7 Days in Haiti

I recently returned from a trip to Haiti. I was traveling with representatives from Kyäni, an Idaho Falls company that sells nutrition and food supplements.

Kyäni’s nonprofit foundation, Kyäni Caring Hands, manufactures a nutrient-fortified instant potato product.

We spent a week distributing the product at Haitian orphanages and churches in an effort to alleviate hunger and scout potential humanitarian distribution lines.

As is often the case, my job was to document the effort with photographs and videography.

Haiti continues to face economic hardship, especially since a 2010 earthquake devastated the country. More than two-thirds of the labor force didn’t have jobs in 2014, according to nonprofit Haiti Partners, and 59 percent of the country lived on less than $2 per day in 2012.

Our group woke up each day to a protein bar breakfast before heading out in a van to the day’s orphanage, potato-heating grill in tow.

We wanted to aid communities outside the capital city, Port-au-Prince, which receives much of Haiti’s aid.

We spent a couple of days traveling a 90-mile route took about 12 hours to complete. Winding, rocky, and mountainous “roads” were slow-going.

These types of projects are my favorite because I believe helping others is the most important thing we can do. I do find it difficult to write about and adequately express the things I’ve seen, and the feelings I’ve felt.

Below is the resulting video. Hopefully it helps motivate others to do what they can to help.