Seven Weeks and Counting

Haiti Update June 29, 2011


Haiti may not be in the headlines everyday now, but it is certainly in the forefront of our thinking. Susan and I will leave for Haiti in just about seven weeks. There is so much to do still. Because the five hour drive home from Los Angeles is just too much to take after a week in Haiti we will be flying out of Fresno this year. To us the additional airfare seems well worth the four hours less drive time home. This will be a real treat. We’ll leave Fresno on Sunday August 14th to Fort Lauderdale, spend the night near the airport and fly out early Monday morning to Port-au-Prince. Our return flight will be on Monday the 22nd. Both Susan and I were hoping to stay longer this year and scheduling conflicts put an end to that thought. While in Port-au-Prince we are hoping to get a tour of the University and to see some of the reconstruction progress that has been made over the last year. When we are in Port-au-Prince it will have been 19 months since the earthquake struck. We are hoping, but not holding our breath, that there has been some serious work done on rubble removal and reconstruction within the city. It has been a painfully slow process.


Because of everyone’s generous donations over the last year we will be taking three times the school supplies that we delivered last year. We’ve also been able to send more funds for additionally needed desks and school uniforms. We also plan to purchase textbooks on this trip. Pastor Carsel has told us that next school year he is expecting close to two hundred students. We will again spend some time with the folks at Haiti Outreach in planning for the water well to be drilled. We believe we may be able to accomplish this goal without grants from Rotary International. This will speed up the completion date for the well and free up grant funds for future projects. Over this last year we have had numerous people that have expressed interest in making future trips with us to Haiti. To this end Susan and I will be exploring housing options in Pignon that would be suitable for taking small groups with us. Stay tune for more on this. We are excited about sharing the experience and there is nothing that comes close to seeing things in person.


There is so much more to share with you all but this is enough for now. Susan and I both are so thankful for the support and encouragement you all have shared with us. We feel truly blessed to be given the opportunity to help out in this way. The friends we’ve met and experiences we’ve had through the work of Be the Power of One has enriched our lives far greater than anything we’ve done for others. Thank you.

Getting Closer to August

We had a great conversation with Pastor Carsel the other day regarding our upcoming trip to Pignon. Looks like this year Susan and I will have two teaching assignments with the main focus on English language skills. As we did last year, we'll be teaching the primary school age students ages 3 to 13yrs. What is new for this year is that we'll have a class of students 18 yrs. and older. We are not sure if the two classes are at different times of the day or if each of us will teach one class alone. This will be quite a challenge. Our respect and admiration continues to grow for all the teachers out there. Susan and I are both very touched and amazed at the number of people who are stepping forward to help with Be the Power of One. We put the word out and you all continue to make things happen. The level of commitment and contributions people continue to make is a real testament to all that is good in the world. Our local Rotary Clubs and the District office have contributed financial support, donated high quality fruit and vegetable seeds and continue to supply school supplies. Our friends Beth and Art at Rhythm and Hues Studios along with daughter Lauren are planning a July reception in Los Angeles to introduce Be the Power of One to friends and co-workers. Things just keep on moving! Many times Susan and I will comment to each other about how this has taken on a life and momentum of its own. It will be quite a ride. Huge THANKS to you all for your help and interest in this project.

P.S. We are looking for a creative, French speaking person to design English/French flashcards. Know anyone?? 

College Scholorship Program

Last year we received a request from one of our friends in Haiti to help him finance attending the State University in Port-au-Prince. At the time it was simply beyond our means and we felt like the primary school's needs were about all we could handle. Now, several months later we've begun to consider setting up a program for college scholarships in Haiti. A number of things have changed that may indicate that this is a good time to begin working on the details of a scholarship program. First, we've learned that the cost for attending the State University is approximately $1500 US per year, including tuition, books, fees and transportation from home to school. Secondly, we've had a donor say that they would cover the cost for at least the first year. An extremely generous offer and truly a blessing that we are very excited about. Yet with this offer many other concerns have surfaced. Can we get funds directly to the school? How do we handle the inevitable and numerous requests from other deserving students? What system should be set up for progress reports from the student?  We are guessing that as the process continues this may be something that is handled by a selection committee. Just some thoughts for now. We continue to be amazed at the path that Be the Power of One has taken....

Update for August 2011

Susan and I continue to make plans for our August trip to Haiti. It feels so much better to be more prepared and therefore less apprehensive about the trip than last year. We are very encouraged by the number of people that are coming forward to help with the school and Haiti in general. Next month we will meet with a man who has a background in agriculture. He will be providing fruit, vegetable and tree seeds that we will take to Haiti for family and community gardens. These are high quality seeds that are inspected and certified to be imported to foreign countries. I'll post more details later about a planned fund raising reception in Los Angles and a start to our University scholarship program. Good stuff !!

This August school dates

Susan and I just got the dates for our next trip to Haiti. Summer school in Pignon is Aug. 13 - 21st. This year we know ahead of time that we are the teachers. It'll be nice to be prepared. We've been asked to focus on English lessons. Thanks to so many of you friends we will be taking tons of school supplies, toys and health/hygiene items with us. There is so much need. THANKS!!

Great meeting in Tulare, Calif.

Susan and I just got back from a meeting in Tulare with a representative of the Rotary District office who will be helping us with grants. With the commitments we currently have from our local Oakhurst Rotary Clubs and matching grants from Rotary District and International Rotary we will apply for grants for well drilling, school supplies, latrines at the school in Pignon and possibly some improvements at Pignon's local hospital. These grants will be for 2012 and will be in addition to funds needed for on-going projects. We are both feeling very encouraged after this meeting. We have also decided to purchase a video projector with personal funds to help in our presentations. Next step is for us to save up for a video camera. We hope to have the camera before we leave this August so we can have footage for a new, longer video. Exciting stuff.....

Charles and Denise come through.....

Once again Charles and Denise at the Bargain Barn in Oakhurst come through....by donating two giant boxes of school supplies and toys for Haiti. They did the same thing for last year's trip to Pignon and Christmas 2010 for the kids gift bags. You two are WONDERFUL, thanks for all you do. 

We have quite the stash of supplies for this year's trip, mid-August, to Pignon. We are also excited about an upcoming event, July 16th, in Los Angeles. This event will be a fund raiser that will focus on playground and sports equipment. On Thursday we travel north to Turlock, Ca. to talk with Rotary International members about matching grants for our well project.

Good stuff happening, we feel blessed.