshest slum and crime infested city in the Western Hemisphere. The amazing thing about all the women we trained is that they are just like you and me. They have similar dreams and desires, and they face some of the same fears. I quickly learned that across the cultural and language differences, we’ve been created with the same heart.
A Little Pampering After a Tough Class in Cite Soleil     There were 10 of us from Brookview Church who participated in this trip to Haiti. Although we all brought different talents and abilities, we all came with a heart to love women. My passion is empowering women and fighting injustice through personal safety training, but the clinics would not have been successful without the pieces brought by the others in our group. Our pastor and his wife, Jason and Jen Huguenin, taught the women attending the clinics about God’s design for relationships, His desire to fill that emptiness every woman feels, and they shared about God’s amazing grace. My husband and I taught some basic information about sex ed and God’s design for sex. We also had a loving and amazing group of six women who came to serve the Haitian women by washing their feet, anointing them with oil and finishing with a toe polishing.  One of the women from Brookview – Lori Boe – also dreamed up and implemented a prayer program, pairing a woman in Haiti and a person from the United States as prayer partners for the year of 2012.

   My continued goal is to empower women across the world. No matter who we are, where we live, what we have, there is the possibility that we could be victimized. God willing, I will be back to Haiti in 2012 to reconnect with some new friends and to impact the lives of others, and will continue teaching women and girls here at home with all proceeds going directly to train women in Haiti.”

     You too can be a part of an amazing experience like Erin’s.  Join a World Wide Village trip and share your skills and your heart with men, women and children in Haiti. Go HERE to find a date that fits your schedule. 

 

See you in Haiti!

January 25, 2012

Clairline works in her garden.

Working in the Garden in Luly, HaitiWritten by Tara Thorn

As we follow the ladies working on their garden at Luly we can see the seedlings shooting up paired with the hope of 26 women. It has been an enriching experience for the World Wide Village staff on the ground to witness the soil transform from a dusty hill into 26 plots and now green sprouting gardens. Soon the ladies will be reaping the benefits of their hard work.

Some of them will feed their families with their crop; other will take it to the Haitian “Mache”, an outdoor market similar to a farmers market to be sold. The ladies were selected from the community of Luly due to the hardships they face, making them good candidates for a garden. For most of the ladies this is their first garden.

Twice a day the ladies show up to water and maintain their garden plot. We stopped by this week and were able to speak with one of the ladies attending her garden. We wanted you to meet her.

Clairline in Garden Clairline is 26-years-old, does not have any children and was married on January 1st 2012 in Pastor Lahens’ church in Luly! She plans to sell some of her produce in the mache and keep some of it for her family. Her husband is a fisherman who sells Lambi in the mache. When her garden is done I think I’d like to go to their house for Lambi Kreole and fresh veggies!

Clairline is excited about the garden as she has never had one before! She does not have higher than a sixth grade education; her parents were unable to pay and she was not allowed back to school. Clairline is growing hot peppers, tomatoes, carrots and eggplant. Please pray for Clairline’s garden and her family, so that both will be prosperous and blessed!

The Luly Garden project is an ongoing project with World Wide Village. If you are interested in being involved or would like more information please click here: Sustainable Agriculture

If you would like be a part of a garden project or any other World Wide Village team please click here: Mission Teams

January 24, 2012

The Gift of Play

Written by John Hagerman

Haiti was a revelation.

I thought I was prepared for Haiti, but I was totally unprepared for what I saw and experienced.

Tree of Life Play SystemI was stunned by the site of tent cities filled with families left homeless by the January 2010 earthquake. Shocked by the number of collapsed buildings still visible. And assaulted by the smell of burning garbage everywhere. My first day in the country overwhelmed me. All I could think of was, “How can people live like this? and “How come we let them live like this?”

It was so overpowered I felt helpless and convinced that nothing I could do would make an impact. I struggled to hold back the tears.

That was all before I actually started meeting the Haitian people, working along side them, and discovering how they viewed life.

On my second day we went to a place called Williamson. We were supposed to paint school rooms, but they weren’t ready to be painted. It was awkward and disappointing.

Then the group of teens I was with connected with the children that seemed to be everywhere, and play broke out.

We may not have accomplished much constructive, but the connections that were built between our teens and the children of Williamson redeemed the day. That night, all of us were surprised at how quickly the children overcame the language barrier and any shyness to engage our team in play.

Kids will always find a way to be kids.

We started our second day by building desks that would go to the school in Williamson, and to the Tree of Life Children’s Home. It was an experience in team building for our group. It was also an opportunity to build something that was really needed.

That afternoon, as we pulled in the gate at Tree of Life, the children there lined up behind barred windows and sang a song of welcome. As our team entered the home, the children at Tree of Life took our hands and led us into their main room.

Garbage Bag Kite in Luly, HaitiChaos ensued. Wonderful chaos. The Tree of Life kids took our cameras and turned them on us. The teachers and caregivers at the home watched with smiles on their faces, enjoying the energy and laughter almost as much as we did.

I was amazed to see how our teens dropped any reservations and embraced those kids – dirty clothes, dirty feet, and all.

We divided our time at Tree of Life playing, painting a dorm room, and building a play system. It was fun watching the children watch us building the play system. You could tell that they couldn’t wait to take command of that enticing structure!

Just like at Williamson, play became a theme for the day. Tag, soccer, spinning, swinging, hand-jive games, tickling – anything the engaged the energy and promised fun and laughter.

Play was the order of the day everywhere there were Haitian kids present. No matter how bad the poverty looked to my spoiled American eyes, the kids found a way to play.

It was a powerful lesson for me. It’s amazingly uplifting to know that no matter how bad I think things are, I always have the choice to smile, laugh and play, and to thank the Lord for the gift of joy.

Learn how to play in Creole — take a mission trip to Haiti. CLICK HERE to find out more.

 

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