ELLINWOOD — Long-time Ellinwood resident Katie DeWerff moved to Haiti in June and works full-time as an administrator in the Project Pep La camp, which is a 20,000 person tent camps. They emphasize a hand-up not a hand-out, trying to teach spiritual values along the way.
Heading down to the Caribbean without any financial support and choosing to live fearlessly, DeWerff joined up with five friends that work in the camp. "A relative always says what he loves about me and what he can’t stand about me is my gumption," said DeWerff. She is still living off of her savings.
DeWerff enjoys service and wanted to give back. "I don’t have money to send," she said. "Everybody has something to give. There is a lot of work to be done."
She intends to stay as long as she can, forever, if possible.
What she likes most about Haiti is the openness. They are so communal, she said. "There are no closed doors."
Attitudes need adjustment though. Ninety percent of the problem there is mental, said DeWerff. "We don’t want charity, we want change."
The things she sees as needing changed are responsibility, organization and communication. She can help with those.
Her own attitudes have changed though since living in country. "I didn’t want to push American attitudes on them," she said. "But, you almost have to have lived in a developed country to see how things work," such as two-way traffic and pride in the community.
"I’m excited about this project," she said. "We want to fix the problem."
One example of that is the Pep La group recently received 300 bags of rice. Members of the camp have to work or learn a lesson to earn a bag. They have to such things as clean bathrooms or pick up trash.
DeWerff has also begun working on providing educational opportunities as she sees education as the way out of these problems. They will hold nine months of classes for the people.
Those classes include Haitian/African history, English, leadership, Bible, Health/nutrition, reproductive health, Haitian Law, business and economics. The classes will cost $450 to pay the teachers, who will each have 1,000 students.
The teachers will be Haitian, and DeWerff is seeking support to pay for the classes.
In addition, her current living expenses are approximately $100 per month, sharing living space with the other administrators. The group is currently eating military MREs that were donated for food.
"Our whole community is so frugal," said DeWerff. "We see so many organizations that are so wasteful."
"We see small break-throughs," said DeWerff. "We’ve got to take one day at a time."
This month, DeWerff was in the United States with another administrator from Pep La, Danny Nzinga. They recently were awarded the Amado M. Pena Journey of Excellence Award in New Mexico for their work in the camp. The award is given to celebrities and individuals who give of their time, talents, gifts and treasures. The organization paid their travel expenses back to the U.S.
She has enjoyed her time home recharging her batteries, though. She has enjoyed the coolness of the fall and the quietness of her own bedroom in her folk’s home, although she does admit to missing family, whoppers at Burger King and warm showers.
She is the daughter of Jeff and Sherry DeWerff and headed back to Haiti on Saturday. She has a blog at www.projectpepla.blogspot.com.
