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by Rachel Simon

Dr. Sarah John – Medical Mission to Haiti

(Wed. Nov 7, 2018) Catherine Read interviews Dr. Sarah John, who leads an annual medical mission trip to Haiti with We Care to Share. In addition to the medical services provided to the people of Chantal, Haiti, for the last five years special projects in the village have been funded by the Rotary Club of Centerville-Chantilly in collaboration with other area Rotary Clubs in District 7610. She began organizing this annual  trip to the village of Chantal, which is located approximately 150 miles southwest of Port-Au-Prince, after the massive 2010 earthquake devastated the island.

This will be the 16th mission trip for her group, and Dr. John is very proud of all that they have been able to accomplish over the years. She has successfully brought together fifteen Rotary Clubs from Northern Virginia to help provide the village of Chantal with things like school bathrooms, solar arrays, a school kitchen, solar cooking pots, and many over the counter medications. The medical missions first brought large items like dental chairs, so people would not have to lie on wooden boards while having their teeth cleaned, along with smaller things like band aids and pharmaceutical goods that people did not have access to. On each trip, volunteer doctors, nurses and lay people serve over 1000 patients for medical and dental checkups.

This year, Rotarians working in conjunction with Bethel United Methodist Church from Warrenton, VA,  will be funding the set-up of the very first science classroom in the village, outfitted with lab equipment and computers. There is no access to the Internet in this remote village, but the Computers for Education group that works with Bethel Church is retrofitting laptops with educational software and Wikipedia information, in their native Creole language. These computers will be networked together, so students can have access to information. This will provide a hands-on learning experience, complete with microscopes and lab equipment, something these students have ever had. Part of the mission trip will include science teachers visiting to train the teachers in Chantal on how to use these new resources.

Dr. John is still looking for individuals who are interested in going on this mission trip scheduled for January. In particular, she is in need of pharmacists, who will process prescriptions for all of the patients who are seen in the free clinics. They could also use more doctors, nurses and lay people to help carry out the mission. The cost to attend is the airfare, plus $650, which covers housing, meals and transportation on the island. She notes that after all of the hard work is done, the fee includes a stay at a beautiful hotel and a day at a Caribbean beach.

Jerry Foltz RotarianIn the second segment of the show, Catherine speaks with Dr. Jerry Foltz, a doctor of ministry and a fellow Rotarian in the Rotary Club of Centreville-Chantilly. One of his first major efforts in supporting the mission involved driving goods up to Brooklyn to be loaded on a ship bound for Haiti. One of his first assignments was to deliver the dental chairs. He notes that they were difficult to move and deliver, but after seeing what a difference they make when he visited Chantal, he knows that it was important work to be done. In the trip he made with Dr. John two years ago he worked in a variety of capacities – helping to organize patients and prep them for a doctors visit, as well as work in an administrative capacity to enter data into the system after the doctors are done with their work.

Dr. Foltz loves the culture of trust in the village of Chantal, and thoroughly enjoyed his trip there with other volunteers. He notes that the strong infrastructure of Rotary worldwide is what makes projects like this possible. He enjoys collaborating with Dr. John, and with other Rotary clubs, in using their combined resources to make a significant impact in a part of the world that lacks so many resources.

Filed Under: Blogging, TV Shows, Your Need to Know Tagged With: Bethel Church, Blessings, Brothers Brother, Chantal Haiti, Computers for Education, Dr. Jerry Foltz, Dr. Sarah John, Haiti, Rotary, Rotary Club of Centreville-Chantilly, We Care to Share

by Rachel Simon

Kyle McDaniel Resigns from Republican Party

(Jan. 29, 2018)  Catherine Read interviews Kyle McDaniel, who recently stepped down from his post as a member of the Republican State Central Committee. He submitted his public letter of resignation shortly after President Donald Trump made derogatory remarks about people from Haiti and African countries.

Kyle has been active in Fairfax County politics and policy, having worked as a top aid for Supervisor Pat Herrity and serving on local boards and commissions in the Fairfax County. He lives a life of service, having done mission work in Haiti through his church, and serving on local Rotary and Lions Clubs at home in West Springfield. His disdain for the President was evident, as he has felt like the GOP has lost its moral compass. He also believes that the current crop of GOP leaders is abandoning the core guiding values of conservative philosophy, which promotes smaller government. Kyle continues to see himself as a true conservative, and plans to stick to his principles as he moves forward with new endeavors as an Independent.

When asked about the future of the Republican Party, McDaniel asserts that until the party can become more inclusive, and realign itself to understanding the needs of the next generation, then the party will continue to shrink. He also feels that the blue wave seen in the November elections in Virginia should be an indicator to the state party that there is strong anti-Trump sentiment in the Old Dominion. In regards to the 2019 elections, he believes that the party whose voters are motivated to stay the most engaged and energized will fare the best in the off-off year elections (no Federal or Statewide candidates will be on the ballot; all 100 members of the House and 40 members of the Senate will be up for re-election).

McDaniel, 28,  is looking forward to taking a step back from politics and the public eye, and spending more time with his young family. He loves the community that he lives in, and through his work with the Rotary and Lions Clubs will dedicate his time and energy to things that will make his community a better place. In the future, he envisions himself working on promoting policies that help working families improve their quality of life, such as affordable childcare and affordable healthcare. He believes that Conservatives understand that businesses want a healthy economy and happy workers, so finding the intersection of these values will be important for future stability and growth of the community.

Filed Under: Inside Scoop, Political, TV Shows, Virginia Tagged With: Fairfax County, GOP, Independent, Kyle McDaniel, Lions Club, Pat Herrity, Rotary, Virginia Republican Party

by Catherine Read

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.

Filed Under: Blogging, Inside Scoop, TV Shows Tagged With: Chantal, Dr. Sarah John, Haiti, Hurricane Matthew, Medical Mission, Rotary

by Catherine Read

We Care to Share – Medical Mission to Haiti

(January 2013) We Care to Share (WCTS) is a non sectarian, 100% volunteer, mission of doctors, nurses, dentists, pharmacists and lay people serving the needs of remote villages in Southwestern Haiti. Led by Father Yves Francois under the 501c(3) of his church, WCTS formed following the disastrous 2010 earthquake. Since then we have provided 10 medical relief missions to the village and will travel again in January, 2015. Team members come from throughout the US, Canada, and England and cover all their expenses of participation.

Recent missions have been supported by Rotary Clubs within District 7610 in Virginia. Spearheaded by Dr. Sarah John, a Rotarian in the Rotary Club of Centreville & Chantilly, grant applications have been successfully funded for the last two years with another grant application pending.

Filed Under: Blogging, TV Shows Tagged With: Haiti, Medical Mission, Rotary, Rotary District 7610

Catherine S. Read
I believe in the power of community and the ability of one person to make a difference.

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