From Haiti to Rotary: Thank You, Thank You

Chicken Skin, Chicken Skin!  (Hawaiian verbal response to a goose-bump-stimulating event).  I first experienced this about half way through a meeting with visitors from Haiti.  I was in a small conference room in the School of Business on Westminster College in Salt Lake City on March 8, 2012.  In attendance were five visitors from Haiti, three men and two women, comprising a contingent brought in by the U. S. State Department under the auspices of the International Visitor Leadership Program (more on this program and its similarity to the Rotary peace initiative later).  Also in attendance were an English to French simultaneous translator and a French to English simultaneous translator.  The meeting was arranged by the Utah Council for Citizen Diplomacy (see http://www.utahdiplomacy.org ), one of several organizations in the U.S. that cooperate with the State Department to provide relevant programs for the visitors.  I serve on their board as vice president.

The purpose of the meeting was for me to explain the purposes and functioning of Rotary at the local and international level to the visitors.  They were in the U. S. studying the topic “Changemakers:  The Impact Of Social Entrepreneurs In The U. S. (Haiti), A Project For Haiti.”  There were four goals: 1)  Introduce how social entrepreneurs recognize, create, manage, and sustain solutions to social problems; 2)  Examine the culture of service in the U.S. as reflected in government initiatives for civic engagement and innovation;  3)  Explore business strategies for using new and social media for fundraising, grassroots mobilization and strategic collaboration;  and 4)  Discuss the role of social entrepreneurs in job creation and how business community benefits from the work they do.

I did all the talking for the first part of the meeting.  I used “Guiding Principles” from http://www.rotary.org/en/aboutus/rotaryinternational/guidingprinciples/Pages/ridefault.aspx.  It is a perfect talking point source when introducing Rotary.  When I got to the point to discuss some of the international projects that Rotary does, I started with Polio Plus, then moved on to the Shelter Box program.

That was about the last thing I got to say.  The visitors began to speak.  The Chicken Skin came first when the two women announced that they lived in Shelter Box tents for over 2 months.  Understand that these visitors were selected by the U.S. State Department as up and coming individuals in the infrastructure of Haiti, not someone off the street!  Not only did the two women live in the tents, they said the tents were far superior to tents provided by other aid organizations. They mentioned the importance of the various utensils and the water purification system packed in the Shelter Boxes.  And, they, and others took the time to repack the Shelter Boxes when better housing was available.  In one instance, the tents were used a second time after a severe after shock threatened their fixed shelter!

All five of the visitors began to explain the wonderful coordination between the Haiti Rotary clubs and all of the international Rotary clubs that contributed aide.  They felt that this coordination established a sound definition of what was needed so that the aide sent by Rotary clubs was effective.  More effective in their opinion then the aid provided by other organizations.

The second Chicken Skin occurred when each of the five visitors individually and collectively expressed that they wanted to notify Rotary with their thank you.  The thank you was repeated often through the rest of the meeting.  Additional thank you was provided by the French to English translator, who, when he lived on Haiti, was a Rotarian.  Now that he lives in Miami and travels most of the year for the U.S. State Department, he has not been able to maintain Rotary membership.  He related his thank you on behalf of those he knows in Haiti.

All five visitors were interested in joining Rotary.  When I answered their questions about the cost of membership, there was hesitation.  I provided them with a list of some of the Rotary Clubs in Haiti and suggested that they contact the Rotary Club in their home town to see if a New Generations Club could be started, which would have a smaller cost.

I walked out of the meeting after the hour was up wishing with all my heart that many other Rotarians could have been sitting in that room to receive their thank you.

The International Visitor Leadership Program is considered to be the most effective peace-building program in the U.S. State Department.  It was established by the Smith-Mundt act in the 80^th U. S. Congress and approved by President Harry Truman.  The lasting purposes of the program are to:  1)

Link the foreign leaders with their U.S. counterparts, providing a solid professional experience and in-depth, substantive exploration of key issues and diverse, balanced approaches to these issues, and 2)

Enable the visitors to gain a better understanding of the history and heritage of the United States, a better sense of who [Americans] are as a people and what [Americans] value. 

The number of visitors over the years that have advanced to be chiefs of state and heads of government is staggering.  A list of these can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Visitor_Leadership_Program.

The Haiti visitors represented an excellent cross section of visitors selected to participate in the International Visitor Leadership Program.  They were Ms. Sabine Dalice Conserve, Assitant Coordinator, Ministry of Planning and External Cooperation; Mr. Yves Grifman Dumornay, Journalist and Director General Radio Tele Kontak du Centre; Mr. Johnson Francois, Director of media, Radio Liberte Limbe;  Ms. Rose Laure Georges, Recruiting Officer, Center for Training and Academic Support; and Mr. Elusmaire Myrthild, Project Manager, Center for Training and Academic Support.

I would propose that this program, and the peace initiative of Rotary International are close parallels, perhaps best said “Peace, one handshake at a time.”

Errol EerNisse

Sugar House Rotary