Bau's Volunteer Trip to Haiti
Donation protected
To Whom It May Concern,
I have decided recently to forever change my relationship with Haiti. Like most children of immigrants, I looked at the land my parents immigrated from with a mix of wonder and grandeur but since the earthquake 8 years ago; those feelings have been mixed with a survivor’s guilt. I’ve come to realize this guilt came from seeing the suffering of thousands of children in Haiti as well as the devastation brought on by the earthquake. Included in the suffering brought on by the earthquake is my father having to deal with the passing of his youngest daughter. Seeing him be forced to deal with that reality everyday has become a driving force in my desire to be able to help my father’s home country in any way possible once I became older.
As you can see that statement is a bit vague and that has never helped ease my conscious. I always knew the day would come where I would have to be a bit more specific about how I wanted to impact the country of Haiti. While I enjoy a life in a land of as many opportunities as the United States there are children in Haiti that could only dream of half of the experience I was blessed to have been able to go through. I have always wants to help those children in particular. Children that may or may not leave their home country but still need to know the world is still theirs for the taking. I was recently talking to an old friend from UMass about volunteer trips to Haiti and she told me about one in particular called Partners in Development. The program is great and really allows volunteers the opportunity to do the boots on the ground work that can only be done by those willing and able. Half of the time spent in Haiti through the program is spent building homes and the other half, working with children. My decision to sign up for this volunteer experience with Partners in Development is what will begin the changing of my relationship with Haiti.
I have had dreams of one day opening up a school or perhaps a children’s park in Haiti and naming them after my sister but what I’ve come to realize is all that is just talk until real work is put in. I must give Haiti as much time and energy as possible to see those dreams come true. And after all that Haiti has given me, I believe it is only right I get to work as soon as possible.
So it is on that note that I start this GoFundMe campaign to fund this volunteer trip (all information below, and on my Facebook page). Now my problem with GoFundMe campaigns is for the most part they are people asking others for money and giving back almost nothing in return. Weeks before my trip, while in Haiti, and the following days after I get back I hope to write out posts and poems on my feelings about the trip and on Haiti in general. I will put the writings together into a work (along with pictures taken while in Haiti) and release them together in a book available only to those who donate $25 or more to the GoFundMe campaign. I will not share these posts or pictures on social media or on my site. The only way to receive them will be in the form of the book. I will have the books hopefully delivered by the end of this year and plan to write a personal message in each book for the recipient.
I appreciate any donation made to the campaign.
Thank you,
Baudelaire Ceus
I have decided recently to forever change my relationship with Haiti. Like most children of immigrants, I looked at the land my parents immigrated from with a mix of wonder and grandeur but since the earthquake 8 years ago; those feelings have been mixed with a survivor’s guilt. I’ve come to realize this guilt came from seeing the suffering of thousands of children in Haiti as well as the devastation brought on by the earthquake. Included in the suffering brought on by the earthquake is my father having to deal with the passing of his youngest daughter. Seeing him be forced to deal with that reality everyday has become a driving force in my desire to be able to help my father’s home country in any way possible once I became older.
As you can see that statement is a bit vague and that has never helped ease my conscious. I always knew the day would come where I would have to be a bit more specific about how I wanted to impact the country of Haiti. While I enjoy a life in a land of as many opportunities as the United States there are children in Haiti that could only dream of half of the experience I was blessed to have been able to go through. I have always wants to help those children in particular. Children that may or may not leave their home country but still need to know the world is still theirs for the taking. I was recently talking to an old friend from UMass about volunteer trips to Haiti and she told me about one in particular called Partners in Development. The program is great and really allows volunteers the opportunity to do the boots on the ground work that can only be done by those willing and able. Half of the time spent in Haiti through the program is spent building homes and the other half, working with children. My decision to sign up for this volunteer experience with Partners in Development is what will begin the changing of my relationship with Haiti.
I have had dreams of one day opening up a school or perhaps a children’s park in Haiti and naming them after my sister but what I’ve come to realize is all that is just talk until real work is put in. I must give Haiti as much time and energy as possible to see those dreams come true. And after all that Haiti has given me, I believe it is only right I get to work as soon as possible.
So it is on that note that I start this GoFundMe campaign to fund this volunteer trip (all information below, and on my Facebook page). Now my problem with GoFundMe campaigns is for the most part they are people asking others for money and giving back almost nothing in return. Weeks before my trip, while in Haiti, and the following days after I get back I hope to write out posts and poems on my feelings about the trip and on Haiti in general. I will put the writings together into a work (along with pictures taken while in Haiti) and release them together in a book available only to those who donate $25 or more to the GoFundMe campaign. I will not share these posts or pictures on social media or on my site. The only way to receive them will be in the form of the book. I will have the books hopefully delivered by the end of this year and plan to write a personal message in each book for the recipient.
I appreciate any donation made to the campaign.
Thank you,
Baudelaire Ceus
Organizer
Baudelaire Ceus
Organizer
Brooklyn, NY
