By Kate Seegraves

It has been 18 years since Pelege Lareus made the life-changing decision to leave Haiti.

 

Since then, he has graduated high school and attended college in the United States. He got engaged and is expecting a baby this summer.

 

But even now, at 31 years old, the connection this former Upper Arlington resident feels to his native country runs deep, and his conviction to help the Haitian people remains a fierce passion.

 

In 2006, long before the January 2010 earthquake decimated his homeland and its capital of Port-au-Prince, Lareus founded the non-profit organization Hand to Hand Haiti. Lareus’ goal was simple at the time – to provide basics such as clean water and food to Baie-du-Mesle, the village where he spent his childhood. The village, which is located on Haiti’s southern coast three hours south of Port-au-Prince, needed aide even before the earthquake, Lareus says, and needs it even more now.

 

“There are precious people, thousands and thousands of people that I can reach, that need a voice,” he says. “Those people have basically been forgotten. I can reach those people.”

 

Lareus grew up near the ocean, and helped his family tend livestock and farm their own food. It was not an easy life: running water and electricity were luxuries his family didn’t have, and they worked hard to maintain their food supply. At 13 years old, Lareus left Haiti – he joined 150 Haitian refugees, his uncle and several cousins included, on a boat bound for Florida (Lareus’ mother stayed in Haiti – his father came after Lareus on a different boat, and currently lives in Florida).

 

“Living in a third world country, many people thought that as soon as your foot touched American soil, you were automatically rich, that money would fall out of the sky,” Lareus says. “I wanted to come here and better myself.”

 

Finding a final destination, however, proved to be a lengthy process. During the journey, the United States Coast Guard picked up the boat and sent its passengers to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. After three months living in a refugee camp, Lareus was sent to Miami, Fla., where the Immigration and Customs Enforcement again moved him to Columbus. He slept on couches and counted on goodwill from friends until he ultimately settled with a foster family in Newark, where he graduated from Newark High School in 1998.

 

Lareus last visited the Haiti in 2000, after his mother died. After visiting Baie-du-Mesle and drinking the local water, Lareus came down with a fever and was sick for days. His illness made him realize how Haiti had changed in the years he had been gone, and how instrumental outside help could be.

 

“It was so different, and so dry,” he says. “It wasn’t as green as I remembered. It was sad, and depressing. It needs attention. “

 

With help from Hand to Hand Haiti’s board of directors and co-workers at Nationwide Insurance, Lareus has worked hard to engage the Central Ohio community in a dialogue about Haiti. He has found strong support, most notably from the staff and students at UA High School.

 

Thanks to foreign language teachers Tricia Fellinger and Lisa Markovich, UAHS students have held several fundraisers for Hand to Hand Haiti, including a bake sale, a concert and a spaghetti dinner. Lareus also spent a day at the school recently speaking with students about the importance of assisting the country.

 

“Those kids are so passionate,” Lareus says. “By (donating time and resources), they have no idea how meaningful this is to the Haitian community.”

 

When Hand to Hand Haiti began, it only had $20 in its coffers. Since then, the organization has raised more than $17,000 through fundraisers and post-earthquake donations, Lareus says.

 

What will the organization do with that money? First on the agenda is digging a well in Baie-du-Mesle. Lareus and the Hand to Hand board of directors are working with Food for the Poor, an international aide charity, to dig the well (he hopes to have the names of the UAHS students who helped raise money added to the well site). After that, Lareus’ goal is to raise $150,000, which could help feed the 30,000 residents of Baie-du-Mesle.

 

“Everyone deserves to have access to food and water,” Lareus says. Once these essential needs are met, Lareus hopes to someday help build up the village with a clinic, schools, a hospital and more.

 

Lareus still has two sisters and a brother in Haiti. His brother is expecting a child this summer, as well. Lareus says he dreams of the day when his child and his brother’s child will both have the same opportunities, regardless of their country of residency. He also hopes, through his and Hand to Hand Haiti’s efforts, he can help provide some of those opportunities.

 

“The people of Haiti only want an opportunity,” he says. “They are tough, resilient people. They just need someone to give them a fighting chance.”

 

For more information on Hand to Hand Haiti, or to donate to the organization, visit www.handtohandhaiti.com.

 

Kate Seegraves is a contributing editor for Upper Arlington Magazine.