Brian Olson on Maxmail and Pam Prosser on Haiti Outreach
Our program on April 17th was an example of how to react in an emergency. The scheduled speaker did not appear, so there was no program. President Woody and Jeremy Huisheere put together two speakers who gave us some valuable information about their organizations.
Visiting guest Brian Olson told us about his company, Maxmail. Brian works out of Chanhassen representing the company. They do mass mailings on the internet for clients, using, maintaining, and updating the lists continually so the messages get to the desired clients.
Also speaking was our member, Pam Prosser, who is very active in the Haiti Outreach organization. She has been to Haiti a number of times, and told us of the programs that her group has active in the country. Much of what they do is in cooperation with Rotary Clubs.
She started by reminding us that Haiti is the 4th poorest country in the world, and was struggling prior to the recent devastating earthquake. The program helps Haitians in three ways. Water wells are drilled and a management program is installed along wit h the wells so that there is an ongoing local management group to keep the well functioning. Their people get a local “buyin” before any work is started. Without such a program, the well would not be maintained and would be worthless in 6 months.
Their second focus is what are called mini-loans. Small (to us) sums are lent to individuals to help them grow their businesses and become self-sufficient.
Thirdly, they build high schools to broaden the education possibilities. They have one school already going, and another about to be built. Before construction, Haiti Outreach gets local and national "buyin" so teachers, books and supplies will continue to be provided by the government.
(Story by Tad Shaw and picture by Steve Frazier)