By ARIEL ARCH, Intern

Seeing that other people have little compared to the wealth of most Americans often spurs people to help.
That’s the case with International Falls area resident Harry Batdorf.
Batdorf serves as the Adopt-A-Student program manager with the United States Lutheran Mission Association. He has traveled to Haiti twice with a group from LMA.
“We went there to help build the buildings for the complex and the security wall surrounding the complex,” says Batdorf, “One thing I noticed is that the people that live there don’t have anything. No cars, they walk or ride bikes. The have few clothing and they are lucky to have a meal each day.”
Haiti, a small country occupying the western one third of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, is the Western Hemisphere’s second oldest independent country and the world’s oldest black republic. It hashas one of the highest population densities in the world. The people are of African descent, except for small minorities of mulattos and Europeans.
Haiti has the lowest per capita income in the Western Hemisphere. More than 70 percent of the population of Haiti live in rural areas, where there are often no schools and no transportation to cities. Most children cannot afford the cost of private schools or even basic supplies.
Attempts to provide the population with more adequate medical and educational services are hampered by a lack of sufficient funds, according to Batdorf.
LMA is a non-profit association that assists Lutheran churches in Haiti. In the city of Cap-Haitian, members of LMA constructed a complex, which consists of a kindergarten through eight-grade school, medical clinic, and a women’s center; some classrooms double as chapels on Sundays when a pastor is available.
Many students enrolled in the K-8 program cannot afford tuition. The Adopt-A-Student program pays for a student’s tuition, their school uniform, the teacher’s salary, supplies, and building expenses. Sponsors “adopt” a student for $250 a year to pay for tuition.
Batdorf said students are provided with a meal from the group Trinity/Hope, and for some students, it will be their only meal of the day.
Nintey-five percent of Haitians are voodoo practitioners and Satan worshipers, noted Batdorf, who added that voodoo is the official national religion.
“The program allows students to review Christian education every day along with their regular education,” says Batdorf, “We’re trying to help this small pocket of Lutherans so they may maintain and spread their beliefs.”