Awarded for Service
Each year, The Haitian Project acknowledges the work of individuals who put their passion for Haiti and the students of Louverture Cleary School into action with the Volunteer of the Year Award. This year, The Haitian Project has selected two volunteers who are using their God-given talents to make a difference in the lives of the students at Louverture Cleary School and ultimately, the country of Haiti.
Bill Newton of Glendale Heights, Il has been the Haitian Project’s “go to” guy for technology since 2004. A graduate of Truman State University, Bill first came to THP on a request to fix the ailing computer in the Rockford, IL office (then housed in the Moynihans’ basement). THP quickly enlisted Bill as Director of Technology. In 2005, he took his directorship to Haiti – teaching computer classes and developing the computer skills of the staff at LCS. Today, Bill continues to generously give of his time to THP while keeping up with his responsibilities as Senior Developer for a credit card processing company in the Chicago area. He maintains the Project’s website and continues to make regular trips to Haiti to keep the school’s computer lab in shape.
The students and staff of Louverture Cleary are Bill’s inspiration for his ongoing service in the THP community. “While in Haiti, I enjoyed working with the students and teaching them how to use computers. The staff at the school, with whom I lived and worked became my friends…It was easy to help because I was personally invested.”
Since moving to the Chicago area a year ago, he has had new opportunities to spread the word about THP. Each time he talks about the Project, it “Awakens the feelings and experience of time spent at LCS.” He knows that it will always be a part of his life.
The second award recipient is chosen annually from the group of long-term LCS teaching Volunteer alumni, and this year is a woman who has a tireless passion for advocacy and a very sincere love for the students of LCS. Carrie Bettinger-Lopez first joined the LCS community through volunteering at the school from 1999-2000. She went on from there to earn a law degree from Columbia University and is currently an Adjunct Professor of Law and Director of the Human Rights Institute at Columbia. During a recent trip to Haiti, she brought some of her law students to visit LCS to discuss the possibility of organizing a law seminar for our students, taught by Columbia students.
Carrie was struck during this recent visit by the impact of harsh economic times in the Port Au Prince area. In contrast, she was relieved to see the LCS community alive and well. She notes, “The students of LCS are amazingly resilient. In them, I see hope on the horizon for Haiti.” Carrie was also struck by the changes that have been made to the physical campus since her time as a volunteer, “The changes that have occurred at LCS in recent years are amazing. If LCS was an oasis before – it is now a paradise!”
Carrie and her husband Sean (also an LCS Volunteer ’99-’00) recently moved to the Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan and have plans to gather support for LCS in their community. We thank Bill and Carrie for using their talents to enhance The Haitian Project community. In them, we have two caring individuals who are absolutely dedicated to using whatever they have to “Rebati Ayiti!”
