March 8th, 2016 – Special Edition! Rotary Goes to Haiti!
Lora Fisher, David Brockett, Charles Hartford, David Weston, Susan Stevens with son and daughter, Trent and Halley Stevens, Pat Stouffer with wife Fran and daughter Gwen Allen, Ken King with employee Josh Lawson and Fredrick Clerie, founder of HopeStart, Int. as our guide. We had a total of 13 in our group. Trent interviewed each participant and will be working on a documentary.
From Susan Stevens: The Haiti trip and what I experienced will stay with me forever. I truly enjoyed traveling there, mostly because the people who made up our group were so fantastic and inspiring. Nothing about the stay in Haiti was easy, but it was fun to share it with fellow travelers who were cheerful with all the discomforts and mindful of cultural differences. Even being crammed into a dirty van with a group of sweaty, tired people is a fond memory. Although I wasn’t qualified to do the harder parts of the construction I hope I did my part, and felt proud of what we had accomplished.
One of the highlights on the trip for me was meeting the children at the orphanage. Their energy and enthusiasm made all our efforts worth it. Lora brought a suitcase filled with new shoes in various sizes for both boys and girls. What fun it was to help them find a pair that fit! They were so delighted to be walking and running in brand new sandals. And they were so eager to play with the new soccer balls we had supplied! We engaged them in rounds of soccer, volleyball, basketball and throwing around a baseball. And they loved the books and new school supplies.
I love visualizing all of the children in their new environment. The property they will be moving to is beautiful and has a cooling ocean breeze. The buildings they will be living and learning in are new and clean. And a playground is in the planning stages. Frederick and his organization are doing wonderful, life changing work for those children.
From David Weston: The principal mission of our La Jolla Rotary trip to Haiti was to assist in the construction of HopeStart’s new children’s home, and I believe we accomplished this mission capably . . . our Rotary team successfully constructed a very large chicken coop, and laid the floor tile in nearly all of the children’s dormitory (my geriatric — and still aching — knees and back remind me of my participation in the floor tileathon). Our Rotary team took pride in this construction work, and its completion certainly was fulfilling. However, every bit as fulfilling to me was the oportunity to join my fellow Rotarians (including members of our extended Rotary family) in purposeful, collaberative effort. To a person, the members of our Rotary team worked cooperatively, competently and with good spirits (high heat and humidity could easily have daunted these good spirits, but did not). When we were not working, we chatted, laughed, joked and generally became better friends with one another. From start to finish we were cohesive and focused, but, in addition, by the end our ties of friendship were noticably warmer and closer. Such are the rewards of Rotarians working together in service to others.
From Pat Stouffer: Speaking for myself and Fran, the Haiti trip was a great experience, with all our goals accomplished, plus a few others. Lots of advanced planning really paid off and our days and nights were very busy and productive.
We began by attending a Rotary meeting with the Port au Prince Rotary Club on the evening of our arrival. After spending the night in Port au Prince, we departed early the next morning for our 1 hour light plane flight to Jeremie, where we landed on a nice dirt airstrip. We were picked up and taken to our hotel, had lunch, and went right to work. The workers at the orphanage were ready for us and had the slab already poured and the lumber on site. My initial expectation was that we could have the roof on by that evening, everyone jumped in and we did it.
Frederick was quite surprised at our progress and asked me if I knew how to do anything else, such as tile work or cabinets. We went to the nearly completed children’s dormitory where the two sleeping rooms needed tile laid on the floors. All the material was on site, and we broke up into two teams the following morning, with me leading the tile team and Ken leading the coop builders. The tile team consisted of Dave Weston, Charles Hartford and myself on the 2nd day. I laid out the floor, snapped guide lines, gave Charles and David a quick primer on laying tile and turned them loose. The entry area of the dormitory had some tile installed, but was incomplete, as there was no tile saw on site. I saw the Haitian workers using a disc grinder with a diamond blade cutting blocks, “problem solved”. I was able to use that to cut the tile, and cut all the missing tiles necessary to complete the entry area.
I estimate the room was about 320 sq. ft. in size.
The following day, I borrowed Josh from the coop team, and we began laying tile in room two, which we were able to complete by noon.
There were three young Americans working at the orphanage, Casey, Dan, and Quintin. All three were very helpful and positive, they were invaluable to us, helping our interactions with the Haitians, most of whom did not speak English.
I told Charles that since he was with the 1st Ranger Battalion and I was with the 4th Air Commando Squadron, I was dubbing us “Tile Team 1”
As a guy who has been involved in construction for many years, I can vouch for how physically demanding laying tile is, and Charles, David and Josh attacked it with great energy. Gwen even got into the act on our last day, actually laying the “golden spike”, our last tile that fit perfectly where the two floors met.
Our hotel was good by 3rd world standards, no hot water, (Lora noted early in the trip that “they don’t heat the hot water in Haiti”. The air conditioning (those of us that had a working unit) only worked at night. We ate breakfast and dinner at the hotel, buffet style, no two meals were alike and we didn’t always know exactly what it was. The fellowship in the evenings was fantastic, we all learned new things about each other, it was a great team spirit. There will be stories told for many years to come about this trip and project.
We also took a trip downtown in Jeremie and toured the central square area as well as the open street market. Frankly, I was reminded of Southeast Asia in the mid 60’s. Lots of Chinese motorcycles, young men standing around idle, unpaved streets and dilapidated buildings.
Our evening cocktail hour prior to dinner. One of the things we all enjoyed about this trip was the fellowship. We truly had a great group. Casey, who lead our construction team, is from Georgia and had the best southern drawl. We all enjoyed his positive attitude and larger-than-life smile. His wife prepared our lunches, which were truly a treat and delicious! Lora and Fredrick reading an English/Creole book with the children. All of the older children could read and were learning English.
The Catholic church in the center of town in Jeremie. There were multiple churches and denominations in the area. Walking through the market was an eye-opening experience of the true poverty in Haiti.
Meeting with Rotary Club Port-au-Price Champs de Mars
Chicken coop construction began Thursday after our arrival. The foundation had been poured the week prior and we were set to go. The project was completed in a day and a half.
Photos at the bottom are from the HopeStart Children’s home. The soccer balls were a huge hit with children and adults. We gave soccer balls to the workers at the building site. Their demeanor had been very serious most of the time we were there, but once they had the soccer balls everyone of them lit up and had big smiles and started playing. It was amazing to see their joy and love of soccer.
The children’s home was scheduled to have been finished prior to our arrival and we were supposed to do the painting. Unfortunately, the children’s home is a few weeks behind schedule, but that created an opportunity for several of our Rotarians to put their DIY skills to work. With Pat Stouffer’s guidance, Dave Weston, Charles Hartford and Gwen Allen were able to tile the two main bedrooms of the home.
Visiting the Children’s Home. We spent several hours at the home and truly enjoyed our time with the children.
A great trip and ready to head home!
Missed From Last Week!
Some thoughts from the Rotary Club of Metropolitan Honolulu shared by John Hoss:
Do We Remember?
1966: Long hair
2016: Longing for hair
1966: KEG
2016: EKG
1966: Acid rock
2016: Acid reflux
1966: Moving to California because it’s cool
2016: Moving to Arizona because it’s warm
1966: Trying to look like Marlon Brando or Liz Taylor
2016: Trying NOT to look like Marlon Brando or Liz Taylor
1966: Seeds and stems
2016: Roughage
1966: Hoping for a BMW
2016: Hoping for a BM
1966: Going to a new, hip joint
2016: Receiving a new hip joint
1966: Rolling Stones
2016: Kidney Stones
1966: Screw the system
2016: Upgrade the system
1966: Disco
2016: Costco
1966: Parents begging you to get your hair cut
2016: Children begging you to get their heads shaved
1966: Passing the drivers’ test
2016: Passing the vision test
1966: Whatever
2016: Depends
RYLA UPDATE:
RYLA is coming and facilitators are needed. We are looking for Rotarians who are motivated to make a real difference in the lives of top High School juniors at Idyllwild Pines April 15-17th. We provide great students, accommodations, motivational speakers, leadership activities, gourmet (sort of) meals, and…possibly the most rewarding single experience you’ll have as a Rotarian. You provide enthusiasm, a positive attitude and the desire to make a difference in a student’s life.
Facilitator orientation is mandatory and will be held on Sat. 3/26 (site TBD) from 8-12 noon. Female applicants are especially welcome because we always have more girls than boys participate.
Starting this year, there will be no cost to your club for your participation as a facilitator. Please click the following link to view the application http://ryla5340.org/Facilitator_Application and be prepared for an amazing Rotary experience.
Where in the World?
Bill Burch correctly answered last weeks Where in the World photo taken by President Lora Fisher in Haiti. He identified Pat Stouffer, who was in the picture, along with other Rotarians building the chicken coop in Haiti.
If you have an interesting travel photo of yourself in a recognizable destination you would like to submit for the game please send it to: mahalosu@gmail.com. Photos do not have to be recent, older pictures are welcome! All submissions will be considered, international and domestic! May the best globetrotter win!
Please keep the photographs coming, recent or not, in far distance places or not . . . La Jolla Rotarians go to interesting places and do interesting things, and it is fun (and sometimes challenging) for us to keep up with each other’s doings.
Check Out this Weeks News Bits. Click the Logo Below
Club Meetings Unless otherwise noted, all club meetings are Tuesday, 12:00 noon – 1:30 p.m. at La Valencia Hotel, 1132 Prospect St., La Jolla (Map) Check out the Upcoming Guest Speakers on the Club Calendar
Upcoming Events
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- 2016 District Training Assembly
Mar 19, 2016 7:30 AM
- 2016 Global Grants Management Seminar
Joan Kroc Institue for Peace & JusticeMar 19, 2016
12:10 PM – 2:00 PM - Model United Nations Conference
Apr 09, 2016 – Apr 10, 2016
- Rotary Leadership Institute, Parts 1, 2 & 3 Offered. University of San Diego, KIPJ
Apr 23, 2016
8:00 AM – 3:30 PM - Rotarians at Work Day
Apr 30, 2016
- “Thousand Smiles” Clinic
Ensenada MexicoMay 06, 2016 – May 07, 2016
- District Conference – 2016
May 13, 2016 4:00 PM –
May 15, 2016 12:00 PM
- 2016 District Training Assembly
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Click here to visit the district website.
Rotary Club of La Jolla is one of sixty clubs in the San Diego area’s Rotary District 5340 and one of the 34,000 clubs that make up our parent organization,
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