News
Winston Justice: Visiting Haiti
20 Apr 10
Philadelphia Eagles right tackle Winston Justice is a mainstay on the team’s offensive line, but he’s also a tireless community advocate. Following the 2006 season, he signed up for a two-week mission to Uganda, and just recently, Justice visited Haiti to help with the recovery efforts following the devastating earthquake there. In his guest column, an exclusive to NFLPLAYERS.COM, Justice writes about his experience in Haiti—what he saw, the eye-opening encounters he came across and much more.
I first heard about the earthquake in Haiti when I was home in Naples, Fla. for the offseason, and I immediately wanted to help. Although I do not have any familial connections to Haiti, the photos and news articles flooding the TV were enough to grip my heart. Even prior to the earthquake, I knew my church in Naples was working with an organization in Haiti, and I contacted my pastor there to see what I could do.
The organization my church, Summit Church, worked with was called Mission of Hope (MOH) Haiti. And we immediately worked on a plan to organize a group to come down to Port-Au-Prince and work with the mission. Mission of Hope is a home for over 60 orphans; they have their own educational and medical services right on property. Even before the earthquake, they were serving thousands of meals to the men, women and children of Haiti. After the devastation hit, there were days the MOH passed out over 300,000 meals, even more than the U.N. and Red Cross combined.
It’s hard to get a bunch of football players to commit to leaving the comforts of their own lives and volunteering in one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere, but Quintin Demps was one of the first ones to say yes. So along with Minister Theodore Winsley, one of the Eagles’ Chaplains, Summit Church Pastor Jay Richardson, my brother-in-law, Evan Inatome and Doug Interrante from the Eagles’ staff, the six of us spent the last week down there.
Getting off the plane, we noticed the differences between the two countries. The airport was still chaotic and lacked a system of order. As soon as we walked outside the airport, there were children dressed in worn-out clothes and no shoes pleading for money or food. All of us felt like we needed to do something, but it was recommended that we do not just hand over money. As shameful as it seems now, we were still carrying with us some leftover sandwiches from the airport McDonalds back in Miami, and we ended up handing out our uneaten Egg McMuffins and breakfast burritos. We watched these kids light up over our leftovers, realizing how much we take for granted back home.
As we first drove through the devastation in Port-Au-Prince, we were taken back by all the damage. The people were back to their daily routines, living like nothing had happened, all in the midst of rubble. Gone were the concrete walls, homes and buildings; instead, now stood thousands of homes made out of sticks and old bed sheets. There were so many different tent cities, the people started naming them. One that I remember was called “Obama.” It is crazy to think this poor nation is only one hour away from the richest country in the world, and prior to the earthquake, few even thought of it. And even now, three months after a destructive 7.0 earthquake, Haiti has faded from most of our minds.
When we reached MOH, 15 minutes outside the city, it was clear to us that life was different here and that change was beginning here, almost like an oasis of peace in the middle depredation. MOH was single-handedly changing the community around them through education, access to medical supplies and Christian teachings of hope. Brad Johnson, the president of MOH, took us to some of the villages to meet first-hand the people we came to help.
One image I keep mentally revisiting is the experience of walking through this squalid marketplace in the center of an impoverished village. People were selling goods none of my friends at home would ever have in their house, let alone purchase. Third-hand T-shirts, unsanitary food, flies everywhere, a boy sitting at a table covered in different adaptors and cords selling cell phone battery re-chargers, a concrete table covered in goat intestines and goat heads. I saw an old man in his underwear, looking sick and full of despair, as he walked up to a table and gave a woman a big coin. The woman uncovered a bucket, grabbed a serving spoon and an old cup and poured the man one spoonful of water. It is just amazing how much we all take for granted. Realizing the water I so easily drink at home is a treasure to so many people in the world.
Back at the MOH compound, we helped build one of the new wings for the children. We shoveled rocks and concrete and pushed around wheel barrels for hours. It was hard to imagine the men working along with us had to do this all day for only $4 wages. Luckily for us, we even had a lunch break, while our co-workers were not even allowed time off. Haitians are not lazy. All around the country, these men and women were working hard to rebuild their land.
The Philadelphia Eagles were kind enough to donate T-shirts, toiletries and footballs to the parentless children of Mission of Hope. The kids were so happy to just have another shirt. For us to experience this seemingly small offering—and the effect it had on these children—was priceless. Haiti was an experience I will never forget.
Often we sit back and dream about helping others less fortunate, and even fewer of us send out resources to help make a difference. But to give of your time and of yourself is life-changing and sometimes worth more than what even a dollar can do. As players, we are fortunate to be in the position we are in both financially and publically. Let’s use this platform to make a positive impact in our world.
Please visit Mission of Hope Haiti at www.mohhaiti.org.
