Huntersville 2 Haiti: Children Need a Place to Play

OFCB

For nearly two centuries, subsistence farming has characterized the livelihood of 80,000 people in rural Bayonnais, Haiti, the poorest country in the western hemisphere. This is not uncommon. Following colonial independence in 1804, former slaves exercised newfound freedom by cultivating their own land in the countryside. Today, OFCB (Organization of the Christian Force of Bayonnais), a ministry founded in 1993 through the vision of five inspired individuals, provides this generation with a new opportunity: education. Subjects such as history, biology, language arts, social science, philosophy, and visual art are now available to this community for the first time. Adults and children comprise a student body that has grown from 103 to 1460, and for many, the rice and beans served at lunch may be the only substantial meal they eat all day. Not only have national exam scores been some of the highest in the region, OFCB has sent 20 students to Haitian colleges! In an effort to stimulate long-term development, the college scholarship program stipulates that each student return to OFCB upon graduation to serve the community for 10 to 15 years, depending upon the field of study. One college graduate has become a doctor, currently in residency, and will return to start Bayonnais’ first health clinic! Deep in the heart of a country plagued by extreme poverty, political violence and corruption, the people of Bayonnais are finding new hope.

Friday, December 14, 2007

Children Need a Place to Play

While in Bayonnais, one of the remarkable things that we wtinessed was watching children of all ages get up everyday at sunrise to work on their "soccer field" in between the two school buildings. They busted up rocks and the concrete that was left over from building the new classrooms . . . they begin whittling away at a large mound of dirt and spreading it around . . . it was hard work. . . all for a place to play soccer.

A song came to my mind as I watched this each day. A friend of mine, Allen Levi, wrote a song about his brother helping to build a playground in Sarajevo. With all of the needs present there, it was still important for the children to have a place to play.

Read Allen's words below. It's not an exact fit to the situation in Bayonnais, (a war had just ended in Sarajevo) but it helped me understand why it was so important for these children to work on their play area. We can learn a lot from them. . .

It's an angry town, full of dangerous streets
And there's fear in the eyes and revenge in the hearts
Of the people you meet

It's a cruel war, sharp as a tight strung wire
And the children learn to hate caught in the crossfire

But someone's bringing them a truck of sand
Someone's bringing them a jungle gym
Somebody's coming from a foreign land to play with them
Cause they know children need a place to play
Don't the children need a way to get away
A stranger comes with a sandbox and a see-saw
Cause he knows children need a place to play

Across the great Atlantic, from the outside looking in
Madness seems to rule the hearts of ordinary men
But in the angry widow and the one-armed boy and soilders can't we see
Somewhere in that line-up are you and me

But Someone's bringing us a truck of sand
Somebody's bringing us a jungle gym
Somebody's coming from another Land to play
Cause He knows children need a place to play
Don't the children need a way to get away
A Stranger comes with a sandbox and a see-saw
Cause He knows children need a place to play

BRIDGE
There among the small ones is the secret of true laughter
The wisdom and the worship of the playful
Cause we need a place to play
In this hard world we need a way to get away
Christ Jesus comes with peace and joy and laughter
And He calls children, children come and play
Come and play