“Stelzer delivers shoes to Haiti orphanage hit by ... - Le Mars Daily Sentinel” plus 2 more |
- Stelzer delivers shoes to Haiti orphanage hit by ... - Le Mars Daily Sentinel
- Garage, Estate, & Yard Sales - ksl.com
- Chanticleer Shoes - Frederick News-Post
| Stelzer delivers shoes to Haiti orphanage hit by ... - Le Mars Daily Sentinel Posted: 21 May 2010 08:33 AM PDT What started as a mission project for the Evangelical Outreach Committee at St. John's Lutheran Church in Le Mars became a personal mission and a trip to Haiti for member Kathy Stelzer. The mission was undertaken after an earthquake struck Haiti in January. Her one week trip in April was "quite an eye-opening experience," Stelzer said. How did it come about? "Our church wanted to a have personal response to what happened in Haiti," Stelzer explained. Stelzer looked up "orphanages" on the Internet and found Grace Orphanage and School in Port-au-Prince Haiti. The church committee voted to do special Sunday collections for the orphanage. Stelzer took her own commitment to the next level, deciding to travel to Haiti to help where she could. She traveled with a church group from Kentucky which has close ties to the orphanage. Stelzer's mission was to bring shoes and socks for children. "By the time I left, I had more than $3,000 from the church plus $600 from people in town," Stelzer said. She used some of the money to purchase shoes, and took the rest in cash to be given to Marie Major, the orphanage director and pastor, at the orphanage and school in Port au Prince, Haiti, which was hard-hit by the earthquake. The church and orphanage were destroyed, but the school is intact. Stelzer's many photographs show the earthquake's destruction and the resourcefulness of the people in the area. "A lot of Port-au-Prince is being taken down by hand using sledge hammers and wheel barrows to clear the rubble," Stelzer said. While there, she saw only three earth movers and three dump trucks in the city. "Rubble is everywhere," she said. For example, where the orphanage once stood, only a cement slab remains. The shoes and socks Stelzer brought went to children at the school and orphanage. Marie sent a tracing of the children's feet, which Stelzer took to the store in the U.S. for shoe sizes for the children. Stelzer distributed the new shoes to the children during a shoe-fitting session. "The shoes were wonderful. The kids really needed them. I got lots of hugs, and I gave a lot of hugs, too," Stelzer said. Others in her travel group brought supplies for the Carrfour area in Haiti, including tents, clothing and baby formula. A local committee of five people helped to organize the distribution of those supplies. Stelzer compared them to a Chamber of Commerce group of local leaders. "They try to get something for everyone and see that its distributed fairly," Stelzer said. One day the group was driven through the city to see the damage and progress made. They started out after breakfast and missed lunch that day. By mid-afternoon the group was hot and tired. At a stop, they were thanked with a cold bottle of pop. "That was the best tasting Coke I've ever had," Stelzer said with a laugh. "It energized us enough to get back to Marie's." Stelzer also saw the tent city at Champs de Mars, which she was told held 10,000 people. Later she read a magazine article which stated 35,000 people lived there. "That's more than three times the size of Le Mars," she said. While it was dry when Stelzer's group was there, she's since heard about rains which have turned the tent cities into mud cities. "The tents are right next to each other, no yards. "I don't know how they function in those conditions," Stelzer said. It makes me want to go back and see what more we can do." The buildings in Haiti are built of cement to withstand hurricanes, not earthquakes. There is a cement factory in the area "just because that's the best thing there for everything to be built from," Stelzer said. Even the school yard has no grassy area, as it would turn to mud during the rains. Their neighborhood roads are more like dirt alleys. Stelzer learned rubble from the destroyed buildings in the neighborhood is now on the streets. Pieces of stone came from the destroyed church and orphanage, orphanage director Major told Stelzer. Another day, Stelzer's group took a number of children to the beach, an hour away. The tap tap (taxi) had no gas, so 50 adults and children went in a pickup truck. "We had 40 in the truck bed and 10 in the cab," Stelzer said. Some of the money she brought was used for the trip and beach admission, which was a treat for the children, most of who had not been to the beach. "That water felt good on a hot day," Stelzer said. The group also attended a church service in the neighborhood. "Marie introduced us to the congregation and thanked us during the church service for coming," Stelzer said. The group stayed at Major's home which was about a block and a half from the destroyed orphanage. "The neighborhood was glad to have us there, They are a very welcoming people, always greeting us," Stelzer said. She noted Marie has been very resourceful with what she has. An old truck is being stripped for parts to be sold, while a truck trailer is being refashioned in to a temporary classroom. "She's employing local people to do the work to help in rebuilding neighborhood. She wants people to know that what they send to her helps her neighbors too," Stelzer said. Stelzer saw needs in many areas. In the classroom she saw only a chalkboard for the teacher to use for instruction. "They had no supplies. As a teacher, that just broke my heart," Stelzer said. She noted, however, "You don't want to take something down just because you think it's a good idea. You want to ask them what they need or what is the next thing they need." A trip like this changes you, Stelzer reflected. "It was definitely eye-opening," she said. "I learned a lot from them." She found the children very loving and caring. She brought home an appreciation of just how fortunate we are. "You realize you don't need all of that. You need each other," she said. She found the people in the Haiti neighborhood she visited work hard, but they don't have a lot of distractions. "Their faith is so strong. It's remarkable," Stelzer said. She also found the people to be very proud of how they look. "They are very clean, and all their clothes are washed by hand. They're spotless," Stelzer said. "They want to look their best. That's one thing they have control over, how they look." Stelzer said seeing the conditions the people are living in makes her want to do more. "I need to ask what's the next thing we can do for you. We need a focus rather than guessing," Stelzer said. She notes Haiti has been on her mind a lot more now. "Yep, I'll be back. I don't know when but I'll be back," she said. "You can't stop thinking about it once you've seen it." Stelzer has already shared her story with service groups in the area. She invites everyone to the 9:30 a.m. Sunday School hour May 30, at St. John's Lutheran Church sanctuary, where she will share her experience and pictures from the trip. She will also make a presentation at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 1, at Mr. P's. Guests may order refreshments on their own. To see more about Grace Orphanage and School in Port-au-Prince Haiti check out the website graceorphanagehaiti.org, put together by Faith Lutheran Church from Kentucky. Five Filters featured article: The Art of Looking Prime Ministerial - The 2010 UK General Election. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. | |
| Garage, Estate, & Yard Sales - ksl.com Posted: 21 May 2010 05:49 AM PDT Weather
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| Chanticleer Shoes - Frederick News-Post Posted: 20 May 2010 10:53 PM PDT
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