Getting Close to Departure

Well some of my growing panic was calmed today. I have been really concerned, maybe overly concerned, that we don't have our "lesson plan" ready for the Haiti trip and there are only 17 days left before we go. But today Susan and I had a wonderful meeting with Annie, our new best friend in Oakhurst, who is a curriculum coordinator for Madera County. Annie shared with us her experience as a mother, a teacher and a curriculum coordinator. After just an hour or so with Annie my panic was fading and a developing plan of how to teach 150 Haitian kids was starting to emerge. We came up with a strategy to divide the students into smaller groups that will rotate through a number of "learning stations". Each station will have a different focus. There will be a music station teaching songs, an English language station, a P.E. station, etc. Each station will be color coded with a matching flag that the student will design using that station's color. This will be so cool! The kids will be outside being active at times followed by indoor lessons. From our experience last year we realized we needed to get the kids outside more often. Hopefully we can burn up some of their apparently endless energy. As has been the case before our appreciation for educators continues to grow. What special people teachers are. Panic fading, excitement growing.....

Los Angeles "Kick-Off Event"

Susan and I wanted to publicly thank daughter Lauren, friends Art Becerra and Beth Andrus for all their hard work on our Haiti fundraiser in Los Angeles last weekend. The Be the Power of One "Kick-Off" event was amazing! Everyone work so hard to bring it all together. The food was fabulous, Art mixed some great cocktails and we raised more than $900 for our Haiti school projects. On top of this, there was a whole table of school and health supplies that were donated. We are very close to having the funds needed for our well and new textbooks. It was a huge success and we really appreciate Alfred opening his home for the afternoon. Thanks to everyone that made this event work and all those who donated. The dollars and supplies will go a long way in Haiti. Let's do it again......

A Busy Sunday in Oakhurst

Susan and I spoke today at two services at our local Methodist Church. What a great group of folks! We shared our Haiti experience and pictures with the congregation. Everyone seemed very interested and they donated some school supplies, money towards the well and a $25 gift certificate to Toys R Us. Between services we enjoyed answering questions and snacking on some Haitian treats that they baked up. Next week we will be in Los Angeles for our "kick off" reception for Be the Power of One. We are expecting about 30 people and we'll share info about our efforts in Pignon. Susan believes that we will soon have enough money for the drilling of the well so we are hoping to finalize drilling plans with Haiti Outreach in August. Both of us would like to be in Pignon when the well is drilled and it will be nice to return before another year passes.

Planning and Packing

Planning: Thanks to all the efforts of our daughter Lauren, friends Beth Andrus and Art Becerra our July 16th event looks like it'll be a wonderful "kick off" for Be the Power of One in Los Angeles. This looks to be a gathering of about 30-40 folks that have already started to get together supplies for our August trip to Haiti. It'll also be a time for Susan and I to visit with new friends and to share some of our experiences. We are very excited and look forward to a fun evening.

Packing: Our plan this year is to take our school supplies, personal hygiene items and playground equipment in a number of suitcases that we can leave in Haiti when we return home. The baggage charges really add up and it is still cheaper than shipping from the west coast to Haiti. By carrying things with us we are also assured that they get to the planned destination. As we grow and deliver more and more items to Haiti we will have to figure out a better plan. One partial solution will be to purchase items in Florida and ship from Miami to Port-au-Prince. This seems to be relatively inexpensive and Pastor Carsel has reliable people to receive the shipment when it arrives in Haiti.

So far we have 80+ pounds of school supplies packed and ready to go. Next week we will pick up 400 fruit and vegetable seed packets that will be for family and community gardens in and around Pignon. Susan and I think we can get the rest packed in one large suitcase but are willing to add a fourth piece if needed. In the end we'll be carrying somewhere between 120 - 160 pounds. Our personal items for the week will be in our two backpacks. What an adventure!

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....