"The reality is that a sate cannot be imposed from outside;
it's legitimacy must be homegrown."
Jake Johnson
in Aid State: Elite Panic, Disaster Capitalism, and the Battle to Control Haiti,
(St. Martin's Griffin Publishing, 2024).
One of the most important components of Highview's partnership with Auberge des Vieillards in Pignon, Haiti, is that it wasn't our idea to begin with. Not the partnership. That was totally what we wanted to do. But I mean the caring for vulnerable seniors part. That was homegrown.
As a student in Cape Haitian, between 1988 and 2000, Pastor Abdon noticed elderly folks begging in the streets. That's when the idea to provide housing and care and end of life dignity to vulnerable seniors was planted in his heart.
It's a long and lovely story, then, how God brought two parties together for one purpose. Highview's construction team, making several different trips to do some manual labour in various locations, settles into one spot building first a wall, then the rooms for what Pastor Abdon had dreamed of so long ago.
And that's all we did, really. We just built the place, or at least the first bits of it. The Church in Pignon, under the leadership of both Pastor Abdon and his wife Madame Lumide, herself a nurse, took it upon themselves to form their Management Committee, hire staff and volunteers, and gather the at-risk seniors who most needed their care.
The ongoing care, the many challenging logistics of it midst a constant barrage of trouble, the persistence and resilience and compassion and beauty of it all comes from them. It's an important mantra for all 'helping' agencies or individuals to hang on to: "Nothing for you without you."
I'm no socio-politician. I haven't even been to Haiti. But I do my best to wrap my head around the chronic issues facing this country through reading, and listening to those who've been there in real time. Johnson's statement above, about solutions being homegrown, couldn't be more astonishingly and positively demonstrated by what has been done at Auberge des Vieillards.
And while our concentrated efforts circle around an annual February fundraiser, donations can be directed to Auberge des Vieillards at any time through World Partners EMCC Haiti.
Honestly, it's worth it.
And thank you.
Rev. Ruth Anne Breithaupt, MDiv.
Missionary in Residence
Highview Community Church
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