By Jim Mahar, Professor Columnist
Everyone can make the world better every day. It sounds like a trite statement, but it is more than that. It is a basic tenant of BonaResponds that everyone matters and can make things better. To prove that, I am going to give you some examples from the BonaResponds world this week.
In Sierra Leone, a country in West Africa where the per capita GDP is less than $600, Bagura and his CAMSL crew wrapped up their first harvest in the inaugural garden program sponsored by PositiveRipples. It was a huge success. They sold crops of corn, okra, melons, greens, grains and cucumbers for about $300 total. It may not sound like much, but as the PositveRipples theme states, it is the start that will impact many more. The profits will serve as the basis for micro loans to allow small businesses to start and grow, and the land will be readied for another planting.
On Saturday, in Les Cayes, Haiti, Rochelin coached soccer again. Soccer was our entry into the Les Cayes area several years ago. Rochelin, Jean Emmanuel and others began Soccer for Peace to give children, many of which do not attend school, something to do, some order in their lives and something to look forward to every week. The program was halted for over a year in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew, but (without any financing from us) it restarted. This is a huge success for those children.
In Olean, in addition to two work days where we cut down trees and packed items for Haiti, as well as prepped iPad donations with Enactus and 12 student visitors from the Bahamas, I was fortunate to work with Mason, Regan, Michael and their mom Michelle on Bob’s Woods’ trails. Many things make this a special project, especially that the children were all in middle school or younger, picking up four bags of garbage in less than 90 minutes and moving many downed branches off the trails. This will make the trails safer and keep garbage out of our waterways.
In Leogane, Haiti, this past weekend Jonas and his crew organized a bike ride for 2,700 people as a show of community and a reminder that fitness is important. This is the second annual ride, called Yogann ap Pedale. Jonas asked me to ask all the readers for bikes that can be used in next year’s ride, where he hopes to get even more. Again, a seemingly small act, a bike ride made a big difference. With funding from PostiveRipples, he will next take care packages to people imprisoned in Haitian jails.
Also in Leogane, Onel, who has come to campus twice as part of the BonasAndBeyond program, hired another worker for his plant nursery. He may or may not have needed the added employee, but the employee needed the job to make payments for his final high school semester. Onel is banking on the job, not only helping the business, but giving the employee a head start on the rest of his life.
On the SBU campus, a student volunteer on our Spring Break trip refused a $100 refund so that BonaResponds can help more people.
We can all make the world better. We don’t need to be rich, powerful or even adults. We just need to care and take action.
Quote of the week: “Everyone has a purpose in life and a unique talent to give to others. And when we blend this unique talent with service to others, we experience the ecstasy and exultation of own spirit, which is the ultimate goal of all goals.” – Kallam Anji Reddy, an Indian businessman.
– This weekend, we will be working locally at 11 a.m. on Saturday and 11:30 a.m. on Sunday. We plan on starting our first local wheelchair ramp of the new season and hopefully making a handicapped-accessible entrance to the Allegheny River Trail.
– We are happy to announce a return trip to Dickinson, Texas from May 15 to 22. Come with us. We will be on the same routine as the first trip, flying into Houston Hobby Airport. We are looking for a couple of people who are responsible with clean driving records to drive our tools down and back.
– Want to help, but can’t work? We are collecting soccer and medical equipment for Haiti. Shipment is the first week of May. Please drop off new or gently used items at 104B in Swan.
This is the ninth in a series of articles by BonaResponds leader Jim Mahar, Ph.D.
