Volunteers to build houses in Haiti

TWO South Galway men will travel to the Caribbean later this year building homes in the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.

Gort pharmacist, Brendan Quinn and Kinvara singer-songwriter, Paul Mulligan will spend a week in Haiti in October building houses in the country, where 80% of the population live below the poverty line and more than half exist in abject poverty.
Brendan and Paul will work in Gonaives, about 160km north-west of Port Au Prince, in late October as part of Irish charity Haven’s Build it Week.
For Brendan, this is the first time he has volunteered abroad.
“I have never been to Haiti but it is a place I have always been interested in seeing. I have done a lot of charity work locally but not overseas. I had heard of Haven before the earthquake in January. The ads for the charity had attracted my attention at the time and then the earthquake happened and that was that,” recalled Brendan.
“Haven itself has a good reputation and what I trust about this charity is that it is pure volunteerism, so there are virtually no administration fees. As well as that, you don’t bring medicines or anything like that, everything is bought there. They are generating business and, in turn, manufacturing to support that business. There is no point bringing things from here that can be manufactured in Haiti or bought through Haitian suppliers. I think shopping locally there is a great approach. I decided to do this too because I didn’t want people to think I was going on a holiday. This is about hard work and hard graft and raising funds. That is my kind of charity,” he continued.
While Brendan and other volunteers will spend just one week building houses in Haiti, local people build with the charity year round.
“On house-building projects, it is difficult to make sure that the people who need them most get them. Haven seems to have overcome this problem. The Irish people build for a week but Haitian people build for the whole year. It is hard to keep gang lords out but Haven is going to build enough houses that there won’t be a gang lord demand. There is a finite number of houses needed in any one area, so everyone will be housed eventually,” he commented.
According to Brendan, his friends and business colleagues in Gort have been hugely supportive of his fundraising efforts. He was particularly touched by a donation from the local No Name Club.
“The response from the town has been excellent, particularly from neighbours and business people. I think they appreciate that this is not something I do often and they understand what happened in Haiti is enormous on a global scale. It is amazing when you think about it that in some areas people have not been able to build since the earthquake because bodies were still being recovered until recently,” he said.
For Paul, the earthquake earlier this year proved the catalyst for his volunteerism.
“I always wanted to volunteer abroad but with family and kids and that, I never really had the time. I thought about going to Haiti when Haven began working out there originally. There was a poster up in a builders’ providers and I saw it but I couldn’t commit to it. Then, after the earthquake, it brought it to mind again. I always had an interest in Haiti. I used to read pirate stories when I was little and there were often mentions of Haiti because its history is quite tied in with pirates,” Paul recalled.
“I have experience in the building industry as well. I am qualified as an architectural technician, so I thought I might have something to offer,” he added.
Paul has also received a lot of support for his fundraising.
“Everyone is very encouraging and thinks it is a great thing to do. It is hard to fundraise now though because people don’t have that much money. I have been doing gigs and while they raise some money, it is hard to organise them and get other people involved and I have exhausted that anyway, so now it is time to get more creative,” Paul claimed.
Paul is holding a table quiz in Connolly’s Bar in Kinvara at 9pm on Friday, as well as a sponsored walk in the Burren on August 8.
“I am looking for people to take part in the walk and get a bit of sponsorship for the charity. If anyone is interested, they can contact me on 087 2491040,” Paul concluded.
Brendan is holding a fundraiser in the Blackthorn in Gort on Saturday night. Labane-based musician Paddy Jordan and Fine Gael senator Ciarán Cannon will lead the music. There is no cover charge but there will be a raffle with spot prizes.