Tim in Haiti: Getting Ready

Why I'm Going

One afternoon last December I was listening to a National Public Radio (NPR) podcast hosted by Adam Davidson of NPR's "Planet Money". The podcast featured a school pincipal in Haiti who believed he could build a new school for $3,000 (see link below). Unfortunately $3,000 wasn't enough to get the foundation completed, but the message was so strong it inspired me to email Davidson to see how I might help.

Davidson contacted me soon after that to let me know about the conditions in Haiti, especially after last year's earthquake and hurricane. I admit, I was naive about building costs in Haiti as well as the other hurdles I would encounter but Davidson was kind enough to help me understand what I was up against and encouraged me to continue. The more I looked at it, the more I was convinced I could use my 30+ years of building experience and organizational skills to help build this school.

After doing more research it also became evident that I would need to start out as a volunteer with an organization that was already working in Haiti. That is when I came upon "All Hands Volunteers". Within a week, they emailed to say I was welcome to help with the 2011 program starting the end of January. So ready or not, here I go...

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Getting Ready

I want to thank my wife Shari for her unqualified support in my volunteer efforts. I also would like to thank my son Hank who has promised to keep the snow shoveled and firewood by the door. Thanks so much to both of you.

To all of you out there I hope this will be informative.

I'm leaving in a few days and still a lot to do as in packing, paying bills, finishing odd jobs, split wood, and figure out this perplexing blog.