Rotary: Guest Speakers Ally Jan Mohamed and Adil Dinani

Our Guest Speakers were Ally Jan Mohamed and his friend Adil Dinani.  They talked about their  trip to Haiti after the earthquake.  

They travelled to a village called Mount Fleury, two hours outside Port au Prince to help build shelters.  The programme is called “Building Hope in Haiti”.  The village had about 1000 homeless people. During their two week visit they built 5 shelters. This area has had major problems since the earthquake; including cholera.  This is all compounded by the heavy rainfall in the area.

Ally and Adil had a moving video of their experience.  It showed people living in the rubble, with tarps for walls.  They lived in tents, with just basic amenities.  

The shelters which they built are temporary, to provide housing while people get the means to build more permanent housing.  They said that while the people themselves show great resilience, and are caring and loving, all the officials have their hands out.  They even had to bribe the Mayor to get permits to build free shelters in his town. 

 There are many NGO’s working in Haiti.  They were near the UN camp.  There are tent cities extending for miles around.

Ally and Adil are continuing with their sharing.  At present, they are working at the Royal Bank in Port Moody, and are gathering warm coats.  These will be distributed to local homeless people to help them cope with the cold winter.

Thank you, gentlemen, for the very interesting presentation.