The Canadian Connection

I was wandering through the halls of Hopital Adventiste d'Haiti one morning when I was surprised to encounter a fellow compatriot.  Not only is Vanessa Johnson a Canadian like me, she also hails from my birthplace on southern Vancouver Island, British Columbia.  I grew up with Vanessa's mother, aunts, and uncle and it was a real pleasure to meet her.  She currently lives in Petit Goave and is an agriculture project manger for ADRA Canada and may end up spending several more months in Haiti until her tasks are completed.  She impressed me as being very personable, motivated, and knowledgeable about her work and it made me proud to know that she originates from my hometown.  Keep up the strong work Vanessa!

As I mentioned in a previous post, I was honored to give Dr Norgrove Penny, also a fellow Victorian, a tour of the facilities at Hopital Adventiste.  If all goes well, HAH may be collaborating with Dr Penny's parent organization, Christian Blind Mission so I may have the opportunity to work with him in the future.

Since we're on a roll with the mini tribute to the role Canada has played in the Haiti relief effort, I noted tents on campus sporting a large, red Canadian maple leaf imprinted over the door.  I believe that the shelters were donated by GlobalMedic, a Canadian organization that has adopted the slogan "Serving the Global Community" as its motto.

GlobalMedic is committed to helping those in need around the world by providing relief supplies and equipment including the water filtration system at HAH pictured below.  Two motorcycles power the 12v power supply needed  to produce more than 20 bottles (5 gallons ea) of drinking water for the staff and patients each day.

The following update is from GlobalMedic founder Rahul Singh:

I want to ensure that all of our team members, donors, supporters, partners, and most of all beneficiaries know that we will continue to work in Haiti.  We asked the Canadian government for funds to expand the current water project that we are running, a water project that provides an average of 150,000 litres a day to earthquake affected victims.  We started this project on January 15th, 2010 and will pass the 10 million litre mark on Wednesday, March 31, 2010.  The Canadian government has opted not to fund the first three proposals we submitted.  As a result we are unable to expand the current operation. 

We have expanded our partnership with ADRA International to ensure they carry on with the current operation.  This partnership will continue to ensure that the beneficiaries that rely on our team’s work for their daily access to potable water will continue to be served. 

GlobalMedic is now focusing its effort in raising funds to provide household water purification systems to families.  Our emergency efforts will continue. All of our operational equipment will remain in Haiti.  Clean water will continue to flow. Together we will help keep hope alive.