How the Haiti Mission Came to Be - Three Pieces of Eight

HOW THE HAITI MISSION CAME TO BE

It all started in 1979 with a boat, The "Pieces of Eight", and its owners Bill and Alice White of Charlotte, North Carolina.

It has no end, for what these two generous people started continues today as The Haiti Mission building churches, schools, and especially medical clinics in the outback of the northern Haiti countryside. To this day, Alice White is the prime mover of a group of volunteers who visit as medical teams several times a year to provide medical care, food, and potable water to thousands of Haitians.

It is a story, not without its failures, but with multiple successes, that some call miracles, involving hundreds of volunteers over almost 30 years to achieve what they have today.

This is a very brief summary of that story.

In 1979 Bill and Alice White decided to donate their boat, "Pieces of Eight", to the Methodist Church. The church accepted in 1980 and asked Bill if he could deliver. When Bill asked where, the answer was "Port-au-Prince, Haiti".

Bill thought about it for about one second and said "OK". After 5 months of repair and outfitting, helped by family and friends, on August 8, 1980, Bill set sail for the Caribbean and Haiti. He stopped at ports in several Caribbean islands where his crew (friends and family) were replaced by other friends and family. Therefore, many were involved in transporting this beautiful boat to Haiti. On August 25, 1980, the Pieces of Eight arrived at Port-au-Prince and soon thereafter was officially turned over to Rev. Edouard Domond, the general superintendent of the Eglise Methodiste of Haiti.

In December of 1981, Bill and Alice flew to Haiti aboard their twin engine Seneca airplane. This was Alice's first trip as the "airplane driver's wife". It was also the beginning of a lifelong commitment to the people of Haiti, for as Alice said: "We were profoundly touched by all we saw and learned during that trip".

Now, what to do with this wonderful gift! Bill and others used it to transport goods to villages on the west coast of Haiti and to the island of La Gonave, population of 20,000, with no direct connection to the mainland.

They also thought that using it as a fishing vessel would allow them to set up a small fishing industry that would serve the villageson the west coast. Sadly, the waters off the west coast were a very poor fishery.

Back to the drawing board and back to using Pieces of Eight to transport humanitarian supplies to the west coast villages.

However, during this time Alice decided that the "Boat" was Bill's thing and that she needed to become more involved. She did so by enrolling in nursing school, earning her degree, and until this day she is the fundamental driving force for many medical missions that continue to serve Northern Haiti.

The second fishing expedition in 1982 was partially financed and manned by the Providence United Methodist Church of Charlotte, North Carolina, (PUMC) of which Bill and Alice White were long-time members and of which Alice is still a member. The beginning of the "Haiti Mission" of the PUMC can be traced to this time and support.

In 1982, a "Look See Mission", led by Bill and Alice White, was sent to Haiti to determine what could be done in other areas, especially in light of the inability to make the fishing expeditions a success. They toured the southern area, including Port-au-Prince, and the western area near Petit Goave. To reach the northern region near Cap Haitien, they relied on Bill White and his airplane. They were met by Rev Ed holmes, the pastor of the Cap Haitien Circuit, who guided them on an extensive tour of the northern area.

The "Look See" committee reported back to PUMC. They decided that northern Haiti is where they could contribute the most. Much had to be done - both money and people needed to be recruited.

Over the years, the Haitians were unable to maintain the boat in spite of Bill and Alice frequently flying in to do repairs. Bill advised the Haitian church people that unless they could maintain it properly it should be sold. A small group from PUMC flew down and agreed. In 1984 Pieces of Eight was sold to a man named Volel. Part of the sale proceeds were used to build the Tovar Medical Clinic.

Construction of the Dondon and Tovar clinics began in 1985 and the first medical teams (all volunteers who paid their own way) arrived and began work (on wells, buildings and on patients). Medical teams continued to come and grew larger as the clinics were completed and the need was more evident. These teams included: internists, family practitioners, pediatricians, opthalmologists dentists, surgeons, nurses, and staff - all volunteers who paid their own way and still do.

To this day, medical, surgical, and dental teams from all over the United States travel to the Tovar and Latannarie Clinics 4-5 times a year. Individual medical personnel travel on a frequent basis whenever they can take time from their practices at home. Professional Haitian medical personnel now share the responsibility for medical care at these clinics.

Remember, it began with a boat and the dreams of Bill and Alice White to give all they could to a people blessed with little but courage and personal dignity, with no potable water, little food and no medical care. With the encouragement and support of the Haiti Mission of the Providence United Methodist Church, their dreams are being realized. There is still much to do, but with the generosity and kindness of hundreds of people it will continue to be done.

For a more in depth presentation of this story, please see: "The Real Miracle: United Methodist Missions at Work" by Rev. Harvey Dickson, Providence House Publishers, 2000.

The drawing of the boat, Pieces of Eight, used as a background image on this web page was done in 1980 by Alicia White Daily - yep, Bill's and Alice's daughter.