Rotary Program:10/6/04

Program Chairperson: Carrie Cinnamond

Speaker: Scott Mandl, Executive Director of Christian Flights International

Scot Mandl and Ray Jackson spoke to us today concerning the work that Christian Flights International is doing in the country of Haiti. 700 miles south of Miami, Florida lies the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere. 3 of every 4 Haitian children are so malnourished that their lives are threatened. There is very little clean water and over 50% cannot read or write. The average annual income is less than $500 and most of those who can find work do so from sunup to sunset for less than $7.00 a day. Children have few schools to attend and teachers are scarce. Since 1980, CFI has been flying missionaries, workers, and anyone else who wants to help share the resources, expertise, and caring they have for the Haitian people. Their base of operations is a 5-acre campus near Ranquitte, a village in the north central mountains of Haiti. Here CFI operates a school that educates over 1,000 students daily, a clinic that provides affordable health care for over 20,000 people, and a system of wells that provides clean drinking water to reduce the leading causes of sickness and death. They also help recover the deforested areas of land to help grow much needed food and trees. At present, nearly 97% of the land in Haiti has been stripped of the forests to use as fuels for heat and cooking. Over $20,000 has been invested in the Ranquitte area to reforest the land to help prevent the flooding and erosion that threatens the compound.

Ray Jackson is an emergency room physician who is also a part of CFI and a passionate supporter of the work that is being done in Haiti. He spoke to us about the plight of so many of the people who struggle every day just to obtain the basic necessities of life. He also shared with us the many varied ways that Americans are helping that country and its people, but added that there was so much more that needed to be done. With so little investment, he said, a tremendous amount could be done. For example, for the price of a meal at McDonalds, a child could go to school for a month. For less than 1,000 a house that would last 20 years could be build for a family. Ray encouraged anyone who would like to help to sign up to make the next trip to Haiti in March. The benefit is both to the people of Haiti, and also to those who go and make a difference in the lives of so many.

Thanks Scott and Ray for this moving program today. – JMC

Rotarians are reminded to attend the Rotary Pig Roast and Picnic at the Pikeville Mini-Park on Sunday afternoon from 4:00 to 6:00 PM.