Welcome to Bike for Haiti By Erik and Abdiel

The idea of this trip began ten years ago on a family road trip. As the sights of the United States passed by me I dreamed of riding my bike across the country. I brought the matter up during our road trip. I remember saying something like “Next time lets do this by bike...” Of course at the time everyone thought I was crazy. Then five years ago on another road trip I discussed my dream with Abdiel, a friend of mine. He thought that a bike trip would be crazy, but also a great experience. Overtime the idea slowly started to develop and take hold.

While this bike trip will be a great learning experience for Abdiel and I we eventually decided to ride for a cause. We not only wanted this adventure to mean something to us, but to serve a purpose for others. This is why we have decided to ride for Partners in Health (PIH), and Haiti. As many of you know it has been about a year since the earthquake devastated Haiti displacing people out of their homes. Even more then a year later people are still living in tented communities. PIH is not only dedicated to continue to help those harmed by the quake, but has existed in Haiti for many years. As a co-founder of PIH, Dr. Paul Farmer has been revolutionizing how medicine is brought to those in need throughout Haiti. The mission statement for PIH states “When a person in Peru, or Siberia, or rural Haiti falls ill, PIH uses all of the means at our disposal to make them well... Whatever it takes. Just as we would do a member of our own family - or we ourselves were – ill.” This means that PIH is very adamant about helping those who fall ill upon their doorstep. (To learn more about what PIH is doing for Haiti visit PIH Stand for Haiti website)

Any donations are greatly appreciated. We hope the links to our blog will help better inform you about PIH and Haiti. A great book to read is “Mountains beyond Mountains” by Tracy Kidder. You can make a one time donation to our cause and give our ride purpose by going to our PIH Fundraiser Page or if you would like to donate an X amount of money per mile we ride that can be done by going to Pledge per Mile. Remember even the smallest contributions help.

* Your donation can: give a years worth of tuberculosis medication for one person that costs about $10-$20 dollars in poor countries such as Haiti. Antiretrovirals for HIV range from $70-$80 per year, per person. *All donations will go to PIH*

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Stand for Haiti

Last Friday Abdiel and I went to a program put on by PIH. The Program was to reflect on what has been done throughout Haiti and the work that still needs to be done. I posted the program below this blog. My favorite part of the program was about the teaching hospital being built in Mirebalais, a town just north of Port-au-Prince. Since the earthquake the teaching hospital in Part-au-Prince was destroyed along with its nursing school. It seems that this hospital will be a great way to help Haitians bring health-care into their own hands. I think the section on this hospital is around 1hr 27m on the video posted below.

Another interesting part to the story was that of a nephrologist who went down to help after the earthquake. He explained in his story how taking one turn in the hospital he took one night, met the difference between life, and death for a small baby. Along with stories shared by others there was Haitian music and a general attitude of reflection on the past events.

Also very exciting for me was that I was able to meet Dr. Paul Farmer. I was pretty shy about it, but was able to give him the address to this blog. Farmer seemed very friendly towards all those who were wanting to speak with him. It was a great night to reflect on Haiti.
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