OLG has had a close relationship with the St. Louis du Sud Parish in Haiti for more than 20 years.
?There is a lot of synergy between the parish in Haiti and our parish here. The main difference is we just speak a language,? Ken Rulon said.
He explained that OLG has a service committee dedicated to deciding which projects the group should complete during its trip at the end of January.
?The goal is to develop a longer presence serving in Haiti that is more than just going down and handing out food to the children. We want to leave them with the tools needed to become self-sufficient,? he said.
One of the projects is especially aimed towards the children who come from a local orphanage and attend school at the parish.
?My wife, Jane, has been working getting everything we need to install a hand washing station in the school. She has been making posters with directions in Creole that will help instruct the students on how to use the station,? Rulon noted.
He added that another hurdle to overcome is teaching the children of St. Louis du Sud of the importance of something such as hand washing.
The Rulons? agriculture background will prove useful during the trip when it comes to the second phase of installation for the stations.
?Haiti receives more than 60 inches of rain a year, so the water for the hand washing station will come from catching the rain as it falls off the roof of the school,? Ken said.
Another important impact of the rain-catch system is that all the materials and contractors are being sourced locally, which will provide jobs and revenue in the town.
?Besides working on installing the hand washing stations, we also plan on finishing up the installation of solar panels. A project started by a previous service trip last spring. Electricity has to be generated and can be very costly. With abundant sunlight, solar panels are cost-effective, along with reliable. Since one of the most important keys to becoming self-sufficient is communication, it is important to get the panels working,? Rulon said.
He noted that the priest of the parish in Haiti has to drive at least an hour just to access Internet and, in turn, is only able to check his email about once a week.
?It?s hard when we can?t communicate with the priest on a regular basis. We often miss opportunities to help them in time,? the farmer said.
Both Ken and Jane are hoping that while they are in Haiti they will be able to connect with a farm family in the parish and develop a long-term relationship with them.
?We want to look into the possibility of forming a long-term relationship with a farm family. We could help establish a type of market where the family, along with other farm families, grows a product like tomatoes specifically that the parish would agree to buy in advance, before planting. Ultimately, we would be helping them create a local market,? Rulon said.
He added this is just an idea that will take years to develop, but helping the people of Haiti help themselves is the whole point behind the OLG service trips and their goal to help the parish.
?Our Lady of Grace is not going to Haiti to solve the world?s problems. We are just hoping we can work towards helping them live better. We want to provide as much love to the children and people as we possibly can,? Rulon said.
The Rulons are funding their own trip because they want all money raised to be used directly on items to help the people of Haiti.
?Our industry has been greatly blessed this year. We just want to share some of those blessings with our brothers and sisters in Haiti,? Ken said.
Anyone wanting to help support the cause in making Haiti sustainable may direct donations to: Our Lady of Grace ? Haiti, 9900 East 191st St., Noblesville, IN 46060.
Source: http://c.moreover.com/click/here.pl?r5662443449
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