International Service - Projects

print this page

ON THIS PAGE :

2009 Ecuador Eyecare and Dental Mission

ShelterBox 2009 

Medical Mission to Kenya

Mortel School in Haiti

Water for Life

Ecuador Eyecare and Medical Mission 2009

 During a massive Rotary club-sponsored medical mission in September, a team of 70 volunteers from 11 countries provided preventive health care to more than 10,000 children in the poorest communities of Nairobi, Kenya.

The medical team, including health care professionals and nonmedical volunteers, screened patients to determine their most urgent needs before sending them to specialty stations set up to provide dental care, eye care, nutrition counseling, and treatment of infections.

Dr. Rodrigue Mortel was Vice Dean of the School of Medicine and Director of the Penn State University Cancer Center, when he was introduced to our club through our work with the Cancer Research Endowment we established at the Hershey Medical Center.  Upon learning his life-story and his charitable effort to create and maintain a school in his home country of Haiti, our club become committed to supporting some students each year.   You can read his biography here.

Haiti is a breeding ground for revolution where violence is a fact of life.  It is proven that Haiti has more weapons than people  (population 8,000,000!)  There is too much turnover of the political leadership (32 coups de etat) to make much progress for the general population.  80% of the people are illiterate and 80% are unemployed.  One in five children die in their youth.  10% of Haitians hold 90% of all wealth in the country. The most basic problem is poverty, and this will only be beaten by education. This is why Dr. Mortel established his school program.   He opened the school, "Le Bon Samaritains" or Good Samaritan School, in 2001.  You can read more about the operation of the school at the Mortel Foundation website.  It it only for the poorest of the poor. 

 The children who attend are hand-picked from an impoverished neighborhood.  Most of the children are malnourished when they begin to attend the school.  It is impossible to teach empty stomachs, so the school provides two meals per day, a uniform, and all school supplies.  It opened in 2001 with just a Kindergarten class, but now has 207 students, equally divided between male and female, in grades K-2.   The students are taught the English, French and Creole languages by Grade 2, plus how to use a computer.  Dr. Mortel is proud to state that this is a God-centered program that has the students praying daily for their benefactors, their neighbors and their country.  December 3rd is celebrated as the Feast of the School-- on Dr. Mortel's birthday!  

One of his goals is not small-- he hopes to have one of his students become the President of Haiti in the next 25 years!  When Dr. Mortel travels to Haiti he always takes Americans with him.  Often he brings college students on a mission trip to teach the stories of the Bible and to act them out for the students.   This is the only school of its type in Haiti, and our club support is essential to its success.  Our club sponsors 7 students at the cost of $300/student/year.  At present most of the students are sponsored by Rotary clubs, churches, and individuals, and additional sponsorships are always needed.  The staff at the Good Samaritan School share progress reports with us so we can see that we are truly making a difference in the lives of the seven children we sponsor.

   The school also provides a literacy program for adults in the evening hours when the children are gone.  Additionally, it is used to teach young women embroidery and sewing, to give them a useful skill to earn money for their families.  In the future, plans for the school include the addition of a trade school to teach carpentry, electrical service, plumbing and steel construction.  Additionally, the school is applying for funding to become a Health Center and to establish a much-needed vaccination program.

  The Elizabethtown Rotary Club is proud to support this very personal and very significant project of a man we admire, and a man who is a wonderful model of the Rotary Motto:  SERVICE ABOVE SELF!

   WATER FOR LIFE 

In 2008, The Elizabethtown Rotary Club sold bottles of water to raise monies for a Clean Water Project.  We currently are in the process of looking for an international partner to work with to make our clean water project a reality.

Thank you to our Water for Life corporate sponsors...

Brown, Schultz, Sheridan & Fritz             Elizabethtown Chiropractic

 Fulton Bank                                Gingrich, Smith, Klingensmith & Dolan

 Heisey Construction                                  Olweiler Insurance

Rebman Eyecare