Drake Students Athletes Share Story of Spring Break Mission Trip to Haiti

 

Many college students think of tropical destinations, beaches, and parties when they considering Spring Break Plans.  However, a group of students from Drake University had other things in mind when they decided to head for Haiti, instead of South Beach.

 

David Applegate, a member of the West Polk County Rotary Club, along with his wife have been helping to organize mission trips to Haiti for the better part of a decade.  This year, he approached a number of Drake enrolled students to participate.  More than students, they were student athletes, so in order to participate schedules had to be arranged and special permissions granted by coaches.  Nevertheless, things came together and a group traveled to the poorest country in the western hemisphere to do what they could to lend a hand.

 

Applegate shared a plethora of information about the island to start the presentation.  Did you know that following the earthquake in Haiti a few years ago, over 80 percent of the population was considered below the poverty line?  Or how about, one in five babies born in Haiti will die?  Things are much different in Haiti than in the United States, the wealthiest country in the world.  But that doesn't mean the people have given up.

 

John Bloss plays football for the Drake Bulldogs; Cassi Aert is on the track team.  Both of them participated in the mission trip to Haiti and were on hand at the Rotary meeting to discuss their thought, observations, and experiences while participating.  John spoke of a young man who was very interested in improving his already admirable English speaking skills.  You see, in Haiti, they speak kind of a French Creole dialect.  Unexpectedly, he quickly realized that the relationships that they made with the people of Haiti were more important than the work they did.  

 

Cassi shared an amazing story about how, after working on a project one day her hands were very dirty, even sticky from varnish.  Some young girls invited her into their house and as an act of kindness used some of their last soap and their clean drinking water to wash her hands for her.  The water they used wasn't easy to come by because the families had to retrieve it from its source about 1/2 mile away and then carry it to their house.  Cassi said the thing that impacted her most was just how genuine the love of the Haitian people was.  They are not able to buy things to show their appreciation, so they do things, little things to express their gratitude.  She said it was the happiest experience of her life.

 

Thank you to John, Cassi, and David for an awe inspiring presentation.