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Terry Johnston (left), and Jan Wood stand in Johnston’s house in Jefferson Jan. 5. Both are headed to Haiti on a mission trip Jan. 13-27. (Michelle Switzer photo) |
By Michelle Switzer
Two Lincoln County women who are longtime friends will spend two weeks in Haiti this month to serve the local people in any way they can.
Terry Johnston, 63, of Jefferson, and Jan Wood, 70, of Bremen, have been planning their trip for months.
“We’re spending our time in the town of Terrier-Rouge,” Terry Johnston said. “Its population is around 20,000.”
Terrier-Rouge is a community in northern Haiti. Forty percent of those who call Terrier-Rouge home do not have stable employment. Haiti is the poorest country in the
Western Hemisphere, according to The Encyclopedia Britannica.
The women chose Terrier-Rouge because of the population, the rate of employment, and the churches in the area, according to Johnston.
The women will leave Maine Tuesday, Jan. 13 and return Jan. 27.
“We’re flying into Cap-Haitien, which is about 25 minutes from Terrier-Rouge,” Johnston said.
Johnston has completed nine trips to Haiti through the First Baptist Church of Jefferson, and is working with different sponsorship programs.
The first trip to Haiti Johnston went on was with a friend, Jeannie Bryant, Johnston said.
“Bryant went as a nurse, and I tagged along to help out where I could,” she said.
Johnston helps with a program that sponsors children who are going to school.
“It’s called Child Sponsorship Program,” Johnston said. “It costs $100 a year to put a child through school.”
Johnston helps the program by bringing back pictures and information of the children that need to be sponsored.
According to Johnston, more than half of all children in Haiti do not attend school.
“The public, government-run schools don’t even cover half of the children that go to school,” Johnston said.
According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, there are a lack of facilities and staff for public schools.
According to Johnston, Haitian schools start around the same time of the year that American schools do.
“We ask that all sponsors have the money by June, so we can send it all by August,” Johnston said.
According to Johnston, a second program sponsors families by helping them start a business.
“The program is $75 a year, and we send the money in increments,” Johnston said. “There is a difference in the morale of people who are working (and) the ones who
aren’t.”
Johnston gave an example of a business $75 can help create.
“A family can buy shoes in Cap-Haitien at a discounted rate, and resell them, for example,” Johnston said.
Wood will travel with Johnston to Haiti for the first time Jan. 13.
A retired nurse, Wood hopes to help area schools with basic clinical work and meet with area midwives.
“I’ve done various missions in Uganda, Paraguay, and Peru, and I’ve done a health-care exchange with China,” Wood said.
Wood plans to return to Uganda in the fall.
Both Johnston and Wood help with an area school feeding program. According to Johnston, the program feeds students a meal a day until the seventh grade. From seventh
to 12th grade, the students are fed three times a week.
“The program helps the community by employing someone to make the food, and the family knows their child was fed,” Johnston said.
Along with helping the community, both women intend to preach in an area church.
“We already have our sermons prepared,” Wood said. “Public speaking comes easy for us.”
Johnston said the women will have translators with them at all times.
The women have not worried about funds for the trip or for the many programs and services they are providing. The First Baptist Church will cut the women a check,
though Johnston is not sure of the final amount yet.
“God’s going to provide the money to take on all the kids that need the sponsorship,” Johnston said. “I take what God gives me.”
Johnston said she has traveled to a few area churches to talk about what they plan on doing while in Haiti, and has prayed for funds.
The exchange rate keeps travel rates reasonable – $1 is equal to 46.75 gourde, the basic monetary unit of Haiti.
The culture in Haiti is different than the culture in the United States, according to Johnston.
“Family actually means something down there. Siblings look out for each other. People stick together,” she said.
In Haiti, families usually eat a single meal a day, because they can’t afford more than that, according to Johnston.
“We’re just going to go, ask God to lead us, and do what we can do to help,” Johnston said.
In the past, Johnston has helped run good news clubs as an after-school program in local schools. Good news clubs are weekly clubs to teach students Bible verses and
songs in various ways, according to Johnston.
Johnston and her husband are organic farmers and run Broken Acres Family Retreat Center in Jefferson. According to their website, Broken Acres Family Retreat LLC is
a great place to enjoy the beauty of nature while remaining close to civilization.
Wood runs a local mission in the Boothbay, Jefferson, and Round Pond Greens, assisted-living facilities run by the Eldercare Network of Lincoln County.
“We sing old hymns, and I bring my dog,” Wood said. “The folks love it.”
Johnston said they are always looking for sponsors and donations are always welcome.
Johnston and Wood went into mission work to help people.
“We feel there are so many programs in this country that help feed hungry people. In Haiti they have no safety net like that,” Johnston said. “The government is no
help, they don’t have the resources we have in this country.”
To help sponsor a child, call Terry Johnston at 549-5112.
To donate money to the Haiti missions trip, mail to Haiti Missions, First Baptist Church, 24 Waldoboro Road, Jefferson 04348.
