Doudou is his nickname, which I think means man with no problem, goes with the flow, and is pretty easy going. Well let me tell you a little about Doudou. He is the most inspiring man I have ever met and once he sets a goal, he will do anything in his power to complete it.
Half of the time he lives in Port-au-Prince with his family, organizing meetings, buying supplies for his projects, etc., etc. Bainet is where he spends the rest of his time working to improve his organization, Flap Haiti, working on his many projects to make a better education for children in Haiti.
I love this man for many reasons.
Five years ago he had a dream to build a school, and this is a working progress. In five years he has purchased the land and leveled it. This was finished only one month ago. The next step is to find sponsors to raise $150,000 to build a state of the arts school in Bainet, Begin. I just arrived here last night. You know that saying "in the middle of no where"? Well I can honestly say this is in the middle of no where. It is gorgeous here. Mountains surround you. The roads are made of rocks and dirt. The are many s-curves to drive through, honking the horn to let another driver know you are coming around the corner. It gets dusty quickly and easily, although it isn't s bad as Port-au-Prince.
Anyway, back to Fritz. He is currently working on three projects, one being the reason I am here. I am here to train the teachers on more modern techniques, methods, and strategies of teaching, and I finally start teaching on Monday. Marquise will actually be the one teaching because the teachers do not speak English, so I will be telling Marquise everything and she will be translating it. I will let you know how that goes. I wish I could come back next summer, but I will be in some other country serving for Peace Corps. Maybe I will be close and can travel here on my vacation. Who knows!?
The second project is training students on how to use a computer. He found a sponsor to donate over a dozen computers, and he has all of the teachers gathered, but it cost $24 US for each student, for cost of transportation and to pay the teachers. Fritz wants more students then he has now, and I think he is waiting for more sponsors to donate so that can happen. He wrote a status on Facebook a week ago, and so far five people have donated. I feel very fortunate to come from a place where I have access to a computer whenever I want. I am also thankful that I can use one efficiently.
I don't know exactly what the third project is because we haven't talked too much about it. But do you see what I mean? This man knows what he wants and will do whatever it takes to get it accomplished. It is truly inspiring. I look forward to the day when the school is built and the project is finished, but I think it will always be a working progress. It's like being a teacher, learning every day, even if you have had years of experience.
I don't think my words suffice his awesomeness, but he is my brother now and I love him and his family very much. I have my own family in Haiti.
Flap Haiti is name of the organization: http://www.facebook.com/flap.haiti
Check it out, and maybe donate to make a better life for the people in Haiti. : )
That is all for now. Orevwa - bye
I wish I could explain what drama went down near the end of my visit, but it isn't appropriate. I wouldn't have praised Fritz as much as I did here if I would have waited to get to know him, but I do respect and admire what he is doing still.
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