Light of Life Rescue Mission: Changing Lives in Pittsburgh and Haiti
Walter Van Clief is working toward recovery at the Light of Life Rescue Mission on Pittsburgh’s North Side, but after a nine-day mission trip to Haiti, he’s also focused on helping Haitian earthquake survivors recover and rebuild their lives.
Van Clief was one of three Light of Life clients and four staff members on the mission team organized by the Rev. Pam Armstrong, manager of Education and Employment at Light of Life. He and the other clients had to apply for the team, be cleared by their counselors, and commit to attend pre-trip meetings and training.
“I wanted them to see who they are and whose they are and that they have value and worth,” Armstrong said. “Sometimes when you come from homelessness or addiction you lose sight of that.”
Although Armstrong initially planned to take a team to Haiti in January, when the earthquake hit, the timetable changed -- and so did team members. More would be required of the volunteers.
“They had to be firmly entrenched in their faith, and able to handle stress because we didn’t know exactly what we would be asked to do,” Armstrong said. "Living in poverty you are focused on survival and your needs. Coming out of poverty, you start to think of others; we were trying to open the world up so everything is not inwardly focused.
“Initially I wanted to take people to give them a different perspective on life,” she said. “There are so many things we think we need here; we need to see how other people in the world live. On this visit, we saw servant leadership in action. We saw real teamwork – you could not tell at a glance who the leader was,” she explained.
Van Clief said he applied partly out of curiosity and partly because he wanted to give back in some way. Now, he’s become an advocate for the Haitian survivors, discussing their needs in detail with news reporters and others interested in his experience.
“Haiti was poor before the earthquake,” Van Clief explained. “The people there are much worse off than people here. Here there’s all kind of help available. They survive eating once a day."
Armstrong added: “I thought that what they’d see there would put poverty and homelessness into perspective. We are talking about a different type of poverty. They don’t have any resources, the things that we think we are entitled to. But there is happiness there that people don’t have here. The Haitians like to use the word, mwayen, which means opportunity. They focus on opportunity rather than dwell on the negative.“
“How they can still smile after a disaster like that,” Van Clief said. “That takes a lot.” The January earthquake in Haiti killed at least 250,000 and left about 1 million people homeless. Many are living on the streets or in tent cities.
“We saw a lot of devastation,” said Van Clief, who listed several things the Haitians need, including building materials, concrete, medical supplies and equipment.
The team took 120 UMCOR kits that had been collected at theMission Barn at Eastbrook, as well as packets of seeds donated by Lowe’s. The Rev. Rick Nelson, a veteran disaster response worker and pastor of White Chapel UMC who also was part of the team, said he got special permission from UMCOR to take the kits directly to Haiti.
The group was in L’Acul working with CODEP, the Comprehensive Development Project, directed by Mike and Nicole Carlin. It’s based in North Carolina.
CODEP’s main focus is reforestation and education. Nelson said they have a fish hatchery, gardens and a new coffee farm. Armstrong had visited the area previously with Pittsburgh Theological Seminary’s World Mission Initiative Outreach program.
The Light of Life team had to raise about $1,300 per person for the trip. Van Clief said they sold hoagies, had a flea market, and other fundraisers. Several churches contributed, including Ingomar UMC, New Hope UMC, White Chapel UMC and Kerr Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh.
Armstrong said the staff and team members will evaluate the experience and determine whether to take a group again next year. Meanwhile, Van Clief is in the market for a textbook on Haitian Creole so he can better communicate if he gets the chance to go back.
To learn more about Light of Life, visit www.lightoflife.org or call 412-258-6100. On UM Haiti relief, visit www.umcor.org.
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