By Tim Traynor
One of the most important aspects of our undertaking in Haiti is the opportunity to teach our brothers and sisters new talents. As the coordinator for non-medical services at Hôpital Sacré Coeur, I have had the enormous pleasure of seeing the growth of a body of men who traditionally toiled as day laborers for the hospital as they performed many different tasks. They would line up outside our gates early in the morning waiting for an opportunity to earn the equivalent of $6 doing whatever jobs were available for that day. When I asked who knew anything about concrete work, every hand would be raised enthusiastically. If the need was for plumbers, these same fellows’ arms would wave frantically shouting that they were expert plumbers. It didn’t take me very long to realize that if I asked for brain surgeons, the group would have such qualifications.
It became evident that part of our mission here should be to pass on basic construction skills to these people as important gifts which would long endure beyond the few days of work we could provide. In order to accomplish this, I would need a group of dedicated volunteers who would be willing to pass along some of the more rudimentary expertise to these willing and grateful students. It is these men that I wish to mention today.
