Big Dig Haiti
Volunteers create a French drain by layering their hole, beginning with large cement blocks and ending with smaller rocks. Rice bags act as a filter. Rheto (12th grade) and Philo (13th grade) boys assist in the final stages. Bottom right: Our annual “Million dollars in the hole” photo, referencing the cost of our Volunteers’ college education.
At Louverture Cleary, it is a tradition to dig at least one big hole each year as a community. In the past, these holes have most often been used for burying non-recyclable and non-compostable items. Recently, we have used our "community energy" in an effort to improve drainage around the campus. The Big Dig 2012 has consisted of a much needed improvement to the old basketball court area, a spot on campus that we had to "bale out" after every rain. Now, thanks to our community energy, water will disappear on its own through our newly built French drain. [Although we did not take pictures, we DID dig the hole as well.]
As is also a tradition, we took our annual "million dollars in the hole" picture of the 2012 Volunteer group. In reference to the cost of their college education, this is the third year we have taken a photo of our Volunteers standing in the “big dig” hole. This year, I asked them to really think about how much they and their family had spent on their college tuition. Calculating the combined cost of tuition for our eight Volunteers was a sobering and impacting moment for the group. It is an opportunity to think about what has been given to them freely and what they are prepared to give back.