Educational Projects & Teams

Recently many theologians and sociologists have developed a well-placed criticism of short term missions and service project teams as glorified "missio-tourism". Scenes of poverty and desperation are marketed as missions "experiences". Short term strategies of help are developed by the visiting team leaders rather than by nationals or long term professionals with intimate knowledge of the cultures they serve.

We are extremely sensitive to the damage that can be done to Haiti by teams that come to play Santa Claus or come with a self-congratulatory savior complex. Businesses are hurt by the abundance of handouts, public dignity is damaged by being a nation fed only by charity, and evangelistic efforts are made without sensitivity or understanding of local cultures and language. Often the cost of a short term team's visit is far greater than any positive lasting economic impact on visited communities, raising questions of stewardship as well.

This is why we encourage our short term teams to focus on projects that make a lasting impact and reinforce the work of local leaders, churches, and long term workers who have dedicated their lives to knowing and serving the Haitian people. We focus particularly on two kinds of short term projects:

Lasting Structures

These would include things like building homes for the homeless, renovating a work facility, building a chicken coop, furnishing a house, Painting, plumbing, fixing vehicles, planting a garden, etc. What is left behind is not something that would have been otherwise affordable or available to the poor or to missions workers, and the project improves lives without imposing on them in the process. We especially like these kinds of projects if Haitians can be hired or taught lasting skills in the process. Some of our teens, for example, learned to tend to the chickens whose coop was built by a short-term team.

Lasting Skills
One of the best things that teams can bring to Haiti is professional experience and education. The knowledge that is brought by teams can equip Haitians in ways that continue to pay off long past the short term visit. In the pictures to the right you see Jinior. His house was built by a Haitian carpenter who learned his skills alongside a short term team. Jinior earns a living in our jewelry-making program, which was started when Kelsey Little came on a short term team and trained a handful of people in jewelry making. The short term educational projects of visiting teams have a clear and lasting impact!

If you are interested in bringing a short term service team, please read more here.