Naperville Central High School's award-winning newspaper.

Central Times

Naperville Central High School's award-winning newspaper.

Central Times

Naperville Central High School's award-winning newspaper.

Central Times

Central alumnus shares his experiences with a deaf community in Haiti

Many students who graduate from school find conventional jobs that require working in an office or behind a desk.

For Central alum Kyle Reschke, his role as a missionary takes him to faraway places where he actively works with local communities. His current project is helping people in the deaf community of Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

“To be so far away [from home] and be a missionary is challenging, but the people here are incredible,” Reschke said.

Reschke is partnered with 401 Bridge, an organization that helps churches find missions with local communities. As project leader for the deaf community in Haiti, Reschke has had some difficult experiences so far.

“It’s amazing to find new hope and share this [hope] with the deaf community, but it’s heartbreaking as well,” Reschke said. “Things that I see every day really break my heart.”

Reschke has witnessed a young baby die in his arms. Another of his friends, who is a mother, lost her husband and two sons in the 2010 Haiti earthquake. He and the other leaders of the project hope to improve the lives of these people.

“These are groups of people who, several months ago had no chance living out of poverty, but now have hope,” Reschke said.

In addition, many deaf individuals in Haiti are treated as second and third class citizens.

They live in about the roughest conditions imaginable, Reschke said.

The project aims to improve the community’s “education, clean water, healthcare, sustainable agriculture, micro-enterprise, and spiritual development” according to Reschke’s blog, kyleinhaiti.com.

To meet the goals of his project, Reschke has had to adjust to a new daily routine in Haiti.

On a typical day, he wakes up at 5 a.m., eats breakfast, and drives on his motorcycle to the deaf community, where other leaders are waiting for him.

“[After the leaders meet], I teach sign language to the children because most of the adults are deaf,” Reschke said. “But many of the children are not deaf.”

With this new gift of sign language, children can better commu

nicate with the adults of the deaf community.

Education for the community in Haiti is an ultimate goal of the project leaders. It will help the native people communicate effectively with each other. It will also provide a foundation for the project’s future development and success, Reschke said.

Reschke, a 2003 graduate, believes that education can really change people’s lives for the better.

“There are people around the world who have no opportunities for education at all,” Reschke said. “For many people in the world, a school like Central is not even a possibility.”

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