From Sharon, hope for Haiti in aftermath of earthquake

SHARON — On Jan. 12, 2010, a magnitude 7 earthquake shook the small nation of Haiti, literally bringing the country to its knees. An estimated 220,000 people were killed while another 300,000 were injured. The nation was left in ruins.

In the following months, an unprecedented amount of philanthropic assistance began flowing in, totaling so far approximately $13.5 billion in money, donations and pledges from other countries and private charities. The money was given to support the dream of “rebuilding a better Haiti.”

Five years later that dream remains far from reality. The country is the poorest in the Western Hemisphere and one of the poorest in the world. Roughly two thirds of the population is unemployed and even some who have jobs barely make the equivalent of two American dollars each day. A large portion of the working population is involved in some form of subsistence agriculture, although the industry is still unable to meet even its own needs. More than half of the country’s food is imported from other nations.

Looking back, the $13.5 billion seems not to have had the intended effect. Most of it was spent on bringing resources into the country to facilitate the rebuild and to clear the rubble from the streets. Also with so much time having passed since the disaster, the project has slipped further out of the consciousness of the rest of the world. The idea of building a better Haiti remains just that, an idea. Or does it?

A one-hour drive from the capital city, Port Au Prince, to a rural area known as Arcahaie quickly changes that opinion. 

Here nestled along the Arcadin coast, is a small village called Corail. Despite a small population of roughly 5,000 people, the village has become a blueprint for the progress that can create a better Haiti. And it all started with an idea called Hope on a String.

Bennett Rathbun is my older brother. We grew up in Sharon and went to school here. After graduating from Amherst College in 2007 with a degree in history, Bennett moved to New York and took a job in management consulting. 

In 2010, at the age of 25, he found himself searching for his calling. Like most young adults, he was completely clueless about what this might entail or where the call might come from.

After hearing news about the earthquake in Haiti, Bennett became interested in the story and followed it closely. Several months later, he received an offer to travel to the country and see the devastation for himself. The trip was a fact-finding mission sponsored by the Barr Foundation, a Boston area nonprofit that was looking into the idea of getting involved in global projects. He immediately accepted the offer and embarked on a trip that would completely change his life.

When the group arrived in Port Au Prince they saw, sprawled out before them, the devastation. Every open space was littered with tents; there was an entire village running along the center of one of the busiest roads in the city. These “tent cities” as they were called housed the countless Haitians who had lost their homes to the earthquake. 

In the roughly three weeks the group spent traveling around the country, Bennett began to feel a solidarity with those around him as they lived through this nation’s darkest time. Although he knew that it was impossible to truly understand what these people were going through in recovering from such a massive disaster, he began to feel a moral obligation to do something, to help these people rebuild their lives.

Also on the trip was Pierre Imbert, a native of Haiti who had spent years in the United States going to school and working in a highly successful nonprofit and public service career. 

Having grown up in the country, Imbert had a deep understanding of Haitian culture and  the country’s socio-economic framework. He felt he was lucky to be able to leave the island and pursue a higher education, and felt he had a debt he needed to repay to his country. He believed Haiti had made an investment in him — and the call had finally come to help give back in the country’s hour of greatest need.  

Imbert became a mentor to Bennett, teaching him about the inequalities and injustices within the country as well as around the world. The two began talking about ways in which they could make a difference and began to formulate a plan.

They stayed in touch after returning to the United States, and began putting together a small group of people to brainstorm ways to get involved. The most difficult part was identifying where the most impact could be made. Haiti is a country where so much is needed and Imbert knew that the nation could never become what it aspired to  without making a change in the thought process.

 Imbert believed the key was to go outside the capitol city to the smaller communities, invest in them and give them the power to move Haiti in the direction they wanted to go.

Many organizations already established on the island were addressing basic survival needs such as food, health care and clean water. 

With the idea of strengthening communities, Bennett and Imbert began brainstorming ideas outside of what has been provided by these organizations. They noted that those groups, working on the front lines, have not had the luxury of thinking about Haitian culture and society.  

With this in mind, the two decided to use music, an integral part of the Haitian culture, to accomplish their goal. Music was a perfect tool to help strengthen community engagement, empowerment and capacity because it is a universal language; anyone from the community can participate and join together through the power of song.  

From this grew the idea of Hope on a String (HOAS), an organization that uses music to energize community building and find community-driven solutions to development issues within the country.

HOAS was created with a committment to working hand-in-hand with Haitian citizens and giving them a voice in the organization’s strategies and plans. 

After testing their ideas and seeing some initial success, Bennett, Imbert and the rest of the team got feedback from the community and went back to the drawing board,  further refining the vision and direction of the organization.

It would be an organization that provided access to music and cultural arts in order to help establish self confidence, pride, and hope in individuals within the community, in addition to rebuilding social capital and community participation in grassroots development.

As things began to take shape, the community began responding positively. The celebration of art and music had never happened before and locals were excited about the prospect of something beautiful and energizing happening within the community. 

They were also excited to see the project having initial successes, after years of watching programs fail or fizzle out.  Community members enthusiastically joined in, and a group emerged that was willing to put their time and reputations on the line to help establish the building blocks to build from and rally the community.

Bennett and Imbert saw they had something that could potentially impact the country in a positive manner. All they needed to do was continue to work hard and maintain the same level of commitment. 

As with any successful company though, the financial need to facilitate the work the organization was aiming to do grew with the success. The tough part was figuring out how to translate the magic and value that they could see and explain it to potential donors who could not see it themselves. 

The music and arts program offered by Hope on a String allowed Haitians from around the area to come and learn how to sing, dance and make music. People traveled great distances, sometimes walking more than an hour each way to participate. In addition to gaining skills, they were also learning  pride, hope and self confidence. 

They began to see that they could make positive changes in their lives and better themselves. In turn, they were motivated to do the same and improve the community around them. A change in attitude and the level of determination was evident. 

Bennett said that as he listened to the students talk, he could see a spark grow in their eyes. They began to talk about their goals and their futures and their dreams for how they wanted their lives to be down the road. These kinds of conversations weren’t possible before.  For the HOAS team, this was the most rewarding part of the three years of work they had done. 

Infrastructure changes began to follow. The village finally got electricity and its first paved road in 2013, thanks to the efforts of HOAS and the citizens of Corail.

Bennett and Imbert have done with HOAS what that old English proverb recommends: “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”

Instead of handouts, HOAS has provided intangible resources such as self confidence and hope for a better future. Through this they are able to help facilitate the needed actions to inspire change within the country and community. 

After their initial success, Bennett and Imbert now have to change their focus to attracting new support and to keeping the energy strong so this organization and its progress continue into the future. I hope to be a part of that. My family and I traveled to Haiti at the end of December, and offered help and support with some of the projects they are doing.

Immediately upon arrival the success and importance of HOAS in the community was evident. Nearly 300 people showed up for an evening performance of a self directed and choreographed play, including former President Rene Preval. A walking tour of the village also took much longer than expected due to the endless number of residents who rushed from their house to say hello to Bennett. Four days was not enough time to make a difference myself and I returned to the United States counting down the days until I can return again and continue to help with the work myself.

For more information go to www.hopeonastring.org.