Building Kigali Children Center

Posted on August 19, 2019 by kayshadawn

Through this process of pioneering and renovating, we are learning a lot! How to work together, how to ask for help, how to trust, how to work with integrity and honesty and generosity, and also to let the process be what it will be. It isn’t perfect, but this house will be God’s house. Much like our hearts. All the things we go through allow for a process and what He desires most is that our hearts be connected to him and get cleaned up through it all! What a wonderful lesson in learning to love, and trusting our perfect Father to accomplish His beautiful handiwork. ♡

To learn how you can help us to finish well visit Kigali Children Center!

‘You who mourn will be comforted.

You who hunger will hunger no more

You who weep now will laugh again, all you lonely be lonely no more!

Yes, the last will be first, of this I am sure!

I don’t know why the little ones thirst, but I know the last shall be first.

But I know the last shall be first.’

— Lyrics by Brooke Fraser

To learn more about the vision behind Kigali Children Center visit A Vision for Our Children.

A Vision for our Children

Posted on May 22, 2019 by kayshadawn

The recent history of Rwanda since the genocide 25 years ago, simultaneously represents the worst and best of humanity.

This nation not only humbles me, but challenges and inspires me.

I don’t pretend to understand the full complexity of the history or her current journey, but when you want to really experience Rwanda and her story, I feel there is something very necessary about connecting with a living, breathing, healing, survivor’s story.Even as the genocide of 1994 may have now been pushed into the history books as the world experiences further tragedies and time heals, I believe there are timeless and important lessons in Rwanda’s story for all of us, if we listen. Reconciliation may not be fully complete, underlying fear and hurt may remain and the effects of the genocide are still very much being felt today. Despite this, I am sure of one thing; darkness never triumphs over light.Testimony

Below, you will read a glimpse of my husband, Alexis’ story. He is the visionary behind our ministry here in Rwanda. Sold out for Jesus, he is my fearless leader, coach, and the pioneer that makes our dreams come true.

For Alexis life has not come easy, yet his story with all of its set-backs, has built in him a resolve and a commitment to see change in East Africa, and a tenacity to prove that there is always hope for a bright future.In 1994 there was genocide against the Tutsi tribe in Rwanda. During this time Alexis lost most of his family members, leaving him orphaned at the age of 13. He himself survived at the mercy of one woman who kept him hidden in her home. The aftermath of these events was obviously devastating and was a turning point in his life. At the time, the loss, trauma and grief, affected Alexis to the point of drugging himself in order to sleep. Only under the influence of drugs could he sleep, but once sober again the difficult memories would always return. By the grace of God, he was found by a ‘Good Samaritan’, who took him from the street and returned him to school. His life and future was changed by the kindness of God through one person who stopped to take time for him. Since then, Alexis has given his life to the ministry of Jesus and wishes to see many nations being changed by the healing power of God through love, true Biblical teaching, strategic prayer and disciple-making of all ages.

‘When our children can understand the tangible love of Jesus, this revelation will lead them from a life of oppression, to a life filled with hope and change.’ – Pastor Alexis HakizimanaA Vision for Our Children

Our dream is for orphaned children who have experienced similar hardships and trauma to come into the healing reality of family. We also believe this reflects God’s heart for those who were once far off, to be healed through receiving a Spirit of adoption found in the person of Jesus. For these orphaned children, Jesus looks like someone who will stop, see, and offer open arms of safety.

‘When you create an atmosphere of vulnerability and trust, it’s powerful. Children can share, forgive, and feel safe enough to grow for the first time.’ – Kaysha Dawn

We believe in healing for the mind, body, soul and spirit. Our mission is to give our children individualized spiritual care as well as meeting their physical needs that will provide a self-sustaining future when they would otherwise be facing many challenges. This kind of healing will impact not only one life, but also future generations to come.

‘The stories of Rwandan survivors can become a testimony around the world for issues of peace and reconciliation. Because the people have gone through terrible things– they can teach nations.’ – Josephine MunyeliMaking a House a Home

When Alexis and I met we toured a home for boys outside of Kigali. We walked the premises in quiet expectation knowing that our hearts were saying the same thing. ‘One day we will build a home like this.’Fast forward to January 2019 on one of our casual evening walks, we found an abandoned residence on a beautiful property overlooking the valley. We both lit up and our spirits danced with the thought of our dream coming alive, ‘Maybe this house is it?!’A phone call was made. We found the owner was, herself, a survivor of genocide living in Belgium. She had inherited the house at a young age upon her father’s death after the war. The house was left unfinished and uninhabited since that time.This war-torn house is five minutes walking distance from our apartment and we have agreed with the landlord for renovation to use it as the Kigali Children Center! It has a solid structure and foundation and we are excited to make something beautiful out of the brokenness of the past.

Here, we plan to create a nurturing environment for vulnerable children to:

1. Receive love and physical care
2. Receive support and trauma specific counseling
3.    Learn empathy for others
4.    Learn responsibility
5.    Receive formal education and vocational trainingWould you join us in supporting this life giving home in Rwanda?

To help create this center for children, please click here to visit our support raising website or contact us directly if you are more comfortable to find out more about our tax deductible giving option. We love sharing the passion of our hearts and would enjoy the chance to talk with you more.

To see more about what we are doing in Rwanda, visit Into Faith We Go.

With love,

Alexis & Kaysha

Oh the possibilities, when God gives you a promise

…and a dream.

What if this house was a home?

…a safe place for children and broken families to find refuge?

What if we could love them back to life?

– whispers Jesus

Spring in Rwanda. // 2019

Posted on March 18, 2019 by kayshadawn

Our Home. // Kigali, Rwanda.

Visiting Alexis’ family in Northern Rwanda. // Prefegitura ya Byumba

Rwandan Civil Marriage. // 2.28.19

Honeymoon. // Lake Kivu, Karongi, Rwanda

Rwanda Map Discipleship School Locations / Students / Outreach / Certificate Level Graduates 2018.

It is impossible to be devoted to Jesus and not share Him.

We cannot see Him now, but God has ordained that we love Him by loving each other, whom we can see.

Love the Lord your God with all your heart soul and mind, and love your neighbor as yourself. – Mark 12:30

Making disciples means training others to become passionate followers of Jesus. It means leading people into the presence and love of Jesus, which is heaven on earth.

Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. – Matt. 28:20

Extreme hunger for teaching among our local pastors has led us to start leading our discipleship school. Pastors are in many ways the point men and women of a church. Whatever they set their hearts on, those following will follow in their footsteps. So it is vital that pastors value seeking after and finding the presence of God. If they are hungry for Him, others will be too.

Our vision is Jesus.

Celebrate Rwanda // Kigali

Posted on February 27, 2018 by kayshadawn

Traveling to Rwanda today. A dream fulfilled that’s been stored away in my heart 5+ years– where my passion for Africa began for this nation and its story of redemption!When I was invited to Kigali, Rwanda in January, it came as a complete surprise. I didn’t exactly know why I was going this time. I mean I knew the ‘mission’ but I wasn’t sure what my place was or how I would fit– except that I should go, and that God would show me as I went.

If you knew me five years ago, this concept of following his plan would have been completely foreign to me. I would have known exactly why I was going. 🙂 But Jesus has been teaching me that mission with Him looks different than the world’s way. He wrecks my plans so He can use me in His.As I arrived at the airport in Kigali, I was welcomed by Pastor Alexis and a few of his team members as well as Thomas and Erin, who I know from South Africa.

Pastor Alexis is the visionary for this ministry in Kigali, and we are the support team behind his vision to start a discipleship training school for current pastors as well as young evangelists. The school will help them to grow in identity in Christ, and the experience of walking with Him in faith, hearing His voice, knowing His grace, and the confidence to share the truth with others!

Thomas and Erin enjoying our favorite lunch of rice and beans, side of green veg and portion of meat.

The second morning after I arrived, I found this amazing jack fruit in the market! So sweet and juicy! Who knew fruit could grow so big? hmm.

We walked everywhere we went. From the place where we stayed, to the building we used for a classroom, we crossed this intersection almost every day.

Erin carrying everything with us, including this faithful black sound speaker.

The first class went very well! I am very proud of Thomas and Erin as they work with Alexis who is doing an amazing job of pioneering a new concept of how to build a unified church in his home country, and send out equipped messengers. They have a solid team to begin the school with energy as well as intention. I learned so much by watching them.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. – Matt. 5:6

The students of all ages poured into the classroom, eager and ready to learn. They could care less what the classroom looks like, we have no fancy projector screen presentation or printed books. We have no band, one proper light fixture…(and after much deliberation)..no coffee and tea. But we have a hunger and thirst for Jesus that cannot be quenched. This fire is fueled by love for the King.

Sharing testimony of who Jesus is in my life. Everyone has personal story of who He is and a life message that no one else can tell but you. This is the simple gospel.

My friend Antoinette from class. We had an immediate connection.

I was completely moved by the kindness of Rwandan people. Their genuine hearts reflect true redemption from a history of pain and injustices. This kind of forgiveness I cannot begin to understand with my human heart. This kind of redemption and love can only come down from the pure heart of a gracious Father in heaven.

Blessed are the pure in heart- for they will see God. – Matthew 5:8

Because of the sacrifice of the Messiah, his blood poured out on the altar of the Cross, we’re a free people—free of penalties and punishments chalked up by all our misdeeds. And not just barely free, either. Abundantly free!

Buying sugar in the wholesale market for the school. Do you think 25kg is enough? Funny story. Erin and me carrying all these things through a torrential downpour of rain while trying to catch a bus. Thank you God for the rain. haha.

Our Heavenly Father thought of everything, provided for everything we could possibly need, letting us in on the plans he took such delight in making. He set it all out before us in Christ, a long-range plan in which everything would be brought together and summed up in him, everything in deepest heaven, everything on planet earth.

It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. – Ephesians. 1

Me with my moto taxi driver…who got lost…And of course only speaks French.

One day I took a motor taxi to another village to visit a ministry called Hope for Life, a place called home for local street boys.

Hope for Life’s mission is to serve impoverished youth through home care, providing stability in their lives and empowering them with resources and education needed to obtain a flourishing future for themselves and their community.

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. – Matthew 5:7

This precious one took my hand and gave me a tour through his home. Most adults living in Rwanda carry the memories of the genocide time, while the youth are still living with the impact, many growing up with one parent—some without two.

A conversation I had with one young adult, while showing him a photo my dad had sent me, he said, ‘You have a dad?’…’AND a mom?’

This guy is the most gentle soul. Instead of being angry at God growing up without a father and mother, he rejoices in God that he is alive and has work, a young wife and son. God is good. It is a privilege to know this young man’s story.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. – Matthew 5:4“How many beans do you think are there?” “1000.”

“Do you know how much God loves you?… ….Much much more than ALL of these beans! Too much for you to count!”

How precious is your steadfast love, O God!
The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings. – Ps. 36:7I celebrate this day. I celebrate that these boys have a home and that their future is changed for the better. I celebrate Rwanda and the beauty of redemption for this nation. For when the world has seen the Light, they will dance with joy like I’m dancing now!

You are the Light of the world! For at one time you were darkness, but now you have the very light of Jesus shining through you because of your union with him. Your mission is to live as children flooded with his revelation-light!

For we are children of Light, we carry hope wherever we go!

At a local milk shop, you can fill any container to take home with you! One of our favorite evening treats. 🙂

Later in the evening we stopped by a boys soccer game to meet the boys and connect with them. After soccer practice we were able to join in for music and dancing. The coach has a real heart to empower the youth and grow them up with a solid foundation and bright future. He who created you, He who formed everything in the world, He created you on purpose and with purpose. There are no accidents with Him!

Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, before you were born I set you apart! – Jeremiah 1:5

For He chose you to be his very own, even before the creation of the world! He had you in mind as the focus of his love, to be made whole through Jesus so that you would be seen as holy in his eyes with an unstained innocence. On my last night in Kigali, as we walked through a nearby village, I reflected on the week I had spent here and the beauty of having so many special experiences with people through His eyes, I was torn to leave. But there is still more for me back in South Africa!

I will seek first, your kingdom and your righteousness. Everything I need, you will provide for me! My heart is to seek first, your kingdom!

Wherever you are, wherever you find yourself, build His Kingdom of love. Everything else is fading away, only love. Only love remains.

Love can build a bridge of forgiveness and reconciliation that is powerful. This is love to celebrate!

i carry your heart with me, i carry it in

my heart. i am never without it.

anywhere i go, you go, my dear;

and whatever is done by only me is your doing,

my darling.

for I carry your heart with me. I carry it in my heart.

You Make Me Come Alive! // Kids Club

Posted on December 6, 2017 by kayshadawn

Wednesday is Kids Club!…spending time with these guys make me come alive! Kids Club is a time to gather all the farm children in the kloof from primary school to teenage youth. It’s time to invest in their hearts that they will come to know what it really means to be a child of God…Adopted. Chosen! Redeemed! That this Papa God is not distant or passive, but active and breathing, singing and rejoicing over each one! Not only that but this Papa has a special plan for each one of our lives! Here at Kids Club, we play soccer, games, work with our hands on creative art projects, and other fun activities that engage everyone together. Then, towards the end of the evening, we gather in a circle to read a Bible story and pray together. A few of the teenage youth read the story in Afrikaans for the little ones. The children REALLY look forward to this time every week, as any moment of attention has a huge and lasting impact on their lives. Moments to call them higher, that their dreams are not far off, but that God really sees them and that they are never alone.

Time with them is a gift.My heart bursts for each one, and my prayer and dream is to see real change in this generation, that they will see Gods beauty and love in creation and in each other. That they will be filled with hope for a bright future in South Africa.

In the eyes of a child you will see the world the way it should be.

Jesus said, ‘Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who are like these children.’

You see, God is like a new daddy — He can’t keep the good news to himself. He is always waiting for THIS moment, this time. This place. This Wednesday night. And now, here, He can tell them. I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!

12 Love Letters | Father’s House 7

Posted on July 2, 2017 by kayshadawn

Love, is a winding road. Older than old.

Love, is a mystery. It’s got a hold on me and I just can’t shake it.Through these 7 weeks I see 12 Love letters from Christ delivered to the world. That the world will know Him. Not written with ink, but with the Spirit of the Living God. Not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of the human heart.The transition into a ‘school co-leading role’ included many firsts for me that were not always easy. Yet here, in my weakness, He is the strongest, and the most magnified and the most glorified! The testimonies that were shared in this school were unbelievable. Our Father God’s redemptive work in the lives of His children never ceases to amaze me.

Such is our reliance on Him- not a confidence that comes from ourselves, but all power and ability and SUFFICIENCY are from God. It is HE who qualifies us- making us fit and worthy and sufficient as ministers and dispensers of this Love message of salvation through Jesus! – II Cor. 3:2-6I am without words to describe the joy..as well as the growth in what we experience these days, therefore I’ll let the photos speak for themselves and highlight a few unique moments during our discipleship school, Father’s House 7.During the second week of the school we experienced a forest fire that was quite close to home. The fire started on the neighboring farm because of the drought and after a week of fighting it, the fire was finally extinguished. It wasn’t an easy week for the community, but together we saw the power of unity in prayer and God’s loving protection through it all.

I will not fear for You are with me! // He will command his angels concerning you to guard you in ALL your ways. You will not fear sudden disaster, for it won’t come near your tent. – Ps. 91 During week four, we traveled on three-day outreach to a township outside of Cape Town called Mannenburg. Over the years this specific area has become overcrowded with high incidences of crime and gang activity emerging. While working with several local ministries, our students joined to offer prayer and encouragement for local kids and families desperately seeking the hope and the love of Jesus in a dark place. God’s presence was tangibly felt with healing and salvation happening all around.The last week of FH7 before graduation, our fearless leaders, Johan and Marie had the wild idea of taking our students on a 14hr train trip to a massive prayer gathering in Bloemfontain, located centrally in the Free State province of South Africa. You may have heard about this national gathering for prayer on the news, as 1.7 million South Africans gathered before God to pray for the nation politically, economically, spiritually and relationally in unity as a people. It was a huge privilege to be a part of something so radical and I believe as so many gather with one focus, we will see change and God’s love emerging at the center of a once broken nation.The gift of being a part of these 12 stories for 7 weeks is a privilege I cannot put into words. To see each student fall in love with Him, to blossom and flourish in family, to be willing to be broken and willing to be healed. To forgive, to cheer each other on, to fight for love- this is the vision. This is why we do what we do. That the world will KNOW Him.

All of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Jesus. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And He gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. So we are His ambassadors; God is making His appeal through us. We speak for Jesus when we cry, ‘Come back to God!’ For God made Jesus, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Him. – II Cor. 5:18-20

Love is a dangerous word to those who fear losing control.

Love is a wild wind and no one knows which way it goes.

Love, it’s a dangerous word.

Following these seven weeks we continue with a two week extended outreach to three locations in the Western Cape. If you are interested in photos from our outreach work, I’ve shared them here: That the World will Know Him.

If you would like to learn more about our discipleship school please visit our website. Applications are now open for October.

That the World will Know Him.

Posted on July 1, 2017 by kayshadawn

But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us spreads and makes evident everywhere the sweet fragrance of the knowledge of Him. II Cor. 2:14

Witsand // Slangrivier, South Africa

Swellendam // Railton, South Africa

Montague // Ashbury, South Africa

The ‘mission’ can be seen in a myriad of ways in which the kingdom of God expresses itself– highly varied and always redemptive!

God the Father sent Jesus in grace to remove shame and distance that we created between us and Him. To draw us unto Himself from being orphaned in sin to being adopted as His own. Not because of anything we have done or deserve, but because of his great expansive Love.

That we might know Him.

If you would like to learn more about our discipleship school please visit our website. Applications are now open for October.

The Father’s Heart.

Posted on June 17, 2016 by kayshadawn

“In my Father’s house there are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am, you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.” – Jesus

Jesus said that I know the way to where he is? That he has prepared a place for me to be in his family? To have the same Father with him? What does it mean to be fully adopted by God, that I can not only pray to Him, but I can know and call Him Father?

This is the foundation of everything we are doing here in South Africa. The Father’s House is not simply a Bible school– this is family.
In Matthew, Jesus said that it is better for someone to tie an enormous rock around your neck, kick you into the deepest part of the ocean, and let you sink, rather than allow you to cause a child to stumble. Protecting the trust of the vulnerable is a big deal to Jesus—and for a good reason! We were designed to live out of trust.*

This hunger for deep trust can only be satisfied through a relational connection with God the Father.

Often, how we view our earthly father is how we perceive God to be. Yet, no matter the actions of our birth fathers, Jesus’ words in scripture reveal a defending and protective love of the Father for His lost children– this includes all of us!

Jesus died on the cross so that you could have an eternal Father. Regardless of your relationship with your earthly father, He is a ‘Father to the fatherless’ and He yearns to settle the lonely into a home. – ps. 68:5,6
I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty. – 2 Corinthians 6:18

It is his desire to be called Abba- which means ‘to be carried’. He wants to take us into His loving arms…to trust in His comfort, to lean against His chest. It is His will that we know we are loved by a perfect Father. It was by design that we are created to live in the fullness of a Father’s love. The Lord, Jehovah, is the merciful and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, maintaining this love to thousands and forgiving of iniquity, rebellion, and sin. – Exodus 34:6

Jesus went to the Cross to avenge the stolen innocence and broken trust we all inherited after the Fall. When he declared that we all had to be ‘born again’, He was saying, “We’re going to start this trust thing over again. I’m placing you in the Father’s arms, where you will experience unconditional love, acceptance, and care.”*This is the heart of Scripture! Everything in the history of creation points to His passionate Love for us- isn’t this truly amazing news?!

He will meet your needs when you cry out to Him- especially your need to be loved. Through this Love, we learn how to trust again, to build relationship with Him and with one another- relationships in which your heart is truly satisfied.*
His desire has always been for a family. God is love. If you know your Father, you start to mimic Him. You start to love like He loves!

No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and His love is made complete in us. We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be a Savior of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God– and can know and rely on the love that God has for him. – 1 John 4:12-16
When the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive the full right of sonship. Because you are sons and daughters, God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, Abba, Father! So you can no longer carry the identity of a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you an heir. – Galatians 4:4-6

For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—he has died as a ransom to set us free from our sin committed under the first covenant. – Hebrews 9:15For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. Seeing us in love, he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will- to the praise of His glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. – Ephesians 1: 4-6

*Photos:

Our Family. A group photo representing leaders, staff and students from the most recent Father’s House school. I cannot begin to put into words all that God’s Spirit does in and through each of us as we gather in the ‘upper room’.
Our Home. Set in the beautiful Langeberg Mountains, an original 1860’s home where we live and learn in ‘class’ every day.
Harvesting. Some of our practical missionary work is to bless our farm, Le Roux & Fourie Vignerons, where we live as well as neighboring farms by doing grape and pomegranate harvesting depending on the season. Along with the harvesting we are always learning about the vines and symbology of Jesus being the true Vine in John 15.
Village Immersion. We visit local township communities to meet and talk with people on the street, playing with children, and asking them if they’ve heard about the love of Jesus, if they need physical healing, and praying with them. Almost every village immersion, several people come to know Jesus for the first time as their Savior. One of my favorite days of the week.
Creche. [Kindergarten in English]. We visit the Creche once a week to play with and love on the farm children that are babies to pre-school age. Very poor and very under-cared for. They have runny noses and dirt from head to foot- not getting the attention that children so desperately need. So we go and play with them and love on them, clean them, change their diapers, pray over them. Whenever we leave, they are always asking in Afrikaans when we are coming back. It’s a very simple ‘mission of love’ but such a precious opportunity to carry the Father’s heart to them as many of them have absent or somewhat abusive earthly fathers.
Kids Club. Wednesday evenings we gather all the farm children from primary school age to teenagers to play outside, feed them dinner, and then pray with them and do a little Bible lesson. The kids REALLY look forward to this every week, and it has a huge impact on their lives and calling them higher to believe that their dreams for a better future are not far off, but that God really sees them and is there to meet their hearts desires.
Hospital/ Outreach. Weekly, we go out specifically to pray for the sick and believe for healing along with sharing the gospel and connecting deeply in prayer for emotional and physical needs. During our two week extended outreach we were praying with a man named David in a wheelchair who’s back was healed and was able to walk again!
Table Mountain. Every school we take the students for a weekend in Cape Town and one of the highlights is climbing the famous Table Mountain and praying there together for the nation of South Africa. The climb is not only exhilarating, but symbolic of our walk of faith in Jesus, enjoying each other’s company and encouraging one another on to the finish! The breathtaking views from the top are worth the climb!
Baptism. As a family, we spend a time of fellowship on the Western Cape coast where students have a choice to be baptized in the Indian Ocean. Together we celebrate changed hearts, redeemed life in Jesus, and the significance of living in the knowledge of being fully adopted by the Father.

*Quoted: Keep Your Love On. by Danny Silk

Haiti. A Country of Inspiration.

Posted on February 26, 2013 by kayshadawn

It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living, I want to know what you ache for.

It is with surety that we must stand with Haiti, a country whose spirit and people will never be broken, and work in solidarity toward the future the Haitian people deserve. – Joia S. Mukherjee

Find a need. Meet the need. Inspire others.

Posted on January 18, 2013 by kayshadawn

Tuesday, February 14th, 2012

One year ago, I submitted a proposal for HMC’s Xref travel fellowship to realize my long-awaited aspiration of making a difference. With a love for children and a dream in my heart to see schools built abroad, I took a leap of faith into an experience that has furthered my passion to see change across the world. For me, this leap started in Haiti. Now back in the states, I’m thankful and appreciative for this opportunity to travel and make a difference.

My last few days in Haiti were diligently spent working on construction documents for Lycee de Anacaona, the large high school site I had visited earlier in the week. This school is not only large in scale, but also a symbol of hope and progress for the city of Leogane. Jason, who is the primary architect working singularly on this job as well as ten schools currently in progress, was very grateful for the drafting support and team collaboration Alex and I had to offer.

Concluding my time in Haiti, I was able to steal away on the back of a Haitian motorcycle for a tour through the quaint, back roads of Leogane. Franky, our translator and friend navigating the way, pointed to a neighborhood outside of town that had not received any assistance after the earthquake. We agreed this was the opportunity I had been looking for to offer the three suitcases packed full of donations from HMC and friends. To us, what was given wouldn’t appear to be of much value, yet the impact was overwhelming as children were jumping for markers, pens, and paper more than the toys.

Throughout the week, it was obvious that even seeing us there with plans for action sparked hope in the hearts of children, parents, and school directors in each community we visited. I have seen a need, not only to bring hope, but to change future generations in Haiti. The purpose of going on this trip was not simply to meet a need with what I have to give for eight days, but also what I have brought back and plan to continue that is important. As a volunteer, I was willing to give and work hard, yet the learning experience received through this trip was countless in its return as I grasped humility, compassion, perseverance, diligence and determination in a new way that I hope to inspire in my community.

Find a need, meet the need, inspire others.