Mission of Hope South Campus

This had to be my favorite place in Haiti. I loved the colors of the housing, all painted by volunteers but it really captures the island spirit and liveliness they truly have. At this campus, over a hill, in a way detached from the other housing, was the deaf village.
The deaf are tormented in Haiti. If a deaf person was caught signing in public places, such as lines to receive food or aid after the earthquake, they would be beat up and kicked out of line. The deaf people of Haiti had to come together to survive, joining together is the only way they can possibly survive in the deep part of the slums they have been pushed into. Rape among deaf women is much more likely than in another village due to the fact that if she screams in the night no one else can hear her. Knowing that much is enough to make one's heart heavy for life. Mission of Hope is currently working with the Haitians to relocate every deaf person out of the slums and into the safe campus. Kyle, a worker at Mission of Hope who I met, learned Creole and Creole Sign language in his first 8 months of living in Haiti to become a fundamental force in helping these people. The deaf community calls him "Haitian black brother" and he is the leader of the relocating project. He thinks of ideas, but sits back and lets the Haitians carry them out the way they feel best. He brought them the idea of relocating about 20 people at a time, but it was up to the Haitian to decided who went first. They decided the families with children who aren't in school should go first so they can attend the school and those without a job can go after that since there are job opportunities at the campus. That is one of the values that I admire the most about Mission of Hope. Mission of Hope knows they're not Haitian, and they don't try to make Haitians be Americans, because "Haiti is not America" as they always say. And I find that so beautiful. Mission of Hope is truly such a pure organization.
The residents who have been relocated are some of the happiest people I have ever seen. One lady stood outside her house and called people to come and look in her house, she pulled back the curtain to her bedroom and stood there with the biggest and most proud smile on her face. She was so excited and proud and happy of her tiny house just because she could get a great night's sleep without fear and had a loving community around her. After I looked around her house, I signed "thank you" to her and she almost burst with happiness that I signed at her and quickly and excitedly signed back "You're welcome" & "I love you" with again a huge smile on her face and grunts of happiness. That was one of my favorite moments of the trip.

Learn more about future plans of the south campus here and about their current housing actions here