One Month Later…

It has been one month since the Restavek Conference.  The conference itself, as i said before, was an overwhelming success.  We pulled off everything, from logistics to content, almost flawlessly.  The people showed great signs of motivation and interest in this cause.  We even saw a unique miracle as a sign of their self-motivation.  What was that miracle? It was the first Haitian event that I ever took part in in which all of the invitees arrived EARLY (yeah, that’s right… early!… in Haiti!).  We started on time & ended on time.  We started with Tifane’s beautiful song, went into a welcome, heard a couple of talks, and went right into the panel discussions.  The panels ran smoothly up through Mrs. Sixto’s lunchtime speech, and we topped off the conference with Jean-Robert’s moving and challenging speech.  God’s hand was in every detail.

As for me, it was an honor for me to stand before 500+ leaders of various sectors in the nation, speaking on behalf of 300,000+ children who have no voice.  As the emcee of the event, I too had a chance to share my heart about the issue and challenge people to take personal responsibility for the plight of these children.  This great opportunity came after weeks of speaking out for them on television and radio; an honor and a privilege that I had not yet imagined for myself.  It was truly a divine opportunity.

I did not get to take part in all of the panels because I was moderating the religious panel.  I heard great reports from all of the rest, but after spending four sessions with a Pastor, a Priest, and a Hougan (vodou priest) speaking on the same panel about the same issue, I must say that our panel was the most significant… the most miraculous (I may be a bit biased).  Never has it been seen or heard of in Haiti for three men from these three domains to sit together peacefully to discuss anything of substance.  They not only sat peacefully, but they supported one another’s statements, they laughed together, and they genuinely enjoyed one another’s company.  They came representing sectors filled with differences and known for fiery confrontations, but they left as friends united by a common purpose.

That was the miracle of the Restavek conference.  Men and women came from all over the country (and even different parts of the world), from different walks of life, different social and economic statuses, and from different domains of work and they became united toward a single cause: the children, the future of our nation.  Everyone left encouraged and motivated, and I truly felt that the nation is finally ready to start taking some steps toward change.

So what has happened since?  Our office has spent several weeks catching up to our own program, paying more attention to our own children.  Still every week I am receiving calls and emails from excited organizations and individuals telling us about their ideas and efforts.  Many of them need some help and direction getting started and I always wish we could do more for them at the moment, but our own children are our priority for now.  We are still a very small organization, despite the big splash that we made at the conference, and our resources, especially our human resources, are limited.  At times I have been a bit discouraged to see so much momentum yet be so limited in our ability to keep it rolling, but from what I see, the issue is still fresh in the minds of all of our attendees .  The fire is still burning, and it won’t go out any time soon.  I am fully confident that we will be able to contact anyone on our list of attendees, even in a few months, and enlist their full participation.  I believe that the conference had that much of an impact.

I have already called upon the members of my church who were in attendance, and we are now planning a campaign to root out this system in our church and in the surrounding community.  Their enthusiasm is greater than it was on day one because they have been thinking about the issue ever since, and they came ready with some great ideas for a very smart campaign.  This will be the first of many to come.  Hopefully it will become a model to be replicated in other churches and neighborhoods around the country.  The media campaign is still in the planning phases, but we have some great ideas flowing…

Why does all the good stuff always happen when I am just getting ready to leave the country…?  I only have 35 days left.  Booo…

Dear World

Dear World,

I’m still alive. I took some time to rest (which for me means going almost completely MIA) and then my power went out and it may be out for weeks. That means that the only time I have any means of (affordable) communication is when I am in the office. I have much to say but may never get to all of it at this rate. In either case, I’d like you to know that the conference was more than a success (“success” is an understatement). Thanks for your prayers and support. I hope to have updates on that and the follow-up sometime.

A bientôt,
Junior Bataille.

The Time is Right for Change

According to Joan, the movement officially began on Sunday, and I don’t think myself to be egoistic to agree.  On Sunday, May 17, I did not speak.  God really did deliver His message through me.  For too long we, as a people, have been self-focused.  Most of us do not know how to truly love our neighbors by “giving our lives” for them.  We should give our lives, not by dying for one another, but through living to serve one another.  We hardly realize that it is the latter that is more difficult.

There is a potential miracle that exists in an ear of corn.  One could eat the ear today and be hungry tomorrow.  But if one were to plant the 200-400 grains of corn on the cob instead, in a few months he would find 1000-2000 new ears.  Our lives are like those seeds.  If we invest every bit of ourselves into our own “stomaches” today, our investment will die with us tomorrow and there will be no evidence that we ever existed (read my post on “Signs of Life“).  On Sunday, God challenged all of us to plant our lives into one another.  To plant ourselves into something greater.  To plant our lives into a secure future.  To plant our lives into children.  The time has come for us to stop eating the seed that represents our own lives and looking for others to devour when we are still hungry.  It is time for us to stop looking for a child to help us and look to invest ourselves into them.  I believe that God himself has declared an end to exploitation and is calling for a change of hearts.

If I had delivered the message three Sundays ago, as originally planned, it would not have been the right time.  Not only was the time right this past sunday and people were ready to receive it, but everything was aligned perfectly with Radio Lumière so that all of Haiti could hear it live, and even Haitians in foreign nations could heard it and responded.  Judging by the way that the message was received, I can tell that we are ready for change.  But we must keep preaching this gospel to give people the vision for change and confidence to change.  We need to preach it all over the country.  For that, we need messengers.  This Saturday at the “Mwen Se Ayiti Tou” conference (“I Am Haiti Too”), the messengers will be inspired.  We have leaders from all corners of Haitian society, from all 10 departments, that are coming to take part.  We have chosen leaders that can speak.  Leaders that people will listen to.  On Saturday their eyes will be open to the truth and on Sunday they will be sent out to preach this gospel.  Its time to plant ourselves, invest our lives into Haiti’s neediest children.  Our hope as a nation is wrapped up in their very own.

The Beginning of the End of Child Slavery

If you’ve been wondering where I have been, I have been hard at work on the upcoming conference to start a movement against child exloitation in Haiti.  Every day the event gets bigger.  We are preparing to receive hundreds of guests, mostly from Haiti, but also from Europe, the U.S., and other Caribbean nations.  We will also have media present from different corners of the world.  I have a feeling that God really wants to deliver these children (well duh…).  His hand is all over this thing… All of the pieces simply fit themselves together.  The people that we have met in the last week and a half have saved our skin, given us access to corners of Haiti that we thought were lost.  There is much left to do but we are very excited and very positive about it all.

Of course this is not really about holding a conference to talk about the issue and move on (like most conferences in Haiti).  We really are after a movement, and we think that we are well-positioned to get one rolling.  I also think that Haiti is ready to receive this movement.  After all this time, what could make me think so?  Well, all along, there have been more people in our nation that are against this system than there are people who are for it.  All we have to do is convince these people to TALK.  Speak out!  Say “Enough!”

During child interviews this week, I caught onto something that is very key.  Almost every child that I talked to (this week) has a neighbor that feeds them or gives them a little money from time to time because they feel sorry for the child.  But never have I heard of a neighbor that confronts the “owners” of these children while they are in the middle of beating them to a pulp.  These neighbors are friends of the family… They see each other often.  They laugh together and joke around with everyone in the house.  Everyone but the restavek.  They help her in secret, because no matter how close they are to the family, they feel powerless to speak on the behalf of the child who is, very clearly, not in the family.  I bet that some of them wish they could…  Our goal is to convince them that they can… and they should.  We want these caring neighbors to stop thinking “what a shame” in their hearts to saying “shame on you” to their neighbor (of course respectfully, tastefully, and lovingly).  As I look at I’m really starting to believe that we can get people to start talking.

We are preparing for it.  We are getting ready to make a lot of noise.  It won’t be long until this issue is made a public issue.  It won’t be much longer until one neighbor starts talking to another about the sad, shameful stories that they heard on the radio or saw on the TV.  When they start talking to each other, the third neighbor, the one with the restavek, will start to think twice before they beat the child.  They may even buy a mattress for her to sleep on rather than forcing her onto the cold concrete floor every night.  In another year, perhaps the child will be in school… in the morning even, rather than being sent to a sub-par afternoon school which exists in part because there are children in our country that work during the day.  Maybe afternoon school won’t even be necessary anymore… who knows.

I know that I tend to speak idealistically, but I feel this as strongly as everything else that I know to be true.  On May 23, 2009 we will see the beginning of the end of child slavery in Haiti.  God himself has vowed to break the chain.  (Trust me, I know this because He’s a good friend of mine…

If Only I Had the Time…

Last night, Joycelyne was sharing with me some of the details of a recent girl’s night out.   They went to a jazz/poetry club.  She had a lot of fun, and I got to hear every juicy detail (a very interesting night, haha).  It was so great to hear how her heart leaped, particularly, at some of these artists’ portrayal of love.  At every word she was responding, “that’s so true!”  I had many thoughts as she recounted to me some of the poetry that she heard, and how she felt like she could relate, but in the end one of my most prevailing thoughts was “Hey, I remember thinking/feeling the same thing!  I could have written something like that… If only I had more time to capture the many inspiring moments that pass every day through creative writing…”  I still write some poetry and music here and there, but I feel like I miss some of the most inspiring moments.  Part of me wishes that I could just be a professional artist… if I could make a living through creative writing, I would be thoroughly happy doing so.  But then again, I am also very happy with what I am doing and the path that I am on, so…

Today, a friend of mine invited me to see a concert where he was playing keyboard.  I stopped through in time to see one and a half of the opening groups.  They were okay, but the final (“star”) choir was very, very good.  Very good.  But I didn’t pay much attention to the choir though… I was watching the musicians, intrigued at the creative and intricate arrangements of keys, guitars, drums, congas, and a saxophone.  Every musician was so good at what they did, and most of them were around my age or younger.  As I watched them, I thought “I don’t play enough music… if only I had more time…”  If you know me, you know that when I see an instrument, and I want to play it.  I only officially play the guitar… but if I had the time, I would learn the keyboard, drums, bass, violin, bagpipe…. (yes, I said bagpipe… I came very close junior year).  As with writing, if I were able to play music 24/7, I would be thoroughly satisfied.

I find myself saying this for many more things…  For example, I downloaded a CAD program last year and started building house plans for fun….  I love it!  When I’m doing it, I could easily see myself doing architecture, as a hobby or even for a living.  I designed my friend’s house, which he is now building, and a friend of his bought a modified version of his plan.  I don’t really have time to do  plans right now, so now it sometimes serves as a procrastination tool.

I also think of this blog.  I was telling Joyce that I really think that I have one of the most interesting lives of many people that I know.  That’s not a proud or an arrogant statement, because I usually feel like I have so little to do with it.  I’ve simply been going along on a very exciting ride.  If I had more time, I’d write more about my interesting life… but maybe if I had more time, my life wouldn’t be as interesting.

I’m not sure what I am getting at here… I guess that one thing I’m kinda saying is that life must be more than simply finding something that you like or something that you are good at and doing it well.  I simply enjoy every bit of life itself and would have a hard time finding that ONE thing.  Another thing is that I hope that I will have several lifetimes worth of time in Heaven to do all of these things that I can’t do now.  And third, have you ever wondered if you actually have some of your priorities crooked and some of things that you want to be doing are what you should be doing all along?  I get that sneaking suspicion all the time.  I feel like my life is a balance that has seventeen arms… each chock full of opportunities, options, hobbies, and worthwhile endeavors.  I’m telling you, it’s not easy to keep that thing steady, but it is exciting.

What Election?

Thanks again for your prayers.  It turned out to be a terrible election, but not because people were killed, but because the voice of the people was not heard.  Yesterday morning, it seemed like we had more people in our church for first service than there were on the streets of Port-au-Prince all day.  People were either too scared or generally uninterested in this election to go out and vote.  A pre-election survey conducted recently revealed that less than 5% of the voting population was prepared to go vote, and my guess is that less than 5% actually followed through.  I guess, if people actually went out to vote things might have gotten bad… unless these were just empty threats in the first place, aimed at silencing the REAL voice of the Haitian people.

Another thing that I did not fully understand was that all public transportation was stopped yesterday.  I was told that, in the past, criminals would use taxis and tap-taps in election day crimes.  I can understand the need to get greater control over the streets on this day, but how is the common person supposed to go vote without a car?  If civilian operated public transportation had to be stopped, why weren’t state-sponsored voting buses provided to transport Joe Schmo to the polls?  If the state wanted a real election, they should have taken this as their duty.

But maybe they don’t really want Joe Schmo to go to the polls…  I don’t know about Joe, but If I found out that I would be walking more than 15 minutes just to go vote, I would be a little adverse to the idea, especially when I hear that there may be men on the streets with machetes ready to take my lid off and mail my body to the address written on my foot.  So, Joe stayed home yesterday, and I don’t blame him.  While he sat at home listening to the radio with his family, a select few, perhaps the ones who were in charge of the negative propaganda, hopped into their heavily tinted cars and went out to choose “our” leaders.

I would propose a simple solution: a quorum in which no election can be counted if less than 50% (at least) of the voting population is represented, but of course the problem there could be that we may never again have a valid election…  Someone out there clearly knows how to keep people at home.  If things aren’t going their way prior to the election, there are people who would rather stop the election altogether by using the same threats that were used in this election.

There were two notable incidents yesterday, one of which led to the cancellation of the elections in Plateau Central, and another that made me laugh.  In a certain district in the Department of Artibonite, a Christian candidate was favored to win.  In an attempt to turn the tide, representatives of two other candidates went out to try to shut people in in their churches.  Before they got very far, the people of one church revolted saying “Today we’re not gathered to discuss church business.  Today is election day and you’re not gonna stop us.”  A fight broke out which ended after fire was set to cars of these men cars, sending them home on foot, defeated. The people got their victory and went out and let their voices be heard.  I don’t usually promote violence, but in this case, the rules had changed.  They made the right choice to do all that they could to stop these criminals from choosing for them.  If they didn’t stand, no one would have stood for them.

Stay posted in the coming days…  Results day can sometimes be just as bad as election day.

All is Peaceful so Far

I didn’t expect such a great response from everyone. More than 200 people have clicked on my blog since yesterday morning. I hope that means that at least 200+ people are praying. At the moment things are quiet and people are going about their business as usual, but everyone is waiting to see what might go down tomorrow. Keep praying. Only God can keep the peace.