Cedar Valley Habitat for Humanity gives back to Haiti

By Jeff Capps

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I am blessed to have a great job. I consider each day that I am able to do the work of Habitat for Humanity in this community a privilege.

Earlier this month, my work took me to Leogane, Haiti, for one week to help build 100 homes as part of Habitat's annual Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Work Project. After working with Habitat stateside for seven years, doing that same work internationally, in a place of such great need, was heartbreaking, humbling and inspiring all at once. For me, and I am sure many others, it was a transforming experience.

Fortunately, only a handful of communities in the United States understand the far-reaching impacts of a major natural disaster the way we do in Eastern Iowa. Unfortunately, with the January 2010 earthquake, Haiti is one of a growing list of countries that are all too familiar with disasters of unfathomable proportions. It is estimated that 600,000 people there are still homeless.

Haiti was the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere before the earthquake, and all of the characteristics contributing to that status - extreme economic inequality and hardship, substandard housing and insecure land tenure, poor infrastructure - have been exacerbated by the disaster.

It can be overwhelming. But I found myself more so taken by the beauty of this tropical island country and its people. In one of his addresses to the more than 400 volunteers gathered in Leogane, Habitat Haiti's national director, Claude Jeudy, said, “The Haitian people have seen enough hand-wringing from people around the world. What we need now is their help.”

The outpouring of international support for Haiti in the months following the earthquake was remarkable. But we have moved on. A vast majority of people in Haiti have not. And while concerns about corruption and misuse of funds are understandable, many believe that the election of Haiti's new president, Michell Martelly, holds great promise for the establishment of a government that is truly responsive to the needs of its people.

For the past two years, Cedar Valley Habitat has designated a significant portion of its international tithe to Habitat's work in Haiti, which has, to date, served 28,000 families. I expect that we will continue to do so in 2012 and beyond. Local donors can feel confident that, when they give $1 to assist in our homebuilding efforts, at least a dime is also going to critical work all across the globe.

It might be easy to dismiss entire countries like Haiti from afar and just assume that their problems are too monumental to overcome. I believe the Haitian father of two who lost everything in the earthquake, tears of joy streaming down his face as we walked away from his nearly completed home, would tell you otherwise.

As we enter the holiday season, I know there will be innumerable demands on your resources. But when you're huddled close with your family in the warmth and comfort of your home, your sanctuary, I'd ask you to remember the thousands of families in Haiti still living under tarps and in makeshift tents. Remember those in places like Joplin, or Tuscaloosa, who lost not just their homes, but also people they loved. Remember your brothers and sisters right here in Eastern Iowa who long to have a simple, decent and affordable home of their own.

All those dimes, and your time, really do make a difference.

Jeff Capps is executive director of Cedar Valley Habitat for Humanity. Comments: jeffcapps@cvhabitat.org