Prosper - Humans of Espwa

There are a number of misconceptions about Haiti, one of which being that the country is a cursed or faithless land. In actuality, faith is the cornerstone of hope for many Haitians with about 90% of the population practicing some sort of religion, and Catholicism being the majority of that percentage (CIA World Factbook 2016). At Pwoje Espwa, faith plays a part in all that we do. One person who demonstrates this deep commitment to faith is Mr. Jean Levelt Prosper.

 

Jean Levelt Prosper, who goes by Prosper, is the head of the liturgy department at Pwoje Espwa. The 36-year-old man grew up in Les Cayes with 6 brothers, 2 sisters and his mother and father. He is not married and does not have biological children, but he does have many godchildren. 

Prosper started working at Espwa in 1999; in ’98 he was a part of a missionary group whose president was in contact with Father Marc. When Espwa was in need of assistance with providing religion classes for the kids, Father Marc reached out to this group and Mr. Jean Levelt Prosper said he would do it “with pleasure.” His Catholic faith is number one in his life and he finds God in silence and meditation; he explained that he is constantly praying in his heart. The faith-driven man stated that he likes working at Pwoje Espwa because, “…I love people. I have a love that is universal. I love everyone. Here I find all different types of people; children, old people, young adults, people who are poor, people without possibilities… That’s the reason I love the work that I do.”

Prosper explained that when he meets people who are suffering, he always tells them two things. The first is that '...life is easy and hard at the same time. It’s easy because God gives us everything we need in nature… but it’s us that must determine how to use those things when we have need.” The second piece of advice he gives to people is that the greatest gift in life is education. He uses Father Marc as an example stating that, without the education Father Marc gained as a child and young adult, he would not have been able to found Pwoje Espwa.

In his life Mr. Prosper has a goal to be like the visitors who come to Pwoje Espwa. He would like to make and save money to visit other countries where people need help and encouragement.

Outside of work, Prosper enjoys going to the beach to go swimming. He also loves giving kids lessons, which we see him doing often at Espwa. “It’s very easy for me to be on their level. I don't have to force that.” He describes himself as a simple man, who loves nature and making jokes. He laughed and stated, “I also like to eat!” We definitely caught a glimpse of that funny side. 

Ada - Humans of Espwa

As with most families, Pwoje Espwa includes members who are more extroverted and those who are introverts. Without a doubt, Jean Yvenante Ada - who is more commonly known as Mommy Ada - definitely falls into the extroverted category. Earlier in the week when I asked Ada if I could interview her, I walked alongside of her as she waved and smiled at the calls of “Ada! Ada!” coming from multiple people around the compound. When it came time for the interview, I entered the boys’ village and asked a few different boys, “Kote Mommy Ada?” (“Where is Mommy Ada?”); each one I asked knew exactly where she was located – house 16.

I found the 40-year-old house mother, sitting on her bed in house 16, singing hymns in Creole and French with children around her. Ada called me over, patted next to her as a request for me to sit, and for the first 20 minutes of our interview time she taught me a hymn in Creole.

“Sèl Jezi sa ki kap konprann mwen. Sèl Jezi sa ki kap ede’m.” “It is only Jesus who understands me. It is only Jesus who can help me.”

The words to this hymn perfectly capture Mommy Ada’s firm trust in her Heavenly Father. When I asked her if she believed in God, she was taken aback, “Oh yes, of course! I know God…I find Him in the Bible and through prayer each day.”

At Pwoje Espwa, Ada works as a house mother. These women live in the houses with the children at Espwa; they have one day off each week and do all cleaning, washing, and raising of the children. To say they have patience and strength would be an understatement. Ada absolutely embodies these qualities.

While she has only been working as a house mother for 9 months, she has been familiar with Espwa for about 10 years, which is why she is so well known within the compound. One of her side jobs is commerce; the woman sells clothing and other items and used to do so regularly inside of Pwoje Espwa during the children’s recess from school. When one of her own children had an accident and she had to pay hospital bills, Ada came to Espwa asking if she could find more work and was given a house of 13, 14, and 15-year-old boys to take care of.

Ada with one of the boys who she takes care of in house 16. 

She doesn’t mind this work at all, though; in fact, she loves it. “I love working with children, especially little children. I was a kindergarten teacher for 16 years before I started selling clothing.” Ada went on to explain her love of teaching and her extensive list of teaching experiences, which range from kindergarten classes to young adult religious formation.

Outside of Espwa, Ada has been married for 12 years and has 4 daughters – Farrah, 18, Sephora, 16, Shidnara, 12, and Shneida, 10. She explained that her main goal in life is to make sure her children arrive at their own goals and are successful. Ada shared that her advice to others is to keep pushing through life, even if it is difficult. “I would tell them to have courage...I would say don’t lose your head in this life.”

Before heading back out into the increasingly hot March sunshine, I asked Mommy Ada if she had anything else to say to those who might read this. “I would like to ask them to pray for me so that I have good health…so that I have good health and that I stay with God.” This month, we ask you to pray for Ada, along with all of the other house mothers at Pwoje Espwe who play one of the most vital roles here.

Sam - Humans of Espwa

Every Saturday night in the Quad, which is another name for the Guest House at Pwoje Espwa, the scents of garlic and tomato waft from the kitchen and tummies rumble in anticipation of pizza night. While a few people who work in the kitchen know how to make this delicious pizza now, many volunteers who have been coming to Espwa for years remember the true pizza master: Sam.

Sam, whose real name is Mackenzy Ambroise, is 24-years-old and currently works as the Assistant Guest House Manager, helping with translating and organization of other activities that happen in the Quad. Sam says he really enjoys working in the Quad because he has the opportunity to meet many different people.; “I like when I work with everyone together.” Along with working in the Quad, Sam has been taking computer classes in Les Cayes since he finished classical school in July. When he was a child at Espwa, Sam worked in the Quad kitchen. It was there where he mastered his sauce-to-cheese ratio for pizza and perfected his cheesy potato recipe. While Sam’s job is no longer directly in the Quad kitchen, he’ll often step in to pass along his wisdom to the younger kids working there now.

We sat down with Sam to ask him about his life and his time at Espwa and uncovered this young man’s moving combination of firmness and kindness. He told us that he passes each day remembering three words: conviction, determination, and strength. When asked how these words play a part in his life he described conviction as staying committed to your dreams, determination as working hard for what you want in your life, and strength to maintain patience and fight for what you believe in.  Sam described life as “a struggle to discover what your true purpose is.”

As we talked, the young man delved into his faith as well. Sam believes in God and sees God in his brothers and sisters, which he described as all of the people at Pwoje Espwa. He talked about what touches him and said that when he sees people who are poor or in need it “…almost makes [me] cry.” Outside of working and going to school, the young man said that he enjoys spending time with his friends, talking and laughing. “What do you all talk about?” “We talk about everything; life, God, Espwa.”

Sam came to Espwa with his brother when he was 5-years-old. At the time, Pwoje Espwa was located in the city of Les Cayes. He remembers the day when his mom dropped him off. He cried a lot at the time, but grew to love Espwa and explained that some of his best Espwa memories are from when the organization was located in town. He remembers all the children taking care of each other and loving one another. When Espwa started educating the children they took in, Sam was one of the first students. Sam has been at Espwa ever since; he has 19 years of growth within the organization under his belt.

The young man talked about his family as well. “My family is very poor,” he explained. He has 7 siblings, 4 sisters and 3 brothers, and he is the oldest. His father is no longer in his life, but his mother lives in Camp Perrin and he talks to her every week. He described his deep love for her and stated, “Even if she doesn’t have money, she takes care of me.”

As the sky darkened and mosquitoes started biting at our ankles, we decided to call it a night, although we could have stayed up all night talking about Sam’s life experiences. The young man’s deep convictions make him an incredibly captivating speaker.

“Wait, can I say one more thing?” “Sure, Sam.” “I love Espwa so much. I pray for Father Marc, everyone working at Espwa, and everyone who is helping Espwa every day. I hope that God helps the kids here realize their dreams and the dreams that Father Marc has for them all.”