$1,200 donated to Earthquake relief!

I ♥ Haiti T-Shirt Project Team.


After several months of fundraising the I ♥ Haiti T-Shirt Project donated its final round of profits in the amount of $200. The total amount donated to Southwest Church of Christ's earthquake relief operation totals $1200. $1200 USD converts to over 48,000 Haitian Gourdes. This is a significant amount of money in Haiti and will be put to good use. After visiting with C.J. Vires (apart of Southwest's relief operation) he explained to me some of the good work Southwest is doing in Haiti. Southwest has assisted several schools in rebuilding after the January quake demolished their schools. I encourage all of those who have purchased a shirt or wristband to visit: www.swcocada.com/HaitiRelief_SARAH.html to fully see the impact of their donation and to see all the great work Southwest is doing in Haiti.



The project is something I'm very proud of, it has been my first experience in running a small non-profit project. I feel as though the project has been a great community project. Many friends have bought shirts, worn them and by wearing the shirt influenced others to make a purchase. I would like to thank everyone who has purchased a shirt and or wristband! While the money raised will have a big impact, the awareness and love shown by wear the shirt is more important than the money could ever be.



I would like to thank all those involved in running the project. My good friend Greg Gauntney designed the business models, handled the accounting, and did all the inventory on the project. I would like to thank C.J. Vires for working with me on the project and all the good work he does with Southwest's relief operation. C.J. has provided me with a good organization to donate to that will use 100% of donated money to heal, rebuild, and grow earthquake devastated Haiti.



Again I would like to thank all of those who have purchased an I ♥ Haiti T-Shirt or I love Haiti wristband. You truly have helped make an impact in the lives Haitians who have been vastly affected by the tragic earthquake.



I ♥ Haiti T-Shirts and wristbands are still available for purchase! All profits from the sale of shirts will now be donated to Haiti in the form of assistance with educating Haiti's children. Post describing the I ♥ Haiti T-Shirt Edikasyon Pou L'enfants (education for the children) Project will be up soon!

The Haitian Experience

The trip overall was an eye opening experience for me about what is important in life. Witnessing all the problems and challenges Haitians face was over whelming but the thing I appreciated the most was despite all the obstacles these people face, they are still happy. They still have a great appreciation for life. Some of this can be attributed to the fact that typical Haitians don't understand what its like to have cleaning running water, food to eat everyday, free public education, paved roads, garbage systems, health care, and many other benefits we have here in the US. Living in poverty is something that is normal to them. While taking it all in I asked myself, "What if I grew up here, in the situations many Haitians live in?" I first thought, "I would be miserable, I would hate life, I don't know what I would do." But I soon came to the realization that I wouldn't know anything different. I wouldn't know what its like to get free education, or having running water in my house. So I feel as though I still would try to be happy despite growing up in poverty, like many Haitians are today.

The trip also made me look at myself and the things I feel are important in life. It makes you feel a bit guilty being American when you travel to a country with a high level of poverty. I'm very thankful for being raised in a well established country that has given me many opportunities to live a comfortable life. I still to this day feel guilty and sick when I look into my closet and see all the clothes I have because I have met people who only posses the clothes they wear on their back. Going to restaurants or buffets I sometimes think about the people in Haiti that haven't eaten in a few days or only ate one small meal of rice and beans for the day. Reflecting on the trip I now feel as though I now know what is important in life and what makes me happy in life. Being able to give to those who are less fortunate than yourself, and being able to have an impact in the lives of others are two things that are more than ever a great importance to me. Whether it be here in America or abroad in Haiti having a positive impact on someones life is important. Overall the trip was a life changing experience for me. It has helped me clearly identify what I want to do with my life and know what is important to me as a person.

Again so many people to thank. I would like to thank David and Sarah Dirrum for letting me come on the trip and teaching me about the culture of Haiti. Bob Valerius for all the great work he does in running Cap-Haitien Children's Home and the opportunity for me to come and spend time with the kids. All my good friends who donated money and clothing for the children of Cap-Haitien Children's Home. Lastly all the Haitians I met while being in Haiti, these people have really shown me what it means to be happy in life and that material possessions and wealth has nothing to do with happiness.

I encourage anyone who is reading this to donate to the organizations I was able to volunteer with. No donation is too small and these organizations do very good work in helping Haitians.

Cap-Haitien Children's Home: www.swcocada.com/CHCH.html
Bethesda Widows Home: www.swcocada.com/widowsupport.html

Bethesda Widows Home

Visiting the widows home was a great experience. Living a lengthy life in one of the poorest countries in the world I feel is a great accomplishment that not too many Haitians get to experience. It was great to meet and visit with the residents of Bethesda widows home. The residents were very excited to see new visitors and were a pleasure to be around. David, Sarah, John and I went to the widows home with Altagrace Toussaint.
Altagrce helps take care of the widows and also does work with the orphanage. She is a really nice lady and it was a great pleasure meeting her. I most enjoyed sitting with the older men and talking. They only spoke creole, and my creole isn't great, and I did'nt even understand most of what they said, but they were happy none the less. David visits with a blind disable woman at Bethesda Widows Home


$50.00 of the donated money I raised was donated to the widows home. It was good to see that despite living all of their lives in not so great conditions these people were still happy to be living life.

Giving to the Children of Cap-Haitien Childrens Home

My main reason for tagging along on the trip to Haiti was to bring school supplies and items for the kids. With the fundraising and donations received I was able to bring about 80lbs of school supplies, toiletry items, and clothing for the kids. When I first arrived to Cap-Haitien Children's Home I brought the two large duffel bags of items for the kids. I then handed them over to Bob Valerius the administrator of Cap-Haitien Children's Home so that he could go through them and figure out how we would pass out the items. Bob is a good guy, he allows some outside children into the orphanage for a hot meal and allows them to interact with the orphans. After sitting and talking with him I learned that the orphans are normally better off than the outside children. While the outside children may have parents they don't have many of the benefits the orphans have. Such as a bed to sleep in, food to eat everyday, clean water, the opportunity to go to school, and the luxury of having generous Americans who give money to support them. With this being said Bob and I decided to let the outside kids have first pick at the clothes and items I brought because they truly need them the most.
This is a picture I took with some of the outside kids.


After Bob had handed out items to the outside kids we finally got down to handing out the gifts to the orphans. We decided to let the kids organize in a line and we brought them in the room two or three at a time. I had became friends with an older boy name Eric that is an outside kid that Bob helps out. Eric was in charge of assisting with helping the kids pick out clothes that would fit. Eric did a great job keeping the kids in order and finding clothes that would fit them. Eric is in the yellow shirt with the hat on.

Giving to the kids was a really good time. We were able to hook each kid up with a tooth brush, a clothing item, and I brought some soccer cards that the kids enjoyed. It was good to see the smiles on the kids faces when they got their gifts. It was a bit like Christmas for them, and I'm very thankful for all of those who donated money or clothing for the kids.


Being able to give to these children and see the smiles on their faces, and see how greatful they were was one of the highest points of my life. Seeing the joy brought to a kids face by giving them something as small as a shirt or a toothbrush is unexplainable. More important than the items the kids recieved is the simple fact that they know people care about them. I asked that each kid write a small thank you on a slip of paper. The kids were happy to do so and wrote a simple Mési. After picking out an outfit and writing a thank you to all of those who donated I took pictures with the kids so my friends here in the states could see the beautiful kids they helped out.

Again I would like to thank each and everyone of my friends who donated money and or clothes to the children of Cap-Haitien Childrens Home.

First trip to Haiti catch up

I apologize for not detailing my first trip to Haiti sooner but I'll catch everyone up on my activities on the trip!