"Haiti Beautiful": Lespri's Campaign to Help Vulnerable Women in Haiti
Hi! My name is Elaine Rensink and I lived in Haiti for 5 months in 2012 before starting Lespri Haiti Mission. While I lived in Haiti, I witnessed many things that I had never seen before in the United States. One particular thing that caught my attention and broke my heart was the rough life & job circumstances of Haitian women.
ONE WOMAN'S STORY On my trip to Haiti, I remember watching as an elderly Haitian woman would work crouched on her hands and knees doing laundry 7 hours a day, 5 days a week for $60 a month. I couldn't believe she worked so hard for so little. Her hands were continually soaked in the soap, bleach, and lye that she was using to wash the clothes. She was an elderly woman and her hair had already grayed and was starting to white out. Seeing poverty like that so up-close and personal I felt that I could not believe what I was seeing. After traveling the country of Haiti and seeing more of the poverty first-hand, it dawned on me that this poor laundry woman was actually very fortunate compared to many I had seen. She was fortunate because she had a steady job and because her work situation was free of abuse. That is unlike so many women in Haiti. She was fortunate to have this job. Wow. The plight of women in Haiti is something that has touched my heart. It has made such an impression on me that I wanted to do something to help vulnerable women as Lespri Haiti Mission begins ministry in this beloved country. WHAT IS HAITI = BEAUTIFUL? Haiti = Beautiful is a Campaign to help the vulnerable women Lespri Haiti Mission will encounter and develop relationship with in Haiti. Lespri Haiti Mission seeks to provide opportunities for qualifying women to create honest income. |