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Tarpon Couple Aiding Orphans in Haiti

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By Cheryl  Bentley | The Suncoast News

Published: February 7, 2009

The feel of poverty was everywhere, on the naked land picked free of plants and trees by a starving population, in the water used for both drinking water and sewage, and in the soil people ate for food.

Having witnessed slums in Guatemala and people in Sudan who no longer had the energy to swat flies from their faces, a Tarpon Springs resident, Jared Brown, was no stranger to poverty. But those conditions paled to what he saw in Haiti. "They were nothing compared to the level of poverty in Haiti. Not even close," he remembers.

According to the United Nations, Haiti, which is less than two hours from the United States, is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and one of the world's 50 least developed countries.

The poverty touched the 30-year-old Brown, a native of Minnesota who is in insurance sales, and his wife Annie Brown, a former emergency room nurse who is expecting the couple's first child in March. Last year, they started a nonprofit organization, Project 81, to help Haitians.

Since their first trip to Haiti in May 2007, the Browns have had a well drilled in a village in which they work so that residents can access clean water.

They joined with another group, Planting Peace, in a project that bought and distributed 180,000 pills to kill intestinal parasites, a major problem in the country. Additionally, they are already in negotiations to set up central and satellite medical clinics in the countryside. Future plans include building a school and creating a hydroponics program to grow healthy, clean food. A New Port Richey-based business, 3D Hydroponics and Organics, is serving as consultant for the project.

Project 81's name comes from the location of Destiny Village, a Christian-based orphanage that inspired the Browns to start their own organization.

The Haitian orphanage is near Village 81, so called because it is 81 kilometers from the country's capital, Port-au-Prince.

Although the Browns started Project 81 to aid Haiti, they have found the project is helping them as much as the Haitians by sparking their sense of connection with others.

"We thought they were the project," Jared Brown says of Haitians. "But it hit us. We are the project. Are we going to do anything or just walk away?"

They were inspired by the president of Destiny Village, a former businessman named Rick Alford.

"He gave it all up," Jared said of Alford. "He's living the deal out."

There are no adoptions at Destiny Village because organizers believe reviving the dormant spirit of children who have never known anything but poverty is an effort that lasts an entire childhood.

Staff members first tend to the children's physical needs and then go about allowing the orphans to find their passion. "They get built up so they can do something," says Jared Brown. "The idea is to change a child, change a nation."

The couple wants to ignite that gleam in the donors of Project 81 as well. They are receptive to partnering with anyone with a good idea and the spirit to make it happen.

"We're open to work with anyone as long as it's helping people," Jared Brown says. "It should be exciting for everyone to catch the vision."

They have already started working with a Tampa man to make a film about Haiti. Their favorite partner is a 6-year-old girl who was inspired to start a shoe program for Haitians in her school.

The Browns welcome monetary contributions, but they also want to hear from people who are ready to reach deep within and find their own vision of helping.

The Browns say the more involved are donors, the greater the rewards. "We're dry just like they are dry, only in a different way," Jared Brown notes.

To make donations now, go to www.project81.org. The entire Web site should be finished in two weeks.

For a copy of the latest newsletter send an e-mail to jared@project81.org.

Readers without computers should call 727-945-0370 for more information.

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