Name: Massamba Alexandre

Social Justice Group: Violence in Haiti (B)

Date of Fieldwork: February 7, 2025

Name of Organization and person (people) with whom you met and their title(s):Paige Oberlag

What I did and what I learned about my topic, activism, social justice work or civil and human rights work from this fieldwork:

On February 7th, me and my group interviewed Paige Oberlag and Todd Lowans. We wanted to know more about organizations that help in Haiti firsthand. Paige is the leader of Mission of Hope’s Women empowerment team. She was living in Haiti up until 2016, when she was forced to leave her home due to the rising violence. When this happened, she decided to devote herself to non profit organizations helping people in Haiti from the D.R. She has made a great impact and is fulfilling her mission every day. Todd started helping out when one of his friends who was a missionary in Haiti told him about the crisis there and he decided that he was going to make a change. He had been working there for a while untill one day, he woke up with gangs taking over his city and being evacuated. he had to be brought to another city and then the D.R. While he was in the small town he helped out get families back on their feet, and that drove him to keep going with his work once he reached the D.R. We asked about ways we could help out, but sadly, no opportunities showed themselves. They told us that the best ways to help out, especially when this topic is so overlooked and there is nothing much to do when you are so far away. They told us that simply being kind to Haitian immigrants can make a difference, because they are probably here alone, in a foreign country trying to make a living.
Overall their interview was very interesting and helpful for us to move forward with our project.