A group of West Shore volunteers is taking a break from serving the local community to aid those in another part of the world – and they need your help to do it.
Since a devastating earthquake tore through Haiti on Jan. 12, 2010, a team of West Shore volunteers has been venturing south, year after year, to help in as many ways as they can. The group touches down in the impoverished country this time on Jan. 26. They have a number of projects in mind and hope the funds will be in place to allow them to maximize their efforts.
“It’s not just a quick fix down there. The country is in dire straits and there is a constant need,” said retired West Shore RCMP officer Bruce Brown. “It was a poor country prior to the earthquake and that just devastated it.”
This year’s team venturing to Haiti consists of Brown, Langford Fire Chief Bob Beckett, Glenwood Meats owner Rick Fisher, Victoria resident Russ Lazaruk and Courtenay resident Dan Reynolds. The number of trips they’ve made ranges from more than a dozen for Beckett, to Brown, who is making his second.
They’ve accomplished many things, including completely rebuilding the Baby Jesus of Prague Orphanage in Port-au-Prince, which was destroyed in the quake.
“The (Haiti) community still supports that orphanage with some continual funding,” said Brown, adding the team will look into installing a chicken coop on site. The orphanage could not only use the eggs to supplement their food supply, they would be able to sell extra eggs as a source of income.
It was while in Haiti in 2014, working on the Baby Jesus of Prague Orphanage, that the group was approached by UN Police Peacekeepers and asked to visit the Divine Hands Orphanage, also located in a suburb of Port-au-Prince. At the time, the more than 50 children housed there were days away from ending up on the street.
With help from a Rotary grant and the support of Vancouver Island residents, the team was able to enact a number of short-term projects that enabled the children to stay in relative safety and comfort.
This second orphanage is where the team will focus most of their efforts this time around with the installation of a chicken coop at this location as well as plans that include providing the facility with a gas-powered generator to supplement the sporadic (at best) power supply, restocking dwindling food supplies, and looking at available land and buildings to purchase to save on rental fees.
Divine Hands Orphanage pays roughly $6,000 a year in rental fees, which Brown noted is a lot of money in Haiti. Also, renting facilities means the orphanage has to operate with the very real fear of forced relocation.
Previous trips have seen volunteer construct buildings at the orphanage, but in a way that they can be unbolted and moved if necessary.
Another special project involves the purchase of a motorized wheelchair for a 10-year-old double amputee, who lost portions of both his legs in the earthquake and has been at the orphanage since. The group is also working with an American organization to make sure the little boy is outfitted with proper prosthetics.
As well, the team will deliver hundreds of donated sports jerseys to the YMCA of Port-au-Prince.
“It’s a difficult situation down there,” Brown said. “There’s always a need for food. Some days the kids don’t get more than one meal, maybe two meals a day.”
That need is what they are trying to address.
“We pay our own way down there so every penny goes to the kids and the orphanage. We’d like to take as much with us as we can … to further those projects.”
Brown noted that it’s the continual generosity of local residents and groups that allows the Canadians to continue working in Haiti.
But it is also about carrying on the work of others. Two Canadian RCMP officers were killed in the 2010 quake. One of the reasons Brown is looking forward to returning is to continue their legacy.
The other is the children. “I’m looking forward to see how these kids have grown and reconnect with them.”
He can see why other team members have been so eager to return every year and have made the trip so many times.
“It’s life altering … It puts a new perspective on how lucky we are,” he said. “It makes you want to do more.”
For more information or to make a donation online, go to helpforhaiti.ca. Donations can also be made to the Rotary Club of Westshore Sunrise (formally Colwood) or in person at the Langford Fire Department. Tax receipts can be issued for donations over $25.
katie@goldstreamgazette.com
