HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2013-02-28, Page 7THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2013. PAGE 7.Progress easy to see on Haitian mission trip
A few weeks ago area folk Lisa
Pot and her son, Rick, Gaye Datema,
Herman Thalen, Susan and Cheryl
Wilts and John and Jane Klasen and
30 others from outside this area,
went on a mission trip to Haiti. For
many of them this is a yearly event,
a warm sunny break from the cold
and grey days of winter in Huron
County. As Jane claims, this is an
addiction of sorts for them. She
remarked that this trip was
‘bittersweet’.
The first ‘sweet’ moment was
realizing upon their arrival that the
fields around the airport and
government buildings were no
longer covered in temporary tent
housing. Gratefully those Haitians
have found other housing and that
site is cleaned up. Although there are
still tent cities in other areas,
progress is being made.
The once potholed roads outside
of Port au Prince are now newly-
paved making for smoother and
faster travelling to and from the city.
Again there are still streets and roads
with holes and bumpy gravel but
progress is evident. The once-littered
streets are now filled with city crews
doing sweeping and cleaning.
‘Sweet’ to see Haitians proud of
their city again.
Much work was done during these
two busy, but fun-filled weeks. An
average of 400 children per day
attended Vacation Bible School for a
week at the church and were given
instruction and food. At the closing
program day the Canadians were
able to feed 800 children. Medical
clinics were held on six days in
different areas around Port au Prince
with an average of 125 personsattended to each day. Many clothes,shoes and dental supplies werehanded out to all who visited the
clinics. The Ontario folk felt the
children looked healthy and well
cared for this time. These were more
‘sweet’ moments.
‘Bitter’ moments were recognizing
that not all who were waiting got to
see the nurse or got medication. And
unplanned pregnancies were evident.
More than 300 sponsored children
were located and new photos were
taken. These children also received a
gift from the sponsors back in
Ontario. The group was greeted by
21 happy and energetic boys at the
camp who are also clean and healthy
thanks to this mission work. These
were ‘sweet’ events.
‘Bitter’ happened the day a young
mother brought one of her children
to the orphanage. No longer able to
care for her child because of
circumstances surrounding Haitian
women, she spent one last night with
her child and left almost emotionless
in the morning.
Construction crews worked on
two-room houses in all stages of
completion. The ‘sweetest’ moment
came when team members were able
to hand over to eight needy families
the keys to their newly-finished
homes. Jane remarked that it was a
moving experience for those who
have worked for the last several
years on this project to see the
completion of their labours.
Any moment, whether sweet or
bitter, is a memory. The Ontario folk
feel they are blessed again and again
by this yearly trip; that they come
home a changed and better person. It
is not hard to fall in love with the
Haitians who are always friendly,
pleasant and happy no matter their
circumstances. Jane states she is
glad to have this yearly reality
check.
For more information about this
organization, talk to one of the team
members, check out mthcanada.org
or contact Jane Klasen at 519-523-
4829.
ET CETERAThe weather in February has notbeen conducive to much pleasure-type driving. Therefore the books atRadford’s Farm Equipment/post office in Londesborough will stay out for another week. Then they will be moving on to other sites.
By BRENDA
RADFORD
Call
523-4296
PEOPLE AROUND LONDESBORO
Hundreds of things
For their 100th day of school, students at Hullett Central Public School, from left, Ian Driscoll,
Justin Kerr and Cassidy Shannon brought in collections of 100 items. For some people it was
snacks like raisins, for others it was the most common currency to go the way of the dodo: the
penny. For Driscoll, it was Lego, as shown here, as his classmate Kerr lined up his beads.
(Denny Scott photo)
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during our
Hullett students
spin yarns in
speech competition
By Colton Rodger, Morgan
Howson and Jenna McDonald
At Hullett Central Public School
we had many snow days last week
which were much enjoyed by the
students. However, due to the snow
days, we had to push back the
speech competition in the gym so
speeches were held last Thursday.
As school reporters, we got the
pleasure of being able to listen to the
Junior and Intermediate speeches
and the storytelling and poems in
which the primary grades competed.
Primary storytellers were:
Bradley, Connor, Oliver, Kyle,
Colby, Shyanne, Hailey, Catherine,
Jillian and Sadie. Primary poem
tellers were: Ian, Brook, Shay,
Myra, Alexis and Christopher.
Winners of the storytelling contest
were: first, Colby Dale; second,
Connor Dale; third, Bradley
Hummel. Poem telling winners
were: first, Shay Cox; second,
Alexis Bernier; third, Ian Driscoll.
Junior division, Ethan, Claire, Ella,
Leah, Nick, Avery, Bailey, Kiara,
Jaiden and Owen competed for the
top spot. Winners were: first, Nick
Aitken, telling stories about his dog
Marty; second, Jaiden Shortreed,
who wrote about the penny; third,
Leah Caldwell, with her story
warning Mr. Allen that her brother
Brett was coming to Hullett.
In the intermediate division
speeches were well done when Ben,
Avery, Naomi, Connor, Cody and
Phoebe hit the stage. Winners were:
first, Avery Whyte, who spoke about
NEWS
FROM LONDESBORO
Continued on page 28