Serve Beyond Cincinnati Alternative Spring Break – Haiti 2011

Cincinnati team in Haiti

In March, a group of ten University of Cincinnati students took part in an Alternative Spring Break service trip to Haiti. A first for all of us, this trip was organized through an on campus organization that provides alternative winter and spring break trips, Serve Beyond Cincinnati (SBC).

Our group arrived in Port-au-Prince on Saturday March 19th and got settled in for our stay at a secured compound in the city ran by the Jesuit ministry Foi et Joie, translated as “Faith and Joy”. After having dinner, the team spent the evening getting to know more about the country and the upcoming presidential election.

We rode in the “tap tap” everywhere each day and that was an adventure in itself! On Sunday, election day, we went to a beach called Paradise Island; afterwards, we drove through the city and saw the devastation the 2010 January earthquake caused the city, including the collapsed Presidential palace. It was clear to all of us already that there was a great amount of uncertainty in the country and we had to be flexible throughout the trip.

Getting to Work

On Monday, we started the work in a village east of the capital called Balan. This area, along a lake called Etang Saumatre, is home to over 25,000 people. Most of them live in mud and thatch roof houses which are not permanent. We were starting the project in the community to build safe and permanent homes for the families, some who moved from the city after the earthquake.

Starting the foundation for the first home in Balan

As we drove in, we were all so glad to see that there was a primary school and high school for the children and many of them were out playing on a morning break. There was a volunteer center on site for future teams that was not quite finished so we went to work right away cleaning out the building and getting it ready for upcoming volunteers. Some team members began digging a footer for a home, the first to be built in Balan!

As the day went on and the temperature rose, we found ourselves taking breaks to play with the children and talk with some families living nearby. Our team was the first in Balan and it was our job to be embassadors to the people and get them excited about the work our team and future teams would be doing there.

On Tuesday we continued the work on the footer and cleaned the land around the volunteer center. We even found some time to play “duck duck goose” with the school children. The next day our group dug a latrine for the family that will one day live in the home that we were starting. We then used the dirt to level off the land inside the footer of the home. We finished up this work on Thursday along with a few other small jobs. That afternoon we stopped by a UNICEF clinic and a hardware store.

Making friends with the local children

Friday was a little different than the other days because we spent part of the morning organizing the donations we all brought and the early afternoon distributing them to the people of Balan. This was an overwhelming task, but it was great to give items like soap, clothes, shoes, pencils and toys to so many people in Balan.

Our team spent our evenings in the compound playing card games, hide-and-seek, building camp fires, and reflecting on the experience in Haiti. The SBC team spent a lot of the work week with the people, especially the children. This trip certainly taught us all about the need in Haiti and the vast number of ways we could help out. The work in Balan was tough and also rewarding. We look forward to sending another team of students to Balan in December to continue working towards the goal of providing permanent housing for all families.

Story by Lindsay Long, University of Cincinnati

You can read more details by checking out Lane Hart’s blog from the trip.

Even in the darkest of times, it is important for us to build something positive.

Homes from the Heart directed Haiti cleanup

Homes from the Heart cofounder Bob Miller died recently at his home in Kansas City, Missouri. Bob was a giant among generous people. His priorities in order were God, family, work. His legacy lives on through the thousands of people his generosity has benefited. Bob was a strong backer of building homes for those struck by disaster, first in El Salvador following the 2001 earthquake, and more recently in Haiti.

Work is underway for Homes from the Heart in cooperation with Fuller Center for Housing, with Catholic Relief Services, and working alongside many Haitian disaster victims themselves to build one hundred permanent, safe homes in Balan, Haiti.  You can help us achieve this very practical goal with your financial support and by volunteering your time.

Come back to this page to see progress reports on this build over the coming months.

Rob Beckham and Michael Bonderer on the job in Haiti

To contribute financially, contact

Nancy Jochens

Jochens Law Office,Inc.

1001 E. 101st Terrace Suite 200

Kansas City MO 64131

816 – 994-6959

njochens@kc.rr.com

or use the Donate button above with the Covenant Partner Designation “Balan, Haiti”.

To join a build team, contact

Michael Bonderer

michael@homesfromtheheart.org

or use the Travel button above and request a Global Builders trip specifically to “Balan, Haiti”.

From the obituary for Robert E Miller published in the Kansas City Star on August 3, 2010

Robert Miller

Bob Miller, of Kansas City, Mo., died on August 1, 2010, at his home surrounded by his family. He was born in Kansas City on May 31, 1929, to Robert and Mary (Tierney) Miller. He lived his entire life in Kansas City and was able to walk to St. Frances Xavier grade school, Rockhurst High School and Rockhurst College. He served his country in the Korean War as a member of the U.S. Army Counter-intelligence Corps. Upon his return from service, Bob began a career in the insurance industry. He married Carol T. Shaughnessy on June 21, 1958 and had four children. He started the Robert E. Miller Insurance Agency in 1961. Bob taught “Country Speech” at Rockhurst College for 30 years and, in the Jesuit tradition, was a true “Man for Others.” He served in many capacities for numerous organizations throughout his life, including Rockhurst High School and College, Avila University, the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation, St. Joseph Hospital, Ozanam, Marillac Center for Children, Lalmba (an African relief organization) and Water Partners International and many others. He was an active member of St. Thomas More Parish for over 40 years.

In response to the devastating earthquakes in El Salvador in 2001, he formed Homes from the Heart, which built over 350 concrete homes and continues to build housing and communities in Central America. His great love for the priesthood and religious prompted him to form CORE (Celebrate Our Religious Enthusiastically), a group which organizes an annual “Priest Appreciation Golf Tournament” for priests in both the Kansas City, Kansas and Missouri dioceses and the annual “Blisters for Sisters’ walk to support women religious throughout the metropolitan area. To support the many charities he loved, Bob formed The AMDG (Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam) Fund, incorporating the motto of the Society of Jesus, “for the greater glory of God.”