Light Dawns

At 2am, our group will depart from Gannon's iconic arch, load up on a yellow school bus with others traveling over Spring Break, and head to Buffalo for our early morning flights. As we take off, it will be dawn - a fitting image for the experience we're about to have.

Our trip organizer is Kim Lamberty, Director for University and Mission Engagement at Catholic Relief Services - but she's actually leading us in a different role - as a board member for Just Haiti. We plan to spend the week meeting with and learning from coffee growers, a group of sisters who care for people who are vulnerable and sick, Catholic Relief Services staff and many others along the way. We expect to learn about how climate change is impacting this small island nation, and more political unrest, and unrelenting poverty. We expect to see beautiful, lush hills and barren deforested ones. We expect to see crystal clear ocean and communities still recovering from the earthquake five years ago. We expect the light, but have no idea what each day will bring.

Kim has been preparing us with presentations about Haiti's history and the organizational goals of Just Haiti. Stay tuned - we will post again as soon as possible.

Here's a little glimpse into who is a part of our team:
Evan Cook - Student Co-leader, Senior, History & Political Science Major
Ruselle Henry - Student Co-leader, Junior, Sports & Exercise Science Major
Bruce Kibler - Accompanier, Asst Professor of Management
Laura Goble - Accompanier, Director, Center for Social Concerns
Louisa Afriyie - Senior, Respiratory Care
Melia Gasbarre - Freshman, Physician Assistant
Abby Jebaratnam - Junior, Physician Assistant
Dante Stefanelli - Sophomore, Accounting