The following article appeared in the Stratford Beacon Herald on March 16/24 by Cory Smith, recognizing our 20th anniversary of travelling to this amazing country.
Keeping hope alive in Haiti
Stratford couple Jim and Marg Brickman have raised more than $1.34M for Haiti through missionary efforts since 2004.
Haiti has become a second home for Stratford couple Jim and Marg Brickman. They've raised more than $1.34 million and committed to various faith-based initiatives over 20 years of missions to the oft-troubled country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas.
“It's been an amazing journey,” Marg said. “It hasn't always been easy, and there's been many challenges, but it's been great. Haiti is our second home.”
One of those challenges happened in 2004. The couple's first mission to Haiti with St. Joseph's Church in Stratford was supposed to last five weeks, but the Brickmans were forced to leave -- and told never to come back -- after only 16 days because of a coup that resulted in the removal of then-president Jean-Bertrand Aristide from office. A similar situation is unfolding right now, with the country in political turmoil resulting in the resignation of its prime minister, increased violence and an ongoing humanitarian crisis.
Their first few years were spent working at a hospital, Hopital Bon Samaritain (HBS) with Jim doing construction work and Marg working with the children in the Kai Mira orphanage.
A turning point came in 2009 when Marg saw a small crowd of people huddled around something on the ground. An abandoned baby was on the sidewalk, and the child suffered from hydrocephalus, a condition in which the fluid does not drain from the brain, causing the head to swell.
Marg named her Precious and, upon returning home, a couple from their church found a team of doctors from Florida who could perform that specific surgery in Haiti.
The Brickmans started fundraising money and made plans to return to facilitate the operation, but Precious died before arrangements could be made.
It led them to create Project Precious Haiti in 2011.
“You don't realize what goes on in the world until you're out there and see all the different people coming into Haiti, not just missionary flights,” Jim said. "It's always tougher coming home than it is going down.
“They don't realize they're in poverty until we tell them. That's their way of life.”
It was something the Brickmans wanted to improve, especially after travelling through northern Haitian communities and realizing what an issue it was for children to attend underfunded and undersupplied schools. To get a proper education for their children, parents must pay for them to go to a church-run or private school.
“It's a good experience to go to another country and see that not everybody has what we have,” Marg said.
The couple sent $113,000 to the country in 2023, with some money covering work at HBS, tuitions and $70,000 helping to pay for feeding programs at seven schools as part of the project's mandate.
“That's the only meal most of those children will get in a day,” Marg said. “Without the food, they can't learn.”
The Brickmans have also used their missions to build schools, help with clean water projects and construct a foster home on the HBS compound. They now foster eight children, the oldest of whom is 20.
“It's giving those children an opportunity for life,” Marg said. “It's not just about us giving. It's what they can give back to us, and what they've taught us — their simplicity of life and how happy they are and resilient because there's been so many things over these 20 years they've had to deal with.”
Project Precious Haiti became a not-for-profit corporation with charity status in 2021. Money is raised through donations — and 95 per cent goes to the Haitian residents, with the other five per cent taking care of administrative costs.
The Brickmans' kids have been involved with different missions, and it's hoped the couple's grandkids will one day join them in keeping hope alive in Haiti.
“It feels good to know what has been accomplished in those 20 years,” Marg said. “Not taking any of the glory at all, there are just so many generous people here and we couldn't do it without them. They make it work for us. We're just very humbled. We want people to know what we're doing and we're making a difference.”
For more information, visit projectprecioushaiti.org or email projectprecioushaiti@gmail.com.