Leigh's Friend
Leigh Sent me this so I thought I would pass it on to all of you.
Hi,
My friend Reed who has lived and worked in Haiti as a journalist for many years is looking to establish a small scholarship fund for four Hatian friends who have helped Reed, through grassroots efforts, establish and manage a free school for 100 children in their community. Reed's friends are studying and trying to get through college. Below, Reed has written a more thorough explanation of the situation and the support he is after. He has written short bio paragraphs - that are remarkable -about each friend as well.
I met Reed through Hye who will be joining him in Haiti for 6 weeks to help out at the school. I am forwarding the message from Reed for any who are interested in Reed's efforts or could connect him with other people or groups who could help him.
I encourage you to google Reed Lindsey if you are interested in learning more about him or reading any of his stories or watching any of his TV reports.
Thank you,
Leigh
________________________
From Reed:
For the last year and a half I've been struggling to support four Haitian students – Lolo, Patrick, Etant and Nazaire – who also happen to be close friends. All of them come from poor families, two from broken homes, and own almost nothing more than the clothes on their backs. I've paid for their school, transportation, food and medical bills among other things. Two of them – Lolo and Patrick – live in my house free of charge. I haven't thought twice about helping them within my means because they're great kids with tremendous futures – if given the chance to realize their potential. But more importantly, while they themselves are poor – and often hungry – they have nonetheless dedicated time and effort to helping others who are even less fortunate.
Together, they helped found a free alternative primary school last year in our neighborhood for nearly 100 children who didn't have enough money to study in Haiti's highly privatized education system. (All four of them have been forced to drop out of school themselves at different times because of a lack of money.) Classes at the neighborhood school began again two weeks ago, and all four guys are volunteer teachers. They also form the backbone of the grassroots group that is responsible for the school, called Neighborhood Assembly of Jacquet (AVJ), and have helped organize assembly meetings, street cleaning teams, basketball tournaments for young people and a community media collective.
Unlike many young Haitians, who would do anything to abandon their home to live in the United States, all four of them want to stay in Haiti because they love their country and believe strongly in helping it overcome its crushing poverty. While young people in the United States may be worried about relationships and parties and sports, the main concern of Lolo, Patrick, Etant and Nazaire is finding a way to eat and study. Despite the hardships they have faced, they are all remarkably driven and responsible, and none of them drink or smoke or do drugs.
Here are some details about each of them:
Reagan Lolo is a truly a remarkable person and at a mere 22 years of age he has overcome a lifetime worth of hardships. He ran away from home when he was 12 and lived on the streets of Port-au-Prince for a year. After that, he had the good fortune of entering an orphanage where he excelled, becoming a popular radio DJ, playing music and sports, and finishing high school with excellent grades. He was arrested for political reasons in March 2004 and spent four months in one of the most horrendous jails you can imagine, packed into a small cell with 25 other detainees. He is a natural-born leader and has been the driving force behind the neighborhood movement and its alternative school. Lolo is remarkably facile with languages – he speaks almost fluent English without having spent anytime in an English-speaking country and after a one-month trip to Venezuela that I sponsored he came back conversant in Spanish. He plans on continuing his community activism and studying at the public law school this year, inspired by the dream of defending poor people who are imprisoned unjustly.
Patrick Mettelus is 20 years old and is beginning his final year of high school. Patrick is from the town of Les Cayes, where his mother, a street vendor, still lives, but he has been in Port-au-Prince since he was young and grew up in the same orphanage as Lolo. Although shy, Patrick has been one of the most active members of AVJ and his constant presence and dedication to the neighborhood kids helped get the school off the ground. Patrick is an assiduous student and worker – I often find him at 2am sitting up on the couch asleep with a book in his lap. His dream is to become a doctor in order to help the poor, who cannot afford medical care in Haiti.
As one friend has described them, Etant Dupain is as tall and outgoing as Patrick is short and timid. Etant is barely 20 years old, thin and well over six feet tall. He and Patrick met at the orphanage, and have become best friends and are almost always together, whether playing soccer or teaching at the AVJ school. Etant's parents migrated from the countryside and now live in one of the poorest neighborhoods in Port-au-Prince. Etant is fiercely passionate about his country and dreams one day of becoming a journalist who can tell the truth about what is really happening here. He is also interested in history and sociology and plans on studying one of these subjects when he graduates high school three years from now.
Nazaire St. Fort is 24 years old and entering his fourth year at the state university's agronomy school. Nazaire's father was a carpenter, but he is now quite old – in his 80s – and he can no longer support him. Nazaire won a scholarship to study at a prestigious private high school, and finished third in his class. He is passionate about learning – he reads voraciously (his personal favorite is Hemingway) and has picked up both English and Spanish. When he graduates, he dreams of helping peasants in the Haitian countryside. For the meantime, he is teaching at the AVJ school, and is planning to give a course on environmental students.
We worked out a budget together and figured out that each needs approximately US$3,000 a year to study and survive, which comes to $12,000 total, or $1,000 a month total for all four of them. This includes school expenses (tuition, books, photocopies, notebooks, etc.), food (about $5 a day), transport (taking taptaps, pickup trucks that are the public buses in Port-au-Prince), personal hygiene and clothes.
What I'd like to do is establish a scholarship fund for them, whereby friends and family could each chip in a certain amount each year to cover their annual expenses. They would be responsible – with my supervision – for making sure the money lasts for the whole year.
I'm writing to pretty much all my close friends and family, and I figure if each one makes a donation according to their means, together we can help these guys realize their potential while they themselves help others without any one of us having to make too large a sacrifice.
Donations can be given to a non-profit organization in Idaho called Friends of SODA, which is essentially a mechanism for fundraising for the neighborhood school and other activities. We are applying for 501c3 status, but don't have it yet. I'll let you know as soon as we do (hopefully before the end of the year if all goes well), but if you are able to give something before then that would be great.
If you're able to help out, please send a check to:
Friends of SODA
PO Box 597
Ketchum, Idaho 83340
Or wire money to:
Friends of SODA
Bank of America
311 Main St.
Ketchum, ID 83340
Tel: 208-726-5376
Acct #: 14381 800
Routing #: 123103716
Please let me know.
Best,
Reed
Hi,
My friend Reed who has lived and worked in Haiti as a journalist for many years is looking to establish a small scholarship fund for four Hatian friends who have helped Reed, through grassroots efforts, establish and manage a free school for 100 children in their community. Reed's friends are studying and trying to get through college. Below, Reed has written a more thorough explanation of the situation and the support he is after. He has written short bio paragraphs - that are remarkable -about each friend as well.
I met Reed through Hye who will be joining him in Haiti for 6 weeks to help out at the school. I am forwarding the message from Reed for any who are interested in Reed's efforts or could connect him with other people or groups who could help him.
I encourage you to google Reed Lindsey if you are interested in learning more about him or reading any of his stories or watching any of his TV reports.
Thank you,
Leigh
________________________
From Reed:
For the last year and a half I've been struggling to support four Haitian students – Lolo, Patrick, Etant and Nazaire – who also happen to be close friends. All of them come from poor families, two from broken homes, and own almost nothing more than the clothes on their backs. I've paid for their school, transportation, food and medical bills among other things. Two of them – Lolo and Patrick – live in my house free of charge. I haven't thought twice about helping them within my means because they're great kids with tremendous futures – if given the chance to realize their potential. But more importantly, while they themselves are poor – and often hungry – they have nonetheless dedicated time and effort to helping others who are even less fortunate.
Together, they helped found a free alternative primary school last year in our neighborhood for nearly 100 children who didn't have enough money to study in Haiti's highly privatized education system. (All four of them have been forced to drop out of school themselves at different times because of a lack of money.) Classes at the neighborhood school began again two weeks ago, and all four guys are volunteer teachers. They also form the backbone of the grassroots group that is responsible for the school, called Neighborhood Assembly of Jacquet (AVJ), and have helped organize assembly meetings, street cleaning teams, basketball tournaments for young people and a community media collective.
Unlike many young Haitians, who would do anything to abandon their home to live in the United States, all four of them want to stay in Haiti because they love their country and believe strongly in helping it overcome its crushing poverty. While young people in the United States may be worried about relationships and parties and sports, the main concern of Lolo, Patrick, Etant and Nazaire is finding a way to eat and study. Despite the hardships they have faced, they are all remarkably driven and responsible, and none of them drink or smoke or do drugs.
Here are some details about each of them:
Reagan Lolo is a truly a remarkable person and at a mere 22 years of age he has overcome a lifetime worth of hardships. He ran away from home when he was 12 and lived on the streets of Port-au-Prince for a year. After that, he had the good fortune of entering an orphanage where he excelled, becoming a popular radio DJ, playing music and sports, and finishing high school with excellent grades. He was arrested for political reasons in March 2004 and spent four months in one of the most horrendous jails you can imagine, packed into a small cell with 25 other detainees. He is a natural-born leader and has been the driving force behind the neighborhood movement and its alternative school. Lolo is remarkably facile with languages – he speaks almost fluent English without having spent anytime in an English-speaking country and after a one-month trip to Venezuela that I sponsored he came back conversant in Spanish. He plans on continuing his community activism and studying at the public law school this year, inspired by the dream of defending poor people who are imprisoned unjustly.
Patrick Mettelus is 20 years old and is beginning his final year of high school. Patrick is from the town of Les Cayes, where his mother, a street vendor, still lives, but he has been in Port-au-Prince since he was young and grew up in the same orphanage as Lolo. Although shy, Patrick has been one of the most active members of AVJ and his constant presence and dedication to the neighborhood kids helped get the school off the ground. Patrick is an assiduous student and worker – I often find him at 2am sitting up on the couch asleep with a book in his lap. His dream is to become a doctor in order to help the poor, who cannot afford medical care in Haiti.
As one friend has described them, Etant Dupain is as tall and outgoing as Patrick is short and timid. Etant is barely 20 years old, thin and well over six feet tall. He and Patrick met at the orphanage, and have become best friends and are almost always together, whether playing soccer or teaching at the AVJ school. Etant's parents migrated from the countryside and now live in one of the poorest neighborhoods in Port-au-Prince. Etant is fiercely passionate about his country and dreams one day of becoming a journalist who can tell the truth about what is really happening here. He is also interested in history and sociology and plans on studying one of these subjects when he graduates high school three years from now.
Nazaire St. Fort is 24 years old and entering his fourth year at the state university's agronomy school. Nazaire's father was a carpenter, but he is now quite old – in his 80s – and he can no longer support him. Nazaire won a scholarship to study at a prestigious private high school, and finished third in his class. He is passionate about learning – he reads voraciously (his personal favorite is Hemingway) and has picked up both English and Spanish. When he graduates, he dreams of helping peasants in the Haitian countryside. For the meantime, he is teaching at the AVJ school, and is planning to give a course on environmental students.
We worked out a budget together and figured out that each needs approximately US$3,000 a year to study and survive, which comes to $12,000 total, or $1,000 a month total for all four of them. This includes school expenses (tuition, books, photocopies, notebooks, etc.), food (about $5 a day), transport (taking taptaps, pickup trucks that are the public buses in Port-au-Prince), personal hygiene and clothes.
What I'd like to do is establish a scholarship fund for them, whereby friends and family could each chip in a certain amount each year to cover their annual expenses. They would be responsible – with my supervision – for making sure the money lasts for the whole year.
I'm writing to pretty much all my close friends and family, and I figure if each one makes a donation according to their means, together we can help these guys realize their potential while they themselves help others without any one of us having to make too large a sacrifice.
Donations can be given to a non-profit organization in Idaho called Friends of SODA, which is essentially a mechanism for fundraising for the neighborhood school and other activities. We are applying for 501c3 status, but don't have it yet. I'll let you know as soon as we do (hopefully before the end of the year if all goes well), but if you are able to give something before then that would be great.
If you're able to help out, please send a check to:
Friends of SODA
PO Box 597
Ketchum, Idaho 83340
Or wire money to:
Friends of SODA
Bank of America
311 Main St.
Ketchum, ID 83340
Tel: 208-726-5376
Acct #: 14381 800
Routing #: 123103716
Please let me know.
Best,
Reed
posted by Anonymous at 09:29
1 Comments:
Although this is amazing, I wish that Super Dreamer had posted it.
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