Nicholle Gerde is a senior at Baker High School who enjoys traveling.
About a year ago, the 17-year-old went to New Orleans. In November, she journeyed to Haiti. However, her trips are not your typical getaways. This teen travels to help others and she has come away with some valuable experiences. “I went to New Orleans with some people from my church to help with the Hurricane Katrina efforts,” she said. “I feel that a lot of people are so caught up in their own lives that they don’t take the chance to help others around them. I also love to travel and [Haiti] was just an amazing opportunity for me. It’s really helped me figure out a little better what I want to do in the future.” Nicholle flew to Haiti Nov. 11 as a volunteer with All Hands, a United States based, volunteer-driven, not-for-profit organization. There, she participated with the organization’s Project Leogane. Project Leogane aims to rebuild the coastal town of Leogane, which was almost completely destroyed after a devastating earthquake struck the region Jan. 12, 2010. Approximately 30,000 people lost their lives in the natural disaster, and most of the remaining population of 180,000 currently lives in tent camps or on the street in front of their damaged or destroyed homes. All Hands volunteers work in and with the community to help with recovery efforts. Nicholle’s trip to Haiti was inspired by her Aunt Kari, who had previously traveled to Haiti for one month. “That’s how I became involved with the whole thing,” Nicholle said. “[Kari] was showing the family pictures from her trip and I was like ‘I’m going.'” Once there, the duo stayed on the All Hands base in Leogane. Nicholle worked with rubble teams, learning how to use a sledge hammer, recovering re-bar and mudding (shoveling and removing mud). “On my first day, I jumped right into ‘mudding,’ which was a huge job because of Hurricane Thomas that hit only days before my arrival,” she said. “I was covered from head to toe in mud.” “On most days, I worked on the rubble teams,” she continued. “We had to break apart all the cement so we could cut the re-bar inside of it to take away the pieces.” In addition to the strenuous work, Leogane lacked the everyday amenities that are taken for granted at home. “Things were very basic – bucket showers, no warm water, sleeping in a tent and manually flushing toilets with a bucket,” she said. While the accommodations weren’t quite like home, Nicholle said the atmosphere was family-like, as well as enlightening. “I met the most amazing people while I was there – international volunteers that had come from London, Canada, the Netherlands, Sweden, the U.S. and a lot of other places,” she said. “You learn so many things just being around different types of people. It didn’t take me long to get used to everything because everyone is so welcoming. It’s hard to describe exactly, but even though people come and go by the week, while you are there, you are all like a family.” A fifth-year French student, Nicholle was able to use her lessons to communicate with residents. “I interacted a lot with the locals,” she said, adding that translators also assisted with communications. “[Residents] speak Creole, which is very similar to French. We could understand each other pretty well.” Despite the troubles plaguing the region, Nicholle found hope in the people’s determination. “There are very obvious signs of devastation in the area: whole families living in tents, the lack of clean drinking water, the trash all over the place and just the overall living conditions,” Nicholle said. “But, this is a group of people who is not easily broken. They had to deal with the earthquake, then cholera, then Hurricane Thomas, which made cholera worse, and yet they cope every time, because they have to.” Given the chance, Nicholle said she definitely plans to return to Haiti and when the opportunity presents itself, she will stay for a longer period of time. “There are sure to be other projects in the future and I hope to be a part of them,” she said. “I have my parents to thank because I couldn’t have had this experience without their support.” Meanwhile, the high school student plans to lend a hand from home.
“With the help of my French club at school, I hope to start fund raising for [All Hands] to keep building schools. They have around seven so far and I think are shooting for somewhere around 20,” Nicholle said. According to Nicholle’s grandmother, Donna Arseneau, Nicholle helped plan an opening reception for a new elementary school in Leogane during her trip. “[Nicholle] is very artistic and painted a girls’ bathroom wash place with a MacKenzie black and white check look,” Arseneau said. “You have to see it to believe it.” For more information about Project Leogane and All Hands, visit hands.org.
A day in the life
The following is an excerpt from Nicholle’s aunt Kari’s blog (karigoestohaiti.blogspot.com) about her experiences as a volunteer in Haiti: “Signed up for orphanage work. It’s a no photo zone. Good thing…just makes you want to cry. 38 children being taken care of by maybe 5 people. No diapers, no running water, no toilets. Barely any food. All Hands provides support to just play and be with these attention-starved children. Got there around 8:30 and most were in pretty good moods. Around 10 you could tell they were all hungry, crying. Slowly the plated food came out…a sort of rice mush with salt and powdered vitamins added. So hungry. Tiny infants, not walking and toddlers eating a huge plate that may be equivalent to maybe 5 baby food jars. The older children are patient, standing by. They know they are next. They also eat any leftovers from the young ones. I’m not sure when/if there will be another meal today. Some of the volunteers have prepared lesson plans. Basic shapes the subject. Much singing. I brought out chalk and helped them draw on the cement.”