Welcome to The Haiti Experience! 

Thank you for choosing to share your heart for God’s work in Haiti with friends and family. Everything you need for an enjoyable experience can be found here. We hope your group will:

• Experience a new culture
• Reflect on God’s heart for the poor
• See how God is at work in Haiti
• Learn how you can make a difference

Haiti Experience Videos

Above & Beyond Activities

Degaje Activity:

Purpose: Degaje is a word that means “make do with what you have.” Many Haitian parents cannot afford to give their children toys from the market, so children learn to “degaje” and be creative! Experience the feeling of making do with what you have while you have fun creating a toy.

Instructions:

1. Ask your group members to bring recycled goods from home.
2. Using only what you can find around the house, each person will create a toy.
3. To add to the fun, hold a contest to see who can create the best toy.

Supplies:

• Ideas for “degaje” materials: Plastic bottles and caps, straws, toothpicks, toilet paper and paper towel rolls, scraps of cardboard and paper, string or yarn, scissors and tape, paper clips, rubber bands, and plastic grocery sacks.
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Enjoy Haitian food!

Order food from a Haitian restaurant to share with your group:

1. Ms. Didi’s Caribbean Kitchen (Charlotte, NC)
2. Lakou (Charlotte, NC)

Cook together! Pick a popular Haitian dish to make with your group members:

1. Haitian Pikliz Recipe
2. Fried Green Plantains Recipe
3. Haitian Rice & Beans Recipe
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Instructions:

1. As a leader, watch an example video online of the Privilege Walk – a similar activity.
2. Print STUDENT CARDS (front and back).
3. Pass out a student card to each group member. Some cards are children from Haiti and some are children from the U.S.
4. Give groups members time to read their cards.
5. Go outside and line up group members. Ask group members to flip over their cards for instructions on the back.
6. Read the statements below. If a group member can answer yes (as indicated on their card) they can take two steps forward.

• • I was created by God, and I am loved by God.
  • I live in a house with electricity and running water.
  • I never go to bed hungry because of poverty.
  • My family owns a car.
  • I have a high school in my community.
  • I never miss school due to poverty.
  • My family has insurance in case of a tragedy such as a hurricane, car accident or medical problem.
  • If I am sick, there is a medical center in my community.

Discussion questions:

1. What emotions are you feeling as a result of this activity?
2. What can you learn from this activity?

Questions?

Reach out to Kim Anderson (kanderson@worldwidevillage.org) with questions at any time!