Helping Haiti - Challenges and Successes

OPENING: Don Pendleton provided a friendly greeting while noting the attendance of Rotarians and guests. Ray Robinson led members in “America the Beautiful” in honor of Human Rights Day. Quinn Hadley led members in a recitation of Rotary’s 4-Way Test of the things we think, say and do. Gil Trujillo invited members to follow him in the Pledge of Allegiance and Sam McArthur asked for the blessings of heaven on the meeting and the meal.

PROGRAM: Allen Hilton, his daughter Julia, and Dr. Scott Bulloch reported on their recent trip to Haiti to provide dental care. Julia was struck by the lack of infrastructure. She noted there was no power, no water, and no waste disposal. Dr. Bulloch mentioned on one trip how he had been horrified to watch a child simply drop a wrapper on the ground. He went to pick it up and then noted there was no trash receptacles, and even if there had been, there was no infrastructure to collect and dispose of it. He noted that helping Haiti can be frustrating, a lot like "trying to eat an elephant." It feels like little changes from year-to-year. He has been making trips for 8 years. He noted that he was pleased to see some progress this past year with building of new roads and he noted the introduction of heavy equipment which he had not seen before. He directly attributed the lack of infrastructure and the government for the poor living conditions. He noted the resilience and hard work ethic of the people. Allen Hilton provided several photos which give a feel for the conditions taken during their recent trip and a selection of those photos are shown above.