Very personal, heart-wrenching stories about the devastating 2010 earthquake in Haiti and the still-dire situation there were shared with us last Wednesday by guest speaker Jacques St. Gelus. Jacques was born and raised in Haiti, and was there when the earthquake happened.
As a result of his experiences during that traumatic time, Jacques changed career direction and is now a nursing student at George Fox. He described how, on a “normal Tuesday in 2010,” the world changed for him. “Nothing was real to me,” he said. “It was like being in a movie.” Over 200,000 people perished in the earthquake, some because help could not get to them quickly and people were not trained in first aid.
Now Jacques is committed to changing all that. When he graduates in 2017, he plans to return to Haiti to “improve the system one person at a time” through training and education. He would also like to put together a group of Haitians to run a hospital where “anyone will get good quality care no matter their social status or time of day.”
He plans to lead a group of 15 people on a 10-day serve trip to Haiti in the near future. To participate or donate, you can contact him at [email protected] or call 503-724-6992. To help Jacques with his educational expenses at George Fox, you can visit armmin.org/donate.
# # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #
MISCELLANEOUS
- Auggie announced the dates for the 2017 Guatemala trip: April 1 -8. Now is the time to seriously think about participating in this great service project
- Two positions were filled on the club’s Foundation Board–by Andrew Ayler (incumbent) and Leona Todd. Thank you, Spike, for administering the vote and thank you, Jim Hirte, for your service on the board
- Jeff reported on and thanked all the hard-working Rotarians who made this year’s pancake breakfast a success. Kudos to all and special thanks to Jeff
- Congrats to Mike Caruso– his daughter is becoming a Rotarian in Spokane
- LeRoy brought a guest– Michael Pollock
- Visiting Rotarian from the Woodburn club, Ty Burlingham, may switch his membership to our club
CANDID SHOTS FROM THE 2016 PANCAKE BREAKFAST