Posted: October 16th, 2010 | Author: Shawn | Filed under: altruism | 2 Comments »
This video is the annual report for the organization that I volunteered with for 5 months in Haiti earlier this year. Annual report sounds rather boring, but it’s a cool little roundup of the projects that All Hands Volunteers (formerly known as Hands On Disaster Response) worked on in 2010 and it’s really interesting. It’s a whopping 6 minutes of your life, but I think you’ll really be glad you watched it. To learn more about All Hands Volunteers please go to http://hands.org.
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//shawn
Posted: May 18th, 2010 | Author: Shawn | Filed under: blah blah blah | 4 Comments »
There’s a sentiment amongst some folks that volunteers in disaster struck countries are simply morbid tourists. As though the destruction and suffering is little more than a sensationalized backdrop to a Kodak moment. I’m currently a disaster response volunteer, and I’ve seen hundreds of volunteers come and go in the past few months. Consequently, I’ve got a first hand perspective on the type of people that show up as volunteers after a large disaster.
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Posted: March 21st, 2010 | Author: Shawn | Filed under: blah blah blah | 2 Comments »
Sunday is my day off here in Léogâne, so I have some spare time to sit down and upload a few photos from the week. I was a bit remiss in taking photos this week though. I started working in the hospital and well it’s not so picturesque. Unless you enjoy seeing an old untreated tibia fracture. There’s a lot of sad stories walking around the hospital every day, but there’s also a lot of smiles. The pre-quake health care here wasn’t exactly award winning, so a lot of folks are just happy to have someone take a look at their malady. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted: March 16th, 2010 | Author: Shawn | Filed under: photos, travel | 2 Comments »
The last few days I’ve been riding in the back of a little pickup truck on the way home from building showers at a makeshift hospital. While sitting back there I sit my camera on my knee and randomly take photos out the back of the truck. Lots were absurd, but a few worked out fairly okay. Okay for not aiming, or planning, ya know? Plus a couple others I had on the camera. Anyways, if you’re keen for some street shots of Léogâne then you’re in the right place. Maybe tomorrow I’ll try and get some shots of the kids who helped me work today. Well they didn’t help so much as they frisbeed a plastic lid around, but whatever. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted: March 14th, 2010 | Author: Shawn | Filed under: blah blah blah | 9 Comments »
I’ve been in Haiti for three days so far. Several hours in Port au Prince, and the rest of the time in Léogâne. In this short time I’ve seen some pretty amazing things. Maybe not amazing in the traditional sense though. Let’s divide this post into two separate sections. One for my impression of the overall Haitian experience, and another for the volunteer work. I apologize that this post is a bit rushed, but I’m expecting the internet to cut out for the day any second now. Or the generator. Whichever goes first I guess.
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Posted: March 8th, 2010 | Author: Shawn | Filed under: blah blah blah | 7 Comments »
In 3 little days I’ll be up before dawn and flying to Haiti. I’m already a little bit sad that I’m leaving Victoria. It’s been an awesome month here, and I could happily stay longer. On the other hand, I’m also glad to be on the move again. I have quite a few hands seemingly, because on the other other hand there’s a ton of unknowns about how things will go in Haiti. Oh, and on the other other other hand… ok, not really. In the last minute I’ve learned that I either need more hands, or a new catch phrase. Read the rest of this entry »
