University Group Working to Make a Difference in Haiti
A group of nine, including President Tracy Fitzsimmons, is currently in Haiti, finishing up four intense days in which they are trying to makes strides in a number of objectives.
Director of Physical Plant Gene Fisher, Winchester-based architect David Ganse, AIA, and Winchester-based engineer Jody Fox, PE, listen as administrators at College Catherine Flon share their vision of what they would like their new facilities to be. (Photo by Cathy Kuehner)
A group of nine, including President Tracy Fitzsimmons, is currently in Haiti, finishing up four intense days in which they are trying to makes strides in a number of objectives. During their stay in Port-au-Prince, where clean up after the January 2010 earthquake is estimated at only 20 percent, a torrential rain swept through the area late June 6, killing at least 11 people. The rain caused mudslides, trapped people in their cars and heavily damaged roads that were already barely passable.
Associate Professor of Physical Therapy Missy Wolff Burke, physical therapy student Leah Marsallo and pre-occupational therapy sophomore Shannon Mays have been working with 6-year-old Meloonda Bregard and her parents Jean and Clarice. Dr. Fitzsimmons and others from the university first met Meloonda in March 2010. The little girl had been trapped under her collapsed home and deprived of oxygen long enough to cause severe brain damage. Meloonda and her father spent two months at Shenandoah last fall for assessment and intensive therapy. Now, Dr. Wolff-Burke and the students have visited the Bregards where they live on a remote mountainside, and have worked with Meloonda to update her rehabilitation program.
Architect David Ganse, AIA, engineer Jody Fox, PE, and Shenandoah's Director of the Physical Plant have documented what exists of the College Catherine Flon, a K-12 school in Carrefour (pronounced Car-four) that serves about 5,000 students at its four facilities, each located along the same street. Ganse, Fox and Fisher have met with the school's principal Willio Saint-Fort as well as seven other school administrators. They also met with a local contractor to discuss building materials and the availability of materials and equipment. The goal is to design new facilities that meet the needs of the school and suit the administrators -- buildings that will be safe and withstand earthquakes.
Additionally, those who are on this trip are reaffirming Shenandoah's support and compassion to those they meet. Shenandoah University committed to helping rebuild the College Catherine Flon in March 2010, and this trip supports that vow.
Learn much more about this trip and see photographs on Facebook. Like "BRICKS & BOOKS: Shenandoah rebuilds College Catherine Flon."