A letter from Tim Wheeler in Honduras
July 2013
Dear Friends,
New house in PCUSA supported Eco-#1 with intensive gardening in tires.
My work with values-based development systems this year has taken me to Guatemala, Nicaragua and, most recently, to Haiti, where I was invited to facilitate a three-day workshop with the Heifer staff there. This was my first visit to Haiti since the earthquake. I remember Honduras after hurricane Mitch devastated the country in 1999. Honduras and Haiti have much in common, both being among the poorest countries in the hemisphere and facing huge problems that they struggle to meet.
I was picked up at the airport and taken across the country the same afternoon to the northern city of Cap-Haitien by Heifer Haitian staff. Because of my limited language skills in Creole, I wasn’t sure if my request to visit a PC(USA) project on the way would be a possibility. We picked up more Heifer staff as we left Port-au-Prince and headed for the central highlands. I could see different tent cities around the city and as we left I could see new housing that had been built. People are everywhere along the streets carrying out all types of daily livelihood activities.
Laurore Manel says he and his family are better with a new opportunity after the earthquake
After a few hours the good road turned into a construction site and then a winding dirt road. The driver named Prince started to ask people along the road how to get to the Eco-Village #1 (Ekovilaj #1). Yes, this was the site that I wanted to visit. People had been relocated from the city to rural villages such as this one and given the possibility of starting a new rural life. Working with our local church partner, the PC(USA) helped build the new homes that I saw as we drove into the village. Each family had been given a small plot of land. Although I didn't receive all of the information about how the process took place and how Presbyterian Disaster Assistance and PC(USA) congregations had been involved in the post-earthquake rebuilding process, I knew I was seeing the wonderful results of the combined labor of Presbyterian programs, mission co-workers, our local church partners and local churches from across the U.S. I was impressed by the solar lighting, intense agriculture and the seemingly peaceful village life that I took in as I looked around. I spoke with the village leader, Laurore Manel, and he told me that he and his family had come from Port-au-Prince and that they were much better off now. They grew some of their own food, and their children were now in school.
My journey during the week took me to more villages where Heifer is working, helping people build a life in rural Haiti with real possibilities of improvement. I think one of the themes that struck me overall was that the groups we visited are responding to an emergency situation of drastic proportions with a long-term development approach.
declaration of values, Heifer Haiti staff workshop
I spent three days working with the Haitian Heifer staff going through the principles of values-based and appreciative approaches to development. I found out that Heifer is working in six strategic areas of the country. I saw goat breeding centers that will have impact in rural villages in many parts of the country. I saw the good quality of dairy goats being brought in from the Dominican Republic. Perhaps I was most impressed by the people that I met—they are committed to working to improve their country. One Heifer staff vet told me that he had trained 70 village vets to care for animals. Apparently he gets calls from all over the country to consult with him on cases. All these colleagues inspired me with their energy and desire to do positive things in their country. As we discussed the core values that they had agreed should be present in their programs, they wanted to go a step further and draw up a declaration of values to use as staff. This exercise was very important to them perhaps because it gave them a greater identity and connection with a positive vision for the future. The value that is the most important to them in their work and as staff is respect. They place a high degree of importance on the respect for others, but also on respect for each person individually.
project recipient in Haiti, new hope and self-worth
At the end of the workshop I was inspired by one of the participants who said it was important to him to learn that we wouldn’t talk about a tree of problems when we analyze the situation in a community when beginning a program. “Rather, we would talk about a tree of opportunities and then work on how to carry them out.” His words were at the heart of the appreciative approach to development based on values. His statement made me very happy. It represents a move away from a suppressed, patriarchal tradition of development that causes low self-esteem toward an appreciative approach based on respect. The changes in attitudes and the way people think about such things has a direct relationship to helping make our dreams a reality and creating a better future such as in the eco-village.
Thank you for being part of these exciting processes of appreciative development through your giving, your prayers, and your support of mission co-workers. Gloria and I are very grateful for the support that is provided so that we can continue in mission. Please hold up the people of Haiti and Honduras in your prayers, especially those who attempt to transform their lives and who, as part of the process, develop a sense of self-worth and identity.
Yours faithfully,
Tim and Gloria
Apartado 15027, Colonia Kennedy
Tegucigalpa, Honduras
The 2013 Presbyterian Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 20
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