Faces of Haiti: Wisly

• Tweet
• 

His name is Wisly Bregis.  He is a 31 year old college graduate.  He is a Haitian and this is his story.

Growing up in Haiti meant life was only about one thing for Wisly: finding work.

“I wanted to pursue a degree so I would be qualified for a job,” said Wisly.  “That is part of our culture because everyone pursues it.

“For you to live comfortably, you’ve got to go to school.”

Wisly is the oldest of 9 children.  Both his parents worked.  His father was a lottery salesman which, according to Wisly, is a common trade in Haiti, and his mother cleaned homes.

Their family lived in a house next to the beach.  Although it was a beautiful setting to grow up in, Wisly avoided the Caribbean.

“Where we were, many people drowned, so I was afraid of the water,” he said.  “It is why I have never learned to swim.”

When he was 16 years old, Wisly became a Christian.  Although his mother and siblings were supportive, his father had different feelings.

“When I got saved, my father was angry with me,” Wisly said.  “To him I was an enemy because I would not be in his crowd.  He was against Christians and I had to go live with my aunt who was a Christian.”

Although being shunned for his religious beliefs was painful, Wisly refused to become bitter.  He continued to visit his family and attempted to remain at peace with the father who had rejected him.

“I would still go and see my mother and my brothers and sister,” said Wisly.  “When I was there, my father and I would only say hello to each other.  But we never got into a fight because I am a Christian and I would not yell back at him.”

“My father did not have a good relationship with me.”

When Wisly was 24, his father died.  They never reconciled.

After high school, Wisly attended the Professional Christian School of Fatima, a Canadian funded trade school.  He spent 3 years studying carpentry.  After completing the course, he was sponsored by  his church, Emmanuel Baptist, to go to study at Baptist Bible College of the Caribbean on San Vincent.  He remained there for 4 years studying theology.

He was in his last semester when the earthquake hit back home.

“I was in my room when I put on the T.V. and saw people talking about Haiti and what had happened,” he said.  “It was terrible.”

“I said, ‘What is happening to my country?’  I fell down and began crying.  I asked God for mercy on my country.”

Although devastating, the disaster did not sway Wisly’s desire to return home.

“Even before the earthquake, I had planned to come back to work with the churches,” said Wisly.  “They even offered me a job in San Vincent, but I said, ‘No, my heart is to work with my people.’”

Wisly had been gone for 4 years, and admitted he had no idea what to expect for him when he returned to Haiti.

“I was supposed to travel in on Wednesday to meet my cousin Jerome,” he said.  “I had never even heard of IGB.” (Editor’s note: Iglesias Grace Baptist, the church where Nichols interviewed him and many other Haitian citizens)

Dr. Jerome Kederman, Wisly’s cousin, had already agreed to be a part of IGB’s medical staff on the trip to Saint Marc and the surrounding villages.  At the last minute, he asked Wisly to be a translator for them, and connected him with IGB.  Since coming on the trip with Jerome, Wisly has grown close with the members of IBG, and desires to stay in contact with them.

“If they want to help my country, I want to work with them,” Wisly said.  “I’ve seen how IGB works together.  They work as a team.  I really appreciate that.”

“I want to work with them as long as they give me opportunity to do so.”

A hard journey awaits them.  Although the situation has been desperate for a long time, Wisly believes that it is possible for to Haiti to become stable.

“Yes, I have hope that Haiti can get better,” he said.  “It will not be easy, but things can change.”

Wisly has put much thought into his country’s economic condition.  He explained what he feels needs to change in order for the country to recover.

“The first problem is work,” he said.  “People who used to work are not interested in work anymore, but at the same time, the country has not provided enough work for the people to survive.”

“The second problem is that they stopped farming the land,” said Wisly.  “Everything we eat now is imported.  When a country starts to rely so much on imports, then the country’s economy will do down.  People will fight for the food and then there is violence.”

“There should also be decentralization,” Wisly said.  “Everything should not be in Port-au-Prince.”

“I think there should be more universities outside of Port-au-Prince,” he said.  “If it hadn’t been this way, all those people would not have been there and would still be alive.”

According to Wisly, the economy is not the only problem in Haiti.  Wisly feels a spiritual revival needs to occur in order for Haitians to begin finding answers for their situation.  He believes Haitian practices will change when Haitian principles do.  He quoted Jesus by saying , ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’  (Matthew 4:4)

“The Gospel can help Haiti if they teach that man must work to live,” he said.  “There’s no work, so there’s no food, and people are starving.”

Wisly warned that people must not put all the pressure on just one group to do all the work in changing the country.  He does not believe the job can be done alone.

“I think Haiti alone cannot save itself,” he said. “But those who try to help Haiti cannot do it either.”

“Everybody, Haiti and outside forces, must work together.”

This belief weighed heavily on Wisly during the trip.  One night during the group meeting, he stood and spoke to the IGB team, thanking them from the bottom of his heart for being part of the solution.

“I want to thank you for coming to my country,” he said.  “I feel very grateful that people are coming to my country to help.

Wisly confessed that too many Hatians are not always grateful for the free care they receive.

“I just want the people of Haiti to be grateful, helpful, and cooperative with those who have come,” he said.  “Sometimes you will find people that are not grateful, but remember you work for the Lord, not people.”

The sight of Americans, Canadians, Dominicans, and Haitians united together to support Haiti was overwhelming for Wisly.  He was inspired and found hope in the fact that someone other than him wanted to rescue his country.

“I see people from other countries who came here to help my people,” he said. “That encourages me to help my people.”

“If you hadn’t come to help, what would they have done?”