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Volunteers find little time for relaxation

by Donna Bailey
Public Relations
Summer vacation plans for Ronald Nickel, Ph.D., Pharmacy, took him to an exotic destination, but rest and relaxation wasn’t on the itinerary.

Nickel, his daughter Elisabeth, and third-year pharmacy student Marsha Moody traveled with seven additional people to the rural area of Millot, 30 minutes from the second largest city in Haiti, Cap-Haitien.

There they helped to restore the badly neglected Mission Bonberger for the training of Haitian pastors.

“Our primary purpose was in terms of physical things, such as cleaning, painting and repairs,” Nickel said. “We were able to get things turned around and provide, by Cap-Haitien standards, adequate facilities.”

Every year, Nickel’s church has sent a short-term mission group to assist various countries in need. “The Haitian poverty level is beyond anyone’s belief,” Nickel said. “Education, such as reading and writing, is the key to rising above poverty. For survival, Haitian parents make sure their children receive that.”
 “School in Haiti costs $20,” Moody said. “And this is still not affordable.”

The language in Haiti is Creole. Income is not regular. There is small evidence that some income is provided from sugar cane that can be sold for rum-making. Tourism supports a small piece of the economy, but not in rural areas. Because of the poverty and disease, the life span of the average Haitian is 45 years.

The mission provides training and sends pastors out into the small poverty-stricken villages to help and educate Haitians.

“It’s overwhelming,” Nickel said. “Unfortunately as one individual, you can’t change that.”

Nickel and Moody agree that without the missionary influence, there would be very few schools and almost no hospitals. The missions keep them going.

Working on the mission left very little time to be a tourist for Nickel and the other workers. It allowed a great deal of time for reflection.

“With little or no distractions, you could concentrate and get the job done,” Nickel said. “It gave me a chance to think about myself and the situation, maybe re-assess my own values in light of what was not important. In that way it was a retreat.”

For Moody, it was a time of appreciation. “In the midst of what seems like a hardship to us, they’re smiling no matter what their situation,”she said.

At the end of nine days, Nickel, Moody and the other volunteers returned to the United States feeling they had made a physical difference in one place—the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere.

“What impact that can have on Haiti,” Nickel said, “remains to be seen.”