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"Planting a seed is not enough, you have to nurture
and take care of it so that it can bear good fruit.
The children are the seed. God has opened all the
doors so that I can build his love generation.”
- Patrick Valme
Patrick Valme’s journey began as a young Haitian man
in the nurturing hands of his loving mother,
Ghislaine Valme. She was a spiritual woman who
showed her devotion to God through a commitment to
help impoverished Haitians, people of her native
land lacking in hope and support. It was in this
missionary work where she first developed important
foundations of love and compassion in young Patrick.
This groundwork stands as the building blocks for
Eyes of Haiti and its progressive attitudes toward a
hands-on support system.
Patrick’s young adult life started to take shape
after high school when he went abroad. He left Haiti
to continue his education in America. He worked his
way through school and received a Bachelor’s degree
in business management. After college , his drive to
share Ghislaine’s message to the world allowed him
to become a friend to many. He traveled around the
world to create a network of friends who share in
the vision of a better world; a place where there
was always someone to listen and a shoulder to cry
on.
Throughout his life, Patrick’s search for a sense of
purpose has been difficult. Never lacking in energy
or passion, he was consistently challenged to find
his place in the world. Much like the visionaries of
the past who saw a world unable to listen or
change, his path was littered with obstacles and
bouts of depression . The question always raised,
“Could the world be that cold, that
uncompassionate?”. The catalyst that would change
Patrick’s life, a tragedy so heartbreaking, came at
a time of year when many people were searching for
meaning.
On
December 16, 2005, Patrick's father, Jean Claude
Valme, went to pick up his wife from work. As they
were approaching their house, a group of men
surrounded them and tried to kidnap them. In an
attempt to protect his wife, Jean Claude Valme was
fatally shot. Ghislaine Valme was taken hostage as
Jean Claude fell to the ground. Her last image of
her beloved Jean Claude was of his body floating in
a pool of blood.
In
the meantime, while at work in Boston, Patrick was
informed of what happened to his parents. He became
overwhelmed with a multitude of emotions. Anger,
frustration, shock and confusion overcame him. He
started to feel helpless and lost. In a moment of
disbelief, he said, “They killed my father, I feel
dead…” “I need my mom….I need my mom…She is my first
love, my best friend…I already lost my dad, now; I
need my mom…”. With that frame of mind, he booked
the first flight out to Haiti
Upon his arrival, he saw his father
lying in a morgue, his body swimming in a pool of
blood with the bullets still lodged in his neck. He
softly stroked his father’s gray hair and wept. As
his anger built, Patrick intuitively knew that he
could not break down. His mother was still out
there; he became obsessed with finding her.
He
got in contact with the kidnapper’s negotiator to
settle a ransom, which was set at $1million. He
formed a team of negotiators to bargain with the
kidnappers.
At
the same time the negotiations were in progress, he
began fundraising to secure his mother’s release. To
have a real chance of securing his mother’s safety,
the amount would have to be more reasonable. The
negotiations got the number down to $50,000, still a
stretch and time was running out. Patrick became
increasingly agitated during the process. He felt
that his mother’s life was too precious and time was
of the essence. The longer they waited, the less of
a chance she would have of surviving. Meanwhile,
he was handling the arrangements for his father’s
funeral, set to take place on December 30, 2005.
Finally, the phone call came; the negotiators had
convinced the kidnappers to release Ghislaine for
$30,000. When Patrick arranged for the delivery of
the ransom, he asked the negotiator if his mother
was ok, he replied, “Yes, she is.” With that, he
agreed to their conditions. They told Patrick where
he could find his mother. For the first time since
this tragedy began, Patrick became full of hope. He
was going to console the loss of his father with the
presence of his mother.
Unable to sleep with anticipation, he woke up early
in the morning to go pick her up. As he was on his
way, one of his friends who arrived at the location
first, called him and told him that his mother was
found on a pile of trash. Her naked and burnt body
was lying there with her arms cut off and her
stomach cut open. She was swollen and disfigured.
When he went to the morgue, they tried to deny him
access. He convinced them to let him see her.
Consumed with sadness and disbelief, he managed to
build up the courage to see the body. Only after
pulling the corpse out of the drawer and noticing a
distinct scar that she had on her foot, he finally
accepted that what he was seeing was his mother. The
moment was the most real of his life. Things had
shifted. Everything was different. At that point, he
placed his hand on her head; he thanked her for
showing him love and how to love. He also thanked
her for leading him to God and promised that he will
continue the work that she had started. All of their
love for each other was about to take
shape.
Instead of turning the pain into hatred and revenge, it
became forgiveness and compassion. While staring at
his mother’s body, Patrick started thinking about
all of the sadness and despair that exists in
Haiti. An important transition was taking place in
his mind. He realized that it was not the
kidnappers’ fault for the violence that takes place
there. Their situation was one of dire straits.
Products of their environment, this was all they
knew. The elements necessary for opportunity and
success does not exist for them. Without an
infrastructure for the development of a beneficial
economy, this was the only way for some to survive.
This became a very powerful revelation for Patrick.
He understood their plight and he decided to start
from the ground up. Like any great building that
reaches into the sky, this undertaking would require
a solid foundation. “It all starts with the
children”. The message was simple: give them hope
and let them know that love is more powerful than
hatred and violence. That was the turning point in
his life. He said, “I no longer have my parents
here for me to fall back on when things go wrong. I
no longer have my mother’s love and affection. So
now, I have to turn to God for love. I give Him my
life and He has shown me my purpose, which is to
continue with my mother’s legacy.”
Patrick believes that if we invest in the children today,
they will be great leaders tomorrow. This
investment is as much monetary as it is love, time
and effort. While acknowledging that the people of
Haiti have been deprived of empathy and humanity,
they also lack the basic necessities in life. In
attempting to address this concept of this
“survival” mode, an infrastructure must be set up to
supply the children with medical, educational and
social needs to help themselves. With that
understanding, his devotion to God and the spirit of
his mother, this road has led him to found “The Eyes
of Haiti.”
The Eyes of Haiti is a non- profit
organization looking to form alliances with other
non-profit organizations to improve the conditions
in Haiti through the promotion of love and hope.
This support will be reflected in the children that
we nurture and
nourish. Our mission is to prove that love does
conquer all. By breaking the chains of violence that
have kept us enslaved for all of these years, we
will show the world that our slogan “L’union Fait la
Force” (Unity Creates Power), holds true. We will
unite the links of love that will create a strong
and solid chain, unbreakable and unwavering. The
seed of love that Mrs. Valme has planted in her
son’s heart has grown and blossomed into the
sweetest fruit. Compassion and humanity has and will
continue to spread throughout the world through The
Eyes of Haiti.
A
special thanks to all of the friends and family who
have donated their time and effort to this worthy
endeavor. You are all helping me find my way. One
life. One Love. What doesn’t kill you makes you
stronger. |
