Monday, June 21, 2010

Preparing to Leave

Welcome to the Helping to Heal Haiti Blog.
The people of Haiti, like so many of us have heard or seen on the news, were struck by a devastating earthquake in January 2010. Even though it is not in the news now, not much has changed other than Haiti is not a headline story anymore.
My name is Chris McLaughlin, and I am going to the country of Haiti in order to use my skills and knowledge to provide medical care and aide to the people that live there. I am a Paramedic and a student at Boston College in addition to an older brother and a swim coach. In the past few months, I have been lucky and blessed enough to receive donations from my neighbors, my high school, my grade school, and my friends. I cannot list names of people, because such a list would not fit on the internet. But I do need to thank Salesianum, St. Simon and Jude School, Teens Against Poverty, Lankenau Hospital, and my neighbors for their support of this trip.
I have never left the country before, so this is my first round of international travel. I am going to Haiti with my friends Shelly Meadowcroft, Bruce Harlen, and Randy Smith, with a few other people meeting us down there about a week later. I am hoping that each member of the team can introduce themselves on this blog so that we can all keep you updated and you can learn a little bit about us and what we do. I will update this soon with the progress we have made in getting ready for the trip.

I also need to thank my parents and my family for their work and helping me to get ready to go. My parents orchestrated a collection of toys and clothes while I was still in Boston, and the turnout was amazing. Thanks for all your help, I'll be home soon. Watch the monkeys for me.

Chris