Rebels Return to Haiti with Ole Miss Family Spirit

Ole Miss defensive back Ontario Berry, offensive lineman Justin Bell, long snapper Will Few and defensive end John Youngblood (back row, left to right) were among the 17 members of the Ole Miss football family to travel to Camp Marie, Haiti, last spring break.

This March, the Ole Miss football family is going back to Haiti to help at Camp Marie. 7,000 people within Camp Marie do not have access to clean water. As a result they are at risk for waterborne illnesses, such as Cholera and Typhoid. With the execution of a clean water project, in partnership with Water Missions International (WMI), the community’s access to clean water will drastically reduce the risk of illness and dehydration.

Rebels started to help on the water project last year and are going back this year to finish it. The project consisted of drilling a bore and pumping the water into a storage tank, installing a clean water treatment system and building a central access point for the community to obtain clean water. This also will reduce the time it takes to collect water each day – giving back potential income/school hours in the day and improving the overall quality of lifeis

The entire Ole Miss family can play a part in this project by helping support those that will be traveling to Haiti this spring. By visiting Ignite Ole Miss, the entire Ole Miss network can contribute both small and large donations that will have a huge impact for both the residents of Camp Marie and our own UM student-athletes. The online fundraiser has one more week left to fulfill the last 20 percent of its goal: $30,000.

Check out the impact on both the Haitian village and our student-athletes during the Ole Miss Rebels’ trip last spring break in the story and video below, then go make a donation at Ignite Ole Miss to help secure funding the trip for 2015.

When 17 members of the Ole Miss football family, including 10 players, arrived at the village of Camp Marie, Haiti, their world was turned upside down.

Gone were the accustomed luxuries that most Americans take for granted: paved roads, restaurants, over-the-counter medicine, plenty of clothes and shoes, even clean water.

What they encountered in Haiti was completely different. Dirt and gravel everywhere. Trash piled up on the walkways. Children without shoes, some without clothes altogether. Dogs and cattle that look like skeletal versions of themselves.

“I probably saw 300 children in the village and only two toys,” said John Powell, the Ole Miss football team chaplain who for the second straight year took a group of Rebels on a spring break mission trip. “One toy was a broken monster truck with only two wheels. The other was a wheel off a baby stroller that they rolled on the ground with a stick.

“You would find yourself taking pictures of young people and show them the picture of themselves on your phone, and it was the first time they ever saw what they looked like. It was a very humbling experience.”

The Ole Miss group lived in Camp Marie just shy of a week. Their primary task was to widen a narrow gravel road enough to allow trucks to pass through so the community could improve the transport of its primary financial resource, the papaya fruit.

“Every day we got up at 7 o’clock, ate breakfast and worked on the road,” said rising junior offensive lineman Justin Bell, who also went on a mission trip to Panama last spring break. “They needed help widening the road. When we first got there, it was wide enough for maybe two or three people to walk side by side, but by the time we left it was enough for a truck to go down.”

“Now they’ll have a greater opportunity to increase income for their village,” said Powell. “We were only there for a short time, but it’s good to know that we left them with hope that there are people out there that do care.”

In addition to Powell and Bell, the Ole Miss group consisted of graduated defensive back Ontario Berry, senior linebacker Serderius Bryant, redshirt-freshman quarterback Ryan Buchanan, sophomore long snapper Will Few, senior cornerback Lakedrick King, redshirt-freshman kicker Andy Pappanastos, redshirt-freshman linebacker Tayler Polk, graduate student linebacker Deterrian Shackelford, sophomore defensive end John Youngblood, team manager Lee Plaxico, and linebackers coach Tom Allen, his wife Tracy, and children Hannah, Thomas and Brittney.

Powell and Allen also orchestrated leadership training sessions for village leaders, and the whole group spent time with children, shared about their faith, and prayed for the sick and needy.

“We prayed for a few families,” said Bell. “One lady couldn’t even walk because she had high blood pressure. That shows you what kind of medical attention we get here in America. When someone has high blood pressure, they take a pill and they’re fine.”

Powell said roughly 15 percent of the Haitian youth in the village are able to attend school.

“It was eye-opening,” said Bryant, an All-SEC linebacker from Sanford, Fla. “It changed your mind about a lot of things. Sometimes I think, `Why do we have to go to school? Why do we have to go to football practice?’ Over there, all of them want to go to school, but they can’t afford it. And that’s crazy. We are upset about going to school when it’s free, and they actually want to go to school but they can’t even afford to.”

The level of poverty was new to all the members of the mission team. But as they walked through the village set in the mountains with breathtaking views in the distance, they were amazed by how the Haitians responded to their presence.

“Even our homeless in America have more than what the people had in that village, but I can honestly say they were some of the happiest people I’ve ever seen in my life,” said Bell. “Because they value family and meeting people. Some of the older guys have been waiting to see Americans come and help their community since they were in their 20s. It brought tears to their eyes when they saw us. When we left, they shed a tear again because they were going to miss us. They wished we could stay forever.”

“They don’t know anything different,” said Powell. “They’re happy. They admit they have issues and problems, but they have a happiness about them.

“This was a great experience for our guys to come back and know how grateful they should be. And I hope it will also lead them to look for opportunities to help those in need even in Oxford.”

Courtesy of Joey Jones at the UM Foundation