The girl needs a truck!

So I have made the acquaintance of yet another independent intelligent woman. A very interesting woman someone who is convinced that an impoverished nation like Haiti is worth living in while working at improving the conditions of the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.
She is someone who sees the hopelessly poor people in rural Haiti as the part of the social spectrum of this tiny country on which to focus. She does see a future for Haiti but there is a lot to do in the present so much that the future is far in the distance damn near beyond the horizon.
Her name is Laura Allan and she is the head of Shelters International Disaster Response a very small ngo operating out of Jacmel Haiti.
Besides being the poorest and one of the most corrupt countries in the Western Hemisphere it lays in hurricane alley so the tension on this Island,  no matter the sociopolitical atmosphere,  rises as June comes and with it the hurricane season.
Because of poor to no infrastructure a large number of the population rely on charcoal for cooking and the resulting deforestation

has magnified flooding and along with it soil erosion this is truly apparent and particularly dangerous during the wet season just another one of those things Haiti has to work on.
What does this have to do with helping the poor?  Why should some rain and wind bother this lady?
Because at this moment she uses two small motor bikes to deliver seed and dried vegetables to the people in the countryside.

Laura Allen

Yes you read it right this fiery little (5'4") redhead Canadian girl drives through the countryside on two motorbikes one for her and a driver the other takes whatever cargo it must to some very remote areas.

She goes over rural roads that become brutal even for a SUV and just plain dangerous and impassable for a bike fully loaded!
But Mother nature is not the only peril on Haitian roads! Let me put it this way the biggest difference between a Haitian secondary highway and an Albertan grid road is that you probably will never see a demonstration or riot on a grid road.

When you do encounter a large gathering of Haitians, a"manifestation", it is much nicer to be in a metal box rather than just your clothes as you pass by. 

Beyond personal safety being increased by using a vehicle with four wheels the productivity would increase a buttload!

The motorbike can only take about one hundred pounds of cargo

fully loaded

an SUV can easily take 400 and two passengers plus when you do encounter rain and the subsequent flash flooding you can drive on or at the very least get to somewhere safe!

Jacmel

 A  bike doesn't offer that luxury you just stay put until the weather lets up  when it's safe you hit the road.

Laura could rent a truck but in Haiti it is very expensive since you rent the truck and driver too!  Not only that but you risk having the cargo hijacked which doesn't happen often but it does happen so the best option seems to be get your own vehicle.

Last year this was just a want even though Laura complained about her bruised rear end a number of times it was said that there was no way to justify the cost of a vehicle. The want has recently become an urgent need through the  providence of a donor with very large amounts of seed and pallets and pallets of dried vegetable which addresses two immediate needs of the farming communities all around Haiti seed stock and food. 

Herein we have a problem lots of supply with a nominal delivery system and a probable increase in demand! I say probable because remember I started this post by talking about the hurricane season? 

Ya right around the corner!

Before hurricane season comes the rainy season or month yes this month. On average Haiti gets most of it's rain in May with storms coming a month later.
The rains have already started and of course everyone is hoping that hurricane season is as light as last but even with just tropical storms some crops can be washed away wiped out in a day of heavy rain.

 As it is a mob can form when it's known that something besides beans and rice is available it will be worse when there isn't even that. 

an interested crowd gathers in Kenscoff

Some  may think that this is all for nothing but really it is all about doing little simple things that can change the course of a life or a community. 

The dried veggies that Laura and her crew deliver gives people a very nutritious and tasty change to a pretty bland diet of rice and beans. 

The seed promotes crop diversity and that diversity is proving to increase the income of those who are on board. The reason for this increase is because few vegetables are grown in Haiti the bulk of produce comes by boat and is expensive. The farmer with a crop of let's say cucumber will be able to sell it at a profit and still beat the imported price. 

Laura and many like her are part of a larger group known as

Laura ceo of SIDR on a moto!

Non 

Governmental

Organizations.

Most are small operations some with a well defined mandate some like SIDR go where help is needed or give help to other organizations.

Funding is always an issue with NGO's but when you are as small as SIDR funding is pretty much nonexistent yet Laura seems to manage miracles with what she has.
S.I.D.R. has never made a heavy push for funds nothing too organized and that is all due to the humility of the CEO. As she has said to me "Why can't someone just dump a few thousand on SIDR and then I could really do something! I really hate asking for money." and that brings us to why Beverly Meidow set up a gofundme page for Laura and her team. The link is below please give something after all I think you'd agree.

The girl needs a truck!

Laura has a dream