real heros................from K

I just finished Three Cups of Tea, and as many of you know because you recommended it to me, it is a powerful read. It's about Greg Mortenson, an American mountain climber, who stumbles into a poor village in Pakistan in the 1990's and is so moved by their generosity that he promises to come back and build them a school. Fascinating story cut short: he ends up building hundreds of school through worn-torn Pakistan & Afghanistan, despite being kidnapped, shot at, and dodging American bombs. He had every reason to halt his efforts, but yet he kept the image of the children's need and desire to be educated as his focus. Wow - what an inspiration!

Yet, this book reminds me of a story much closer to my own experience -- the story of Maison-Fortune Orphanage in Haiti. This is a school that P & I have supported and my daughter, E & I have visited. The orphange was started by Lefort, Jean-Louis, a Haitian man who as a young man had the good fortune to meet a sensitive Xavarian Brother, Cos Rubencamp. Brother Cos encouraged Jean-Louis in his studies and even arranged for him to attend Va. Tech. Jean-Louis returned to Haiti and began this orphanage with 3 children and it has grown to more than 100 boys. Jean-Louis is now in the process of building a separate school for girls. Much credit for this goes to our friends, the DiRenzo family who tirelessly push for support of the school at a grassroots level. So, if you can't read Three Cups of Tea in the next day or so, visit this website: http://www.maisonfortune.com/ It will remind us all how little it takes to help others and how much some people are willing to sacrifice - God has truly blessed them with a passionate mission. May we all be so blessed.