Haiti Visit: September 2026
Sharing Love & Gratitude
by Dick Wildeman
There had been no rain for two months when I arrived in Haiti last week. All their gardens had dried up under the intense tropical sun. This should have been time for their second harvest of the year, but the crops had already been lost when the rain finally came on my last day there. The majority of Haitians, who were already chronically malnourished, now face even more severe hunger in the weeks and months ahead.
Going Nowhere?
by Dick Wildeman
Dave was on the same flight with me to Haiti, and he told me about his monthly weekend trips to the north of Haiti. His nonprofit supports about fifty schools in the area by providing salaries for their teachers and training for their administrators. I was struck by a comment Dave made about the education system in Haiti. He called it a “ladder to nowhere.” He explained that although it was a good, basic education, it did not prepare students for the workforce. They were not trade schools. There was no jobs training. Faced with Haiti’s massive unemployment, students finished school lacking the skills needed to find work. And even those who could afford to attend a university and get a college degree ended up unemployed. Dave realized that he could not change the system. He kept working with the schools in the hope that the education students receive will eventually enable them to break the cycle of poverty.
Students & Parents Speak
We asked students and parents what problems or difficulties they face in Haiti. Here’s what they said:
Student Perspectives:
"There is a big problem of insecurity in my country. Many times I have gone 2-3 weeks without going to school because many are shot, the roads are blocked. Truly many times my country of Haiti gives us big headaches. Life is expensive, but thanks to God I’m persevering. “Thank you” isn’t sufficient for me to tell you, but I am never stopping praying for you."
~ Damaelle
"Our difficulties are because we don’t have a president. Bandits do what they want. Many people are dying in the country. Children cannot go to school. I am dying with hunger. Our parents, they are not working. I am making an effort to always pass in school so I can help my other brothers and sisters advance too. I recognize the things you do. "
~ Edson
Adult Perspectives:
Problems:
- We live in a difficult situation. Things are complicated for us here. We don’t know what to do.
- Children can’t go to school. We cannot leave freely. Nothing functions well.
- Insecurity in the capital affects all the rest. It’s getting worse. It seizes the land.
- Basic necessities, life is very expensive. I can’t help my family. Sickness fills us, hunger, misery.
- There are no jobs. We can’t find work. The country doesn’t offer anything good.
Solutions:
- There’s a solution because we have the will. We need to put our heads together to make things better. We long for peace,
- When we have a good government that doesn’t think only of themselves and their families, when they “take consciousness”, when they know they should love their country, their people, then we’ll have the solution.
- We’re asking for the United States to help us against the gangs and bandits.
- We want the country to take responsibility for the people, give security, electricity, infrastructure, create jobs, then we can get relief.
- We need money to do commerce, to do a little business. A person can create a good business and give other people work too.
How you can help
Your gift to St. Joseph Worker Foundation will enable us to help the poor of Haiti in three ways:
- by providing scholarships so needy children can attend school,
- by helping the sick pay their medical expenses,
- and by offering emergency assistance to those in desperate need.
Thank you for visiting
St. Joseph The Worker is committed to the people of Haiti. You can assist with the personal and educational development of individuals and groups in Haiti. The Foundation also provides care and relief for Haiti's medically ill and impoverished. Please consider a donation using the PayPal link below.