PTDOS and Fundraising Event

After a celebratory beer and working on powerpoints Friday night, I woke up at 5:30 am on Saturday for our PTDOS event. I was ready at 6:15 am but Haitian time took over and we did not get going until 6:45 am. It gave me time to watch the beautiful sunrise again and reflect on the week.

For the PT Day of Service event we went to the town square to pick up trash. The square has heavy foot traffic and is a meet up spot for many people. With more people comes more trash. Sadly a majority of the people throw the trash wherever they are standing leaving the sidewalks and grass covered in Styrofoam boxes, bottles, bags, and wrappers. The students said that some workers come to clean the area at times but it is inconsistent and people tend to just litter again.

Our group was about half the size that we expected due to family commitments and time of the day. However, the seven of us were able to fill 20+ bags of trash this morning. We worked hard and tried to show the young children watching what a difference cleaning up can make. The students explained that children are not taught much about trash, the environment, or sanitation growing up in Haiti. Two of the students reflected after the project the need to educate the community on sanitation and keeping the streets clean. They felt that doing this could really help the health and stability of the city.

In the afternoon I traveled with Janet, the Dean of the PT/OT program, to port au prince for a fundraising event to support St. Vincent school.  The school houses and teaches children with special needs.  The school is what brought the vision of a PT/OT program at FSRL to life.

The event was a fundraiser located at Hotel Keribu which is one of the nicest hotels in Haiti located in the nicest region of Haiti. The resort was first class with beautiful buildings, artwork, and attention to detail. The event put on tonight was a Kids Halloween Bash. They went all out with moon bounces, trick or treating stations, a haunted house, and full stage with music and entertainment. I was introduced to a few board members, nuns, past students, and local healthcare students. On the way home I had a great discussion with Janet about the even as well as deeper topics of internal drive and life lessons. I really enjoyed seeing another aspect of Haiti to finish off a great week.

Overall this week has helped me to develop as a global thinker, educator, therapist, and man. I am excited to return home to implement some of the lessons I learned and spend time with my wife and pup. I hope you enjoyed reading the posts.