eleho in Haiti

Officially, eleho is not in Haiti but a member of our team was asked to travel with an organization to the country. Bryan will be documenting on the trip on video for an organization called Project 81. They are a group of people who have been working in Port au Prince and a town called Village 81 (the 81 is how many kilometers from the capital) to lessen the constant sting of poverty. We are honored that we can be a part of the relief effort even in the smallest of ways. Poverty is the same everywhere and we feel obligated to support those in desperate need.

Below is from his personal blog which you can visit at: http://bryanmonzon.com/blog or follow him on twitter @bryanmonzon

After a long couple of days of travel, I’ve yet to arrive in Haiti but I’m one step away. I’ve flown across the United States to Tampa, Florida and drove in the rain through a tornado warning into Miami. We’re at the Marriot where, on Super Bowl weekend, we have 6 rooms for one night at $40.00 total! Jared Brown, Co-Founder of Project 81 and organizer of this trip, somehow managed to pull this feat off.

I’m rooming with Greg and James, two native Haitians making the journey along with the team. The team is quite a crew. There’s 18 total of us and team members skills vary from neurosurgeon to journalists. I am the team’s videographer.
We leave tomorrow on a US military aid plane at 1:30pm EST. The flight is less than 2 hours long and we will certainly be inserted into a world like we’ve never imagined. I was in the San Bernadino mountains during the ‘94 Northridge earthquakes and I remember the images of the 1989 San Francisco quake. It’s hard for an economic powerhouse like California and America to recover from such destruction, let alone a nation already impoverished before the catastrophe.

What to expect from this trip would be impossible. It’s such an awkward thing for people who want to wish us well and say “have fun” or “oooh that’ll be exciting”. While the adventure is an adventure, I would much rather visit on different terms. The quake happened, I have skills that could be used and the opportunity was available. I’m thankful for that and look forward to meeting more wonderful people.

With all of this I realize more and more that this is where I want to be. Traveling to meet people, hopefully meet their needs and gain a fantastic friendship that lasts a lifetime.