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To partners and friends of People in Need Partnership:

Last week in Port-au-Prince, Haiti we held our first meetings to explore the dreams of people in need. During the meeting for children I noticed a girl who was particularly enthusiastic about her hopes to become a business owner and nurse. Then I noticed the fresh wounds on her arms and face. It turns out that MadMadelene St. Vilelene, a restavek (child slave), received the wounds from the woman she is living with and who abuses her.




It has always been a mystery to me why extreme poverty exists. We care so much for ourselves and our own children. Why should we not care for others, who in reality are the same as us? Surely the explanation is ignorance, and lack of insight and courage. If this is so, there is no logical reason that any problem that has at its root broken relationships could not be solved through direct, healing human action. This applies not just to poverty, but violence of any kind, as well as loneliness and depression. Dependence on large organizations (or medications) to resolve these global issues is an escape and fortifies the problem. The solution is hearts that are more open and courageous, and minds that are more clear and insightful.

At People in Need Partnership we are on a mission to see this theory through to its conclusion, beginning in Haiti slums. To that end, we have recently added several new programs that can help make your partnership more alive.

We are in the process of creating a new Digital Storytelling program. Each partner will create a 6 - 10 minute video, telling their own story of what matters most to them, including events from their childhood, their present life, and experiences with People in Need Partnership. They may include drawings, photos, or songs. Our video director Myriam is assisting each partner in creating the video, and will also be producing a monthly 5 - 10 minute video on an aspect of our programs, which you will receive. We hope that these videos will provide you with another window into our work and the life and realities of your partner.

With our new Coordinator system (each group of 5 - 8 partners has a Coordinator chosen from partners) we have been able to improve the ability of partners to send messages, and you can now expect to receive at least two per month, in addition to updates on the progress of your partner in our programs. If you are not getting these, please let us know ASAP! You may also now schedule a free live video conversation with your partner (we provide the translator), which is a great way to get a sense of her or his personality. We are also now providing the chance to send a package of up to three pounds directly to your partner, by simply sending it to our address in the U.S. Details about these and other ways to develop your partnership are available at your Partnership page, by clicking on the links on the right sidebar.

Achieve a dream!



Just this week we began to hold workshops on a new and unique feature of People in Need Partnership: 'Achieve a dream!' During this workshop we explore the meaning of having a calling in life, and help each partner design a preliminary five or ten year plan to reach it. This is a dramatic and even audacious ambition. Most development organizations assume that only those with their basic needs already met can focus on higher qualities such as what is in their hearts (a theory often referred to as 'Maslow's Hierarchy'). Our experience, in rich and poor countries, shows just the opposite.

Soon you will receive a copy of the 'Life plan' that your partner created. At the end of the first year of your partnership you will have three options: continue the partnership for an additional year; discontinue it; or join together in a mutual commitment with your partner to achieve a dream. Whether your partner wants to be a teacher, nurse, journalist, artist, or whatever they envision, this joint action can change the world by taking a person who otherwise might languish in suffering, and create repercussions that will be incalculable.

The child slave Madeline was utterly without the means to improve her desperate position until she found a partner with People in Need Partnership. There is nothing we can't achieve when we set our sights with each other.

Life-plan workshop

On your Partnership page you will also find a link to our new feature that explores a universal theme using a Tree of Understanding and Action. Please feel free to explore the tree and add your own leaves or fruit! Also, Linda Khachadurian, a freelance writer, visited us in Haiti this month and produced a photojournal about her experiences, which you can find from a link on the home page of our site.

In providing all these opportunities, we don't intend to ask anything more from you, and we especially are not requesting that you contribute any more money. Our goal is simply to create more tools that you can use to develop your relationship with your partner. The way in which you choose to do this is entirely up to you.

What do we mean by a 'real' relationship? It is not just learning about the life of your partner. And it's not just care for their well-being. There is a deeper level, a quality that is rare even in the closest and more direct relationships: the capacity to address injuries not just to the bodies but the souls of others. This is what is needed for transformative effects. It is compassion for the integrity of souls.

In Partnership,

Geoff
People in Need Partnership

Haiti staff





People in Need Partnership staff, Haiti: Sophia, Cajuste, Geoff, Myriam, and Marcel

P.S. Yes, our new name is People in Need Partnership (formerly People in Need), which we have chosen to reflect our mission and action more clearly.

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