About
WHO WE ARE
The seeds of Haiti Allies began in 1991 with Bryan Sirchio’s first trip to Haiti. Eventually, Bryan started to lead mission trips with two groups of people from the U.S. each year to support schools and children in Cite Soleil. Members of the Madison Christian Community became involved and formed Haiti Partners MCC, which eventually changed its name to Haiti Allies in 2011. Natural disasters and political turmoil have ravaged Haiti in recent years. As Haiti Allies look to the future, we face decision points about the group's leadership and how it can have the most significant impact in a country with high poverty and great instability.
Meet the Team
WHY HAITI?
Cite Soleil, a shanty town on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince is one of the poorest places in the world. Because of indescribable poverty and a high level of social unrest and violence brought on by prolonged desperation, Cite Soleil receives little in the way of foreign partnership efforts.
COMPASSION
Haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere
FRIENDSHIP
Haiti is our neighbor; it lies only 90 minutes from Miami
INSPIRATION
The Haitian people are resilient, intelligent, joyful, resourceful, patient and loving
SOCIAL JUSTICE
Haiti has a long history of foreign occupation and accompanying exploitation of people and resources resulting in wide-spread poverty.
Haiti Allies is a non-profit organization under the umbrella of a progressive church called Madison Christian Community. In our work, we do not engage in proselytizing, preaching, or anything overtly religious other than focusing on love, compassion, justice, and kindness, particularly to the poorest of the poor.
We are very deliberate about this because we feel it is disrespectful of Indigenous culture and religion to show up in a foreign country with a preconceived religious/doctrinal agenda. We are also painfully aware of the harm done “in the name of God” to countries like Haiti and the role that organized religion has often played in the colonization and enslavement of so-called “third world” nations.
All this being said, you should know that most of the people we work with in Haiti tend to be deeply religious themselves, simply because Haiti is an extremely spiritual nation. There are very few Haitians who aren't either Christian in one way or another or practitioners of Voodoo, or usually some combination of both. We do not attempt to control or influence the role that religion plays in their lives, but none of our funds go to support specifically religious activities.
We support education, feeding people (usually in the context of education), job creation, and medical care. It would not be unusual for the teachers to have a prayer or something to begin the school day or before a meal, but there are no religious requirements for students and religious instruction is not a part of any of our partnerships.
HOW WE DO IT
Calling forth capability: We believe in the creativity and intelligence of the Haitian people. In all of our partnerships, we invite and challenge our Haitian colleagues to embrace their full potential. We never do anything for a Haitian individual, organization or community that they can do for themselves.
Building Capacity: We are committed to providing appropriate tools and training that will increase the capacity of our Haitian friends to meet their challenges. Our Haitian partners take the lead in determining what resources are needed to address their reality.
HOW WE DO IT
Investing in Cooperative Development: We embrace the spirit of the international cooperative movement. In our work we are guided by the following three principles:
1) Shared power - It is essential for Haitian organizations to have broad-based leadership, and not the familiar top-heavy organizational structure based on the control or charisma of one or two persons.
2) Financial Transparency and Accountability - All funds are tracked and accounted for systematically including standardized reporting of all monies received and spent.
3) Sustainability - In all of our work we strive to break cycles of dependency and nurture long term viability.
