“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.
This 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.