A letter from Cindy Corell serving in Haiti
november 2014 - Advocacy needed now
When she stood to speak to the people gathering in the yard at the home in Northeast Haiti, Catherine McCollough said she would need the bandana she held in her hands. Sure enough, just a few words in, she was wiping away tears.
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Catherine McCollough speaks to a group of people who lost the land where they had lived and farmed in Trou du Nord. A corporation took the land to begin farming crops for export.
Catherine and two others from the Presbytery of the Peaks and two members of Eastminster Presbyterian Church, East Lansing, Mich., had traveled to meet these landless farms in Trou du Nord.
One by one, the farmers of the area stood and told stories of being shoved off the land where they’d built homes and gardens. They talked about threats of violence if they didn’t leave.
They told of fruit trees in front yards crushed with heavy machinery, of gardens and outhouses plowed under. The fear in their eyes was palpable. We, the American guests, shifted nervously and watched the gate of the home where we met.
And while the Haitian farmers, young and old, told their stories, we wept.
The Presbytery of the Peaks along with the Presbytery of the James are partners in Joining Hands, an initiative of the Presbyterian Hunger Program. Joining Hands was created to seek out and respond to the root causes of poverty, especially as it affects women and children.
It is not a program.
It is not a mechanism to provide food or water or shelter.
It is about advocacy, and through Joining Hands we work with networks of grassroots organizations in poor countries to find long-lasting solutions to desperate poverty.
The issue in Haiti is that corporations, most of them with the full backing of the government here, are taking the land of farmers to build plantations or other industries. Those farmers who have been able to go through the expensive and complicated process of gaining title to their land have the land bordering theirs plowed under.
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Franky Charles translates for a woman from Trou du Nord who lost much of the land she and her family farmed when an agricultural corporation took over most the region. Eight hundred families were displaced when the corporation began plowing the land for a large farm.
One man told us that when the armed men came to evict him and his family, 11 head of cattle (worth a small fortune in Haiti) ran away. The farmer said he was too frightened to search them down.
Fondasyon A Men A Men d’Ayiti (FONDAMA), the Foundation of Haiti, Hand to Hand, is the Joining Hands network in Haiti. Eleven grassroots organizations make up the network. Five years after the catastrophic earthquake here, FONDAMA is working hard to begin its campaign for agrarian reform in Haiti. That will include asking the government to strengthen the rights of landowners.
Will it be easy? No.
It will take the hard work of leaders and members of the FONDAMA organization. It will take the efforts of our Presbyterian partners to learn more about the issues and come together in solidarity with our Haitian brothers and sisters.
But the payoff will be great.
Haiti has long been known as the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. It has battled colonialism, corruption, dictatorships, natural disasters and severe poverty. After several years of more stable leadership, it stands on the brink of progress, but that progress could mean investment by corporations that do not have the best interests of the Haitian people at heart. This means that the time is now to work for stronger laws to protect the poor and a quick response to foreign investors who would take the land that feeds families.
Advocacy is not a gift to be enjoyed immediately. Advocacy can take years, so the time to begin is now.
After hearing the stories of the Haitian farmers, Catherine told them we had little help to give them at this time.
But, she said, we hear your cries. And we feel your pain.
And we will be with you.
I am so grateful for the work of both the Presbytery of the Peaks and of the James. I am grateful for the support they provide, and also that both send delegations to listen to the people in need.
I invite you all to be with us on this long journey as well.
Come with us as we work alongside our brothers and sisters in FONDAMA. Come with us in prayer for the poor, especially for the women and children of Haiti.
Come with us with a financial gift, supporting this ministry as we work together.
We continue to follow the words of Isaiah 1:17: Learn to do right; seek judgment, defend the oppressed, take up the cause of the fatherless, plead for the widow.
Come. Be with us. And bring your bandana.
Cindy
The 2014 Presbyterian Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 48
Read more about Cindy Corell's ministry
Blog: A Journey Across Haiti http://thelongwayhomeblog.org/
Write to Cindy Corell
Individuals: Give online to E200482 for Cindy Corell's sending and support
Congregations: Give to D507566 for Cindy Corell's sending and support
Churches are asked to send donations through your congregation’s normal receiving site (this is usually your presbytery).
Double Your Impact!
A group of committed donors has pledged to match all gifts sent by individuals for mission personnel support now through December 31, 2014, up to $137,480. This means your gift today will be matched by a gift to support mission personnel around the world, wherever the need is greatest. We invite you to take advantage of this wonderful opportunity to double the impact of your gift. Thank you!
