Haiti

Posted on January 21, 2012 by Michael

As I have mentioned in the past, I will be visiting Haiti this March as part of a course I am taking at my university. The focus of our study is global health, and Haiti will be used to illustrate many of the things we will be learning. Here is an excellent video by Hans Rosling that should give a good idea of what the class is all about:

In addition to possibly seeing awful things such as kwashiorkor first hand, we will be conducting programs for local children and volunteering at the village health center in Casale. (Spellings of the place vary, but this version can be found in Google Earth.) We will also bring a number of donations, including clothes and cash. The average annual income for Haitians is roughly $1,000, so the straight cash they get (which will be more than that) will serve as a big boost to the local economy. The other supplies will clearly also go a long way. Of course, we only have a troupe of 10 people, so what we can do is somewhat limited, especially whereas 9 of us are students. More donations are welcomed:

Ways you can support the Team by:

  • Donate craft items and school supplies (paper, stickers, colored pencils, school pencils, pencil sharpeners, glue sticks, beads, ….)
  • Donate supplies for the Health Center (disposable diapers, children’s vitamins, pre-natal vitamins, ibuprofen, aspirin, hydrocortisone cream, antibiotic ointment…)
  • Donate items for the On-line Silent Auction in support of the trip and then participate in the auction. Auction begins 2/1/12. Details can be found at http://faculty.uma.edu/SBaker/
  • Send a donation in support of the Team to: Office of University Advancement, UMA, 46 University Drive, Augusta, ME, 04330 (checks payable to UMA with Team Haiti noted on the check).

I am not the point-person for all this, but I obviously am not going to turn away anything anyone wants to give. I don’t want cash (use the information listed above for that), but I will be more than happy to take any of the other listed items (this is mostly for people who read this and personally know me or live in central Maine). I will also update things as the online auction gets closer.

My plan is to invest in a number of Mountain House meals since we have to supply some of our own food. They’re light and easy to crush without any real consequences, so they will save a bunch in weight and space for our bags, freeing things up for other supplies (which, obviously, will also see an investment from me). Of course, I can only buy so many $6 meals – plus we need to be able to easily share our food with our hosts – so there are logistical issues here, but I’m sure it will all work out.

If you can donate, please do.

Filed under: Personal | Tagged: , , , | 8 Comments »

Going up

Posted on October 9, 2011 by Michael

Some time ago I wrote about weight lifting. In that post, there was an exercise I couldn’t find. Eventually I figured it out. Of course, that didn’t mean I could find a video of it. Not even an image. So for that reason, I have uploaded a picture of my grandfather performing the feat in December of 1950:

"GOING UP - Bob Hawkins, Augusta, one of the most talented young weightlifters in New England, shows good form on a one-arm cleave and jerk of a 152 pound lift. Hawkins and other leading Maine lifters will compete in a Knights of Columbus sponsored, Maine AAU sanctioned, meet here January 6 at City Hall." Dec 1950

Just to emphasize, that’s 152 pounds. I don’t know what my grandfather’s weight was at the time, but I would estimate not over 170, and I think I’m high-balling it a bit. In short, what he did was damn impressive.

Filed under: Personal | Tagged: , , , | Leave a comment »

« Previous Page