Mcloone first heard about Karen’s trip to Haiti last year. She was originally scheduled to travel in August but Tropical Storm Emily wrought havoc across many Caribbean nations and delayed her trip. She was then rescheduled to depart on January 11, 2012 …what a great way to start the new year and escape the Wisconsin winter!
Following is an interview with Karen regarding her Haiti experience. Mcloone is very proud of her as she sets the example of a true humanitarian.
Q: In traveling with World Wide Village (www.worldwidevillage.org ), a non-profit chariable organization, what was the purpose of your trip?
A: I traveled to Haiti with a group from La Crosse to provide volunteer services to a variety of organizations affiliated with World Wide Village. Upon arriving in Haiti, we first worked at two children’s homes, Foundation of the Promising Children of Haiti and Tree of Life. My group distributed clothing and vitamins, played games, taught songs, and told stories with the help of interpreters.
We then worked at REBUILD Globally whose mission is to improve the quality of life for people in distressed communities. Our group found it very rewarding to lend a hand in establishing a garden to grow vegetables for the apprentices and their families. We also assisted with physical inventory and organized supplies. Another project we took on was writing bios for all of the apprentices. They’ll be used for promotional information and tracking of the apprentices going through the program and what they worked on. Our last projects at REBUILD Globally included matching up sandals to be donated to a list of orphans and working with street kids and their apprentices. We helped them decorate their facility and booths they worked out of when selling their products.
Our next mission was in Luly where we had the opportunity to work with teachers. We helped them with lesson planning, discussed different ways of disciplining and engaging kids, and suggested a variety of classroom games they could play.
From Luly, we traveled to Williamson where we distributed backpacks. We also sorted and organized donation items which were always appreciated. The items included clothing, school supplies, medical supplies, gardening supplies, as well as construction supplies.
Q: The projects you worked on sound amazing. What was your most memorable experience?
A: There were so many memorable experiences but one of the most uplifting was seeing what one American woman did with $7,000. Julie Colombino founded Rebuild Globally (www.rebuildglobally.org) in 2010. Her initial mission was to improve the lives of twenty 15-20 year old apprentices; she provided them jobs so they could pay for their schooling. She supplies a healthy meal every day, teaches them skills that they can utilize to create their own businesses or be able to work for someone else, and helps their parents find jobs and housing. Through her generosity they are able to make sustainable changes in their lives to be productive and successful. Rebuild Globally also gives street kids a safe place to interract and provides daily meals.
Q: What was your most heartbreaking experience?
A: The most heartbreaking experience was returning to the Foundation of the Promising Children and finding out that the kids hadn’t eaten for a day and that the donation items we had distributed two days before were gone. Besides that, just the daily exposure to the conditions that people are trying to survive in and raise their families in was sometimes overwhelmingly heartbreaking.
Q: What surprised you the most?
A: There were actually many things that surprised me about Haiti. For the short amount of time I was there, I was surprised by how much I fell in love with Haiti and its people. I was very impressed with how resilient, joyful, friendly and wonderful the Haitian people are in the face of what we as US citizens would think of as a terrible standard of living. This really helped reinforce to me that it is not what you have that should make you happy.
I was also surprised by how much garbage is burning everywhere, everyday. The amount of trash is incredible and they really don’t have a sanitation department to take care of disposing of the trash. Even though there is significant poverty and destruction of housing and infrastructure, that it is a very beautiful country. Most of the streets are filled with mass chaos, however there is a steadiness and calmness to the people and how they go about everyday life.
Q: Do you have any advice you would like to share with anyone planning a similar trip?
A: Always research organizations that you want to support, whether financially or by volunteering your time. I would definitely recommend World Wide Village as their focus is to help Haitian people live as Haitian people with a better quality of life. They support them in sustainable ways and not by physically doing everything for their people or paying directly for things, but by supporting Haitian people and organizations to live in harmony with themselves, their community, and their planet.
When you are blessed, share with others who aren’t as blessed, but don’t feel guilty for what you have. Our group had some pretty serious conversations about why some people are lucky to be born where they were and to the families they were, while others are born into the situation they are. The consensus was that God or whatever you believe in gives everyone different opportunities and blessings. It is up to each of us to make the most of them – the world and life isn’t about “fair”. Giving money to different organizations and programs is wonderful but giving your time and love to them is even better. I found out that it means more and lets you really feel first hand what it’s about.
Q: Do you have any plans to return to Haiti?
A: Check back with me to see what I am hopefully doing next January!
Good blogging!