Read. Think. Act.

Catherine Read

Archives for October 2016

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Dr. Sarah John – Mission Work in Chantal, Haiti

(Oct. 31, 2016) Catherine Read talks with fellow Rotarian Sarah John, MD, about her ongoing work in Haiti. Following the devastating earthquake in Haiti in January of 2010, Dr. John began working with a mission to provide medical aid to the people in the western and more remote areas of Haiti around the village of Chantal.

After joining the Rotary Club of Centreville-Chantilly in 2010, Dr. John began coordinating multiple Rotary Clubs throughout District 7610 to fund annual projects in the village of Chantal. These projects included medical and dental equipment, solar arrays to bring electricity to the village, construction of bathrooms for the largest school in Chantal, an infirmary with capacity to keep seriously ill children overnight, and most recently construction of a kitchen at the school in Chantal.

Much of that five year effort was wiped out when Hurricane Matthew swept across southwestern Haiti on October 4th, 2016. The damaging winds took down houses, the solar arrays and the school kitchen under construction. The flooding damaged medical equipment. There was loss of life and serous injuries as well property damage and many people were left without anything except the clothes on their backs.

The photos Dr. John shows are from one week previous when she journeyed to Haiti to provide immediate medical relief and to survey the damage in Chantal. With the help of local Rotarians, the organizations We Care to Share and Brothers Brother Foundation, Dr. John is working on her next mission to Haiti in January to help with the rebuilding efforts.

She has set up a Go Fund Me page to help in raising the needed funds to do repairs in the village and to move forward with the project slated for this Rotary year. The photos in this interview give a good on-the-ground view of what was being done in the direct aftermath of the hurricane to bring relief to the people of Chantal.

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Virginia Senator Scott Surovell on Inside Scoop

(Oct. 3, 2016) Catherine Read talks with Virginia Senator Scott Surovell (SD-36) about a variety of topics in advance of the Nov. 8th elections. The presidential race between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton has the potential to create additional electoral opportunities here in Virginia if U.S. Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia is elected Vice President. There is also a competitive Congressional race in the 10th District between two women candidates: incumbent Barbara Comstock (R) and challenger LuAnn Bennett (D).

One of the major local ballot issues in Fairfax County is the Meals Tax Referendum. The proposed tax would raise an estimated $100 million in additional revenues earmarked for the school budget, public safety, mental health services and tax relief. Senator Surovell’s district has a high number of Title I schools that would benefit from additional investment. The lack of teacher raises has made recruitment and retention of teachers an ongoing challenge for the Fairfax County Public School system. The Meals Tax is opposed by many in the restaurant industry in a campaign spearheaded by the locally owned Great American Restaurant Company.

Senator Surovell also takes us through parts of the Route 1 redevelopment plan. This particular part of Northern Virginia has some of the highest rates of poverty which greatly affects the schools, housing and transportation in the area. Senate District 36 has a great deal of economic and ethnic diversity. Sen. Surovell shows us maps, renderings and plans for redeveloping key parts of the area to include better transportation solutions and mixed use developments that provide additional housing solutions.

In the final segment, Senator Surovell discusses the Potomac water quality and the challenges of both cleaning up the waterways and protecting them from future pollution. He specifically addresses the disposal of coal ash and the problem with raw sewage originating in Alexandria. Efforts to protect the Chesapeake Bay watershed are dependent on vigilance about the waterways that feed into it.