9:36 a.m., Jan. 29, 2010----For University of Delaware senior Jamie Ella Miller, the most worrisome part of the Haitian tragedy is waiting to return and join other Americans in bringing aid to the earthquake-torn Caribbean nation.

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“These are not just individuals in a far-off land. They are my friends,” Miller said. “The people in Haiti were in a desperate state before the earthquake and it is really hard for me to know that they are in such a helpless state right now.”

An international studies major and Honors Program student from Ipswich, Mass., with a concentration in development, Miller spent five weeks in Haiti last summer helping to create a small business loan program and running a children's program.

Funded by a UD James R. Soles Fellowship, Miller is a volunteer and member of Partners for Development, a nonprofit Christian service organization based in Ipswich.

Miller's first visit to Blanchard, Haiti, was as a high school student in 2004 when she was part of a Partners for Development effort to help build houses and establish children's programs in medicine and education.

“When Partners for Development began working in Blanchard, it was basically just fields,” Miller said. “The organization brought in families that had no housing. Today, there are hundreds of families there.”

Miller said she got started working for Partners for Development because Gale Hull, one of the co-founders, went to the same church in Ipswich.

“I knew her and her family,” Miller said. “The organization is small but they run a lot of different programs.”

As part of her internship on development last summer, Miller worked on revamping the Partners for Development's small business programs in Haiti.

“I worked to help make a business class to be taught to villagers, teaching the very basics on starting a business, savings and family budgeting,” Miller said. “I also taught Haitian facilitators to teach these classes. So far we have had about 80 graduates who have also received small business loans.”

The experience, Miller said, was special because of the connections she made with the people of Blanchard.

“I learned from them and they learned from me. Coming to Haiti this summer I only knew basic French and most of them only knew basic English,” Miller said. “I would help them with English and they would be constantly quizzing me on their native language, Creole.”

Many of the people in Blanchard remembered her from her 2004 visit because of the work Partners in Development has done for families, including a child sponsorship program, Miller said.

“That first trip to Haiti pretty much opened my eyes to the state of the rest of the world and from that point on, I wanted to study development and go back and pass this knowledge on,” Miller said. “During the last trip in 2009, it was nice to be able to connect with people and know that we are all the same. The only difference between Americans and Haitians is where you were born.”

Miller said it is very likely she will go to Haiti on an emergency team. Partners in Development currently has more than 60 medical professionals as well as experienced travelers and translators waiting for the approval to travel to Haiti and begin work, she said.

“Partners for Development sent down an assessment team this weekend to make sure all of our families are OK,” Miller said. “They are addressing basic needs and will be sending down teams as soon as possible.”

Noting that volunteers pay their own way and that all the donations go directly to relief work, Miller suggests that individuals make contributions online at the Partners in Development site. (http://www.pidonline.org/Home.html)

Although the Blanchard area was not severely damaged in the Jan. 12 earthquake, the villagers are suffering from lack of basic supplies that usually arrive from the capital of Port au Prince, which was heavily damaged.

“The biggest thing right now is providing thousands with basic needs,” Miller said. “If we don't, things will just get worse.”

Before the recent crisis, Miller said Partners in Development had established successful loan programs and that many Haitians had been asking how they could set up a savings program.

“Ours is an organization that works directly with the people,” Miller said. “Having people ask about saving money means that the people in Haiti know what they need, and that the programs we started are working.”

After graduation this spring from UD, Miller said she would like to make another visit to India to learn about how to grow basic crops in an environment similar to that of Haiti.

“Much of Haiti was deforested, so we need to study new ways to bring nutrients back into the soil,” Miller said. “I want to learn how to farm and teach villagers in Haiti the techniques of basic farming and food production and to bring back the idea of growing your own food.”

While such tasks might seem overwhelming as a whole, Miller said the best approach for individual volunteerism is to start small and go from there.

“I realized this summer in Haiti that there is a great need, and that there is no way that I can help everyone,” Miller said. “I can help some, though, and if I help just one individual or one family, that makes it doable, and keeps me grounded while allowing me to pursue my goals.”

Article by Jerry Rhodes