Missions Trips, Technical Assistance, Volunteering
Haiti Partners is regularly asked by churches, companies and individuals if we have mission trips or opportunities for volunteers so that people can come to Haiti and do something concrete to help. These requests encourage us a great deal. We want to be good stewards of the time and resources of people making these requests. We also need to steward our organizational resources wisely as we support Haitians in changing their country.
As an organization we strive to never take jobs from Haitians. We want to make sure that any visitors coming to Haiti with us to volunteer are doing something that our Haitian colleagues have specifically requested rather than something that might be of interest to them but not really needed or appreciated by Haitians.
The Purpose of Haiti Partners Mission Trips and volunteer opportunities is to facilitate American, Canadian and other visitors – who are already involved with our Partners Program – to provide our Haitian colleagues with assistance and/or expertise that specifically responds to the needs that they have expressed.
Click here for Haiti bibliography and documents that can help you prepare for traveling to Haiti.
Assistance requested by our Haitian Colleagues
Our Haitian colleagues have identified the following concrete ways that visitors can help them reach their goals:
- Training in computers: Word, Excel, Internet, QuickBooks, photo and video software, etc.
- English lessons
- Pre-School and Elementary Education and Teacher Training
- Written Translation of documents from English into Haitian Creole or French (this does not require travel to or work to be done in Haiti.)
Additional Possibilities for Exchanges
Music and sports also provide great opportunities for meaningful exchanges between Haitians and visitors who do not speak Haitian Creole or French. Perhaps you have another type of expertise that would greatly interest Haitians and that you would be willing to share. Please let us know.
Helping in Haiti Can Be Expensive
We understand that sometimes volunteers hope to have their costs covered. There are two reasons that make it difficult for Haiti Partners to cover these costs. First, generally speaking, people who donate to Haiti Partners want their gifts to fund our educational programs, which are run by Haitians. They are not donating to enable foreign volunteers to come to Haiti to help.
Second, because Haiti lacks infrastructure and has poor roads, because few people speak English and there is a constant possibility of political unrest, and because millions of Haitians are struggling to survive and some may be desperate enough to steal, receiving visitors and assuring safe conditions requires significant logistical support. This logistical support is costly.
Haiti Partners loves working with people—individuals and groups—who wish to engage with us in supporting education in Haiti for the long haul. A concrete way that Americans and other visitors can help Haiti is by raising awareness about Haiti’s educational plight and helping recruit people to support the work financially. Visiting Haiti to learn more is another way they can get more involved.
Haiti Partners financial commitments to schools and educational programs are significant. Only through the generosity of many people are we able to meet these commitments that help ensure Haitian children receive a quality education. This is part of the reason we only receive mission groups and volunteers who are already Haiti Partners Advocates.
Cost
Like our Partners Trips, the rate for Mission Trips and for longer term volunteer opportunities to cover meals and lodging, transportation, security, and interpreting is $100to $150 per person per day depending on numbers in group, where the group is engaging, numbers of days etc.
Haiti Partners as a Host
Co-Director, John Engle who oversees our Partner and Mission Trips, has 20 years experience in Haiti. He is fluent in Haitian Creole, and works closely with a network of trusted Haitian colleagues. He’s been involved in hosting thousands of visitors during this 20-year period. John is assisted by Jonathan Chan, our Partnership Coordinator, and Benaja Antoine, one of our Program Coordinators. Jonathan has considerable experience with missions trips as a participant, leader, and host, as well as with leading Bible Studies and musical worship. Benaja has 15 years’ experience as a cultural and language interpreter for visitors.
Why members of a Mission Trip need to be Partners
We have more groups interested in coming to Haiti with us than we can accommodate. Thus, in an effort to be good stewards of our expertise and resources, and to ultimately use them to help Haitians change Haiti through education, we team up with people and groups who are going to help us to truly impact the educational opportunities for Haitian children. This requires financial resources.
As a result, it is our hope that your church and organization can get excited about finding additional financial resources to improve education in Haiti, and that these efforts might lead you to come and have meaningful engagements with Haitians. We are eager to engage with you and look forward to hearing from you after you’ve had a chance to review information about our PARTNERS Program.
Thank you again for your interest in Haiti and in exploring partnering with Haiti Partners.
