Twelve members of our Rodef Shalom community will journey to Haiti in February. Right now, team leader Marian Allen is in Haiti, working in the school and paving the way for our arrival on Sunday, February 5. David is gathering information and ordering materials which he will use to work bring electricity to the building projects in Thomassin. Jennifer, Joy, Susan, and I have learned to fit reading glasses for adults and children. We thank all who contributed glasses throughout the past few months! Amy is preparing to be with and to guide children through their grief. Avi, Talia, and Riza are collecting the playground equipment they will use to help pass the long hours while children await their physicals and eyeglass fittings. Abigail is practicing her already-fluent French.
As we work alongside the people of Haiti as part of our FLM-Haiti mission (
flmhaiti.org) we will be studying Jewish texts and processing our experiences through the lens of Jewish tradition. Our goal is to contribute to the process by which Haitians will be able to control their destiny, making real the words of our teacher Maimonides, "the highest level of
tzedakah is to support people in need by strengthening their own hand until they no longer need to be dependent upon others."
We are ready to go!
We'll be blogging from Haiti! Read more:
http://thejewishchronicle.net/news_from_haiti
