Wednesday, February 15, 2012 

Forward in Health Student Group Update

The Forward in Health Student Group at Gardner High School held its 6th Annual Teacher Talent Show on Thursday February 9th. Several hundred students watched as 15 teacher and staff acts sang songs, played instruments, performed magic, danced, and brought down the house with comedy routines.
 
 
The student group formed six years ago to provide support for Forward in Health and to provide the students with an opportunity to help others in need. Each year in addition to the Teacher Talent Show, the group produces a dance show, a student talent show, a raffle and a yard sale.  Several club members have traveled to Haiti with Forward in Health and have since gone on to medical careers. The 24 current members of the club are co-advised by Forward in Health board member and history teacher, John Gardella, and Cindy Taddeo, a speech and language pathologist for the Gardner Public Schools.
Male members of the GHS History Department show their extreme dedication to FIH fundraising efforts by posing as the "Wildcat Dolls" for the GHS/FIH talent show!

"The Midnight Judges" perform at the talent show, featuring FIH Board Member John Gardella on bass.

4:10 PM | |

Wednesday, February 08, 2012 

Many Hands Make Light Work

Last weekend we had to clean out a few storage lockers filled with miscellaneous items from previous trips to Haiti. What at the onset looked like a full day of labor ended up taking only an hour because we had a great turnout from the FIH community - pitching in and getting it done!

This is a great model for what’s happening across the larger Forward In Health effort. The medical trips are very visible examples of how our goal is being realized. What isn’t quite so evident is the time and effort many volunteers are putting in behind the scenes. In addition to the admirable dedication of our medical professionals we have lawyers, educators, engineers, administrators, professionals, students and donors. You all play an important role and literally this mission would not be possible without your support.

We are getting closer to realizing our dreams and there’s still more to do, but we would like to stop, take a moment, and thank all of you for your love and support. THANK YOU!

9:25 AM | |

Monday, February 06, 2012 

Rethinking an FIH Orphanage... But Continuing to Support the Children

Things are changing rapidly concerning Forward in Hope and the orphanage.  On a recent trip to Haiti, Paula Mulqueen met with government officials in Les Cayes concerning our quest to obtain a license for the boys in our care and ultimately for the orphanage and community school we planned to develop with this in mind.  She received news from this official that the person we hired as caretaker and director for the children was also working for another non-governmental organization (NGO) and his ultimate aim was to build the orphanage on his own land under the auspices of their support.  The official who spoke with Paula expressed his consternation over this and cautioned us to discontinue any further support.  He said that he has no intention of providing a license to us at this time, thus giving us the additional impetus we needed to pull out of an already undesirable situation.


At the same time this was occurring Paula made the acquaintance of a woman who has a social service agency in Les Cayes and provides services for the children of Fon Frede.   This woman expressed a strong interest in working with us in the future and reassured us that the boys we had until recently supported are part of her service area and could continue to be provided for, although in a somewhat different manner.  During their discussions, she and Paula agreed that it would ultimately serve the Fon Frede community better if we changed our focus somewhat to one of a children’s community and education center in order to support entire families in developing their children into responsible adults.  She feels that there are far more opportunities in Haiti currently for the children who reside in orphanages than there are families with children who remain in their own home.


Our next step has been to consult with Pam Reidy, who is the founder of the Worcester NGO called Spirit of Hope for Haiti.  She has provided us with much needed encouragement and guidance in moving through this change.  Thus we are moving forward, though with a slightly different direction in mind. We are not yet sure exactly how this initiative will develop as we are only in the planning stages but its appeal for the children of this rural area in Haiti, and for ‘our’ boys is plausible and heartfelt.

10:02 AM | |