E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSSWhat's next for Rachel Wheeler? Building a school in the earthquake-ravaged country
By Mary Murray
NBC News producer
LEOGANE, Haiti - If there really is something called "helper’s high" - that feel-good sensation that comes from extending a helping hand to others - Rachel Wheeler is soaring.
The 12-year-old Florida resident has done more to aid others than many grown-ups do in a lifetime.
Three years ago, when she was only nine, Rachel tagged along with her mother to a very adult meeting about charity work in Haiti. She listened as Robin Mahfood, from the aid agency Food For The Poor, describe children so hungry that they eat cookies made of mud, so poor that they sleep in houses made of cardboard.
At the time, Julie Wheeler wasn’t even sure her young daughter understood much of what was being discussed— "until Rachel stood on a chair in front of all those adults and pledged to help Food For The Poor," Wheeler said.
Then a fourth grader, Rachel promised to raise money to build a dozen homes in Haiti.
"Rachel didn’t just want to help," her mother remembers, "but she said she had to help."
Rachel ran bake sales, passed the can at homecoming games and sold homemade potholders at her Zion Lutheran School in Deerfield Beach, Fla. She mailed fundraising appeals to the parents of her friends and the people she knew from church. In her hometown, the Lighthouse Point Chamber of Commerce cut two sizable checks.
Through her Facebook page and word-of-mouth, a cherry farm in Washington heard about Rachel and sent along the proceeds from one of its season's harvest. Another generous donation came from a family that regularly supports the overseas work of Food For The Poor.
In three short years, this little girl raised more than $250,000.
Instead of just building 12 homes, Rachel more than doubled her promise. She spent $170,000 on brand-new earthquake-proof cement structures that shelter 27 families in a small fishing town outside of the capital Port-au-Prince. The families baptized the housing tract "Rachel’s Village."
Many of the new homeowners had spent their entire lives residing in makeshift homes and tents. Food For The Poor had to give instructions on how to fit a key in a lock and turn a doorknob.
Rachel’s dream now is to rebuild the local school, which was severely damaged in the catastrophic 7.2 magnitude earthquake that rocked Haiti in early 2010, killing 316,000 people and leaving 3 million homeless.
She has about half of the money she needs to fix the Reap de Morel school in Leogane, where 200 students learn the basics of reading, writing and arithmetic in classrooms that have no walls, a patched tin roof and dirt floors. Mahfood calls the fact that children even attend school "a small miracle," given that most are homeless, hungry and live in a country where more than half the population can't read or write their own name.
Classrooms are partitioned by bed sheets. The school "library" is a simple wooden table displaying no more than 30 tattered books. Each child owns just a single pencil and notebook. Textbooks are as scarce as food.
In a makeshift cafeteria, women spend the morning cooking huge vats of rice and beans. By 10 a.m., students are too hungry to concentrate, so lunch is served. This hot lunch, supplied by Food For The Poor, is the only meal of the day for most of these children.
Food For The Poor has worked in Haiti for 25 years. The charity runs hundreds of food pantries that feed more than 400,000 people daily and it supports dozens of free health clinics with medicines to treat thousands of children a week. Many young Haitians suffer from deadly diseases such as cholera, which has killed more than 6,200 Haitians and sickened nearly 440,000 over the past year.
Rachel has been to Haiti twice and has seen the abject poverty firsthand. "I don’t believe I can snap my fingers and change Haiti overnight," she said. "I know I have to work at it."
One might call her approach mature for a 12-year-old. But Rachel isn't your typical pre-teen. She has already invested a fourth of her life to her cause.
"If everyone helped Haiti like Rachel, the country could stand on its own," said Mahfood. "In five years, Haiti would be a completely different country."
If you want to learn more about Food For The Poor and Rachel's cause, go to www.foodforthepoor.org/rachel or call 1-800-427-9104.
Leave a Comment:
Meh, Haiti residents are too lazy to fix their country themselves so they rely on everyone else. If it were up to me, which sadly it isn't, I would've give them a thing until they stopped being so dependent on everyone else.
Oh, Haiti is importing child slaves now.
Wow, some people can find something ugly in anything. This girl, now all of 12-years of age, has done more than most people do in a lifetime to improve the world in which they live.
The initial responses:
Very impressive.
It sickens me to see people writing about how Haitians are lazy and only rely on other people. Unless you have gone there, you can't say anything about it. This girl, who went there on her own like many other teens, has built many homes for people who don't have any money and work hard for the things they do have. I have seen what they do, and how they are. Many Haitians are thankful they're alive and are content with everything they have. Go there for yourself to see it, don't just sit behind the keyboard saying what you haven't seen.
Wow, this little girl truly has inspired many to meet the preaching of the parable:
Matthew 25: 35-36. How very nice.
M.Cooper, quit trolling. You won't win any friends here.
The truth is that the government in Haiti is so corrupt that much of the international aid that has gone into the country both before and since the earthquake has found it's way into the pockets of a select few corrupt officials. With the amount of aid that has been sent to Haiti since the quake, they should have been able to build at least a few hundred thousand of these modest homes for their people as well as keep the people fed. Instead, very little has changed on any large scale in Haiti since the quake. The international community needs to stop giving the Haitian government cash that they can divert to their own uses and start providing actual housing like this girl has done through this charity. If you give the government the money to build the houses the few that get built will cost many times more than the ones this charity built and a large percentage of the money will go to a bunch of government flunkies for "studies" to determine where they should build and for "administering" the program.
News Flash! Anyone that begins a post with "meh" is alerting the entire world that they are cynical morons.
hey mcopper
do you get up in the morning and think "How negative can i be throughout the day?" or are you SUCH a negative person by nature that you can do it without thinking about it?
you must be a really fun person to have around
i bet you're really fun to invite to an open casket funeral
This girl has done more than congress put together this year, nice!
Now if I can only get my son to take out the trash...The dog's tired of doing it for him!!!
M.Cooper707
If you had an ounce of compassion in your body and had any idea of the type of suffering real poverty can inflict on people in situations like this you would keep from making your self sound like a real moron and monster. You obviously could care less about the suffering of the old and of children to make such an awful statement and then still have the nerve to share it with the rest of us and actually think that you might find some support here. Please do all of us a favor by crawling back into the hole you came out of because I think it is fair to say that few if any are interested in sharing in your hate talk and racist mind set.
The situation in Haiti is really very depressing, but, more depresssing is to see how you display your ignorance by the silly comments you post on these blogs. before "riting" such nonsense about hatians being too lazy and want others to do things for them, go study this country's history and the ROLE it played with France in stripping the young Ntion of it's wealth thus creating the POOREST nation in the Wstern Hemisphere.
Only a stupid American would make a comment like this. A lot of the reason Haiti's in the mess it's in is because of us. We keep interfering in their politics: overthrowing this guy, propping up that guy. All to protect the interests of American corporations who are only too happy to exploit the desperate people down there.
Your attitude would change real quick if you ever got off your couch and saw how desperate some people in the world are. Through no fault of their own.
M. Cooper707,
Before you talk try doing something good first. Try supporting a local food bank or charity. Look for good things to do in your community. No one who sincerely has helped others in need speaks as you do!
FIRST OF ALL... Anyone who starts a comment with the word "Meh" is essentially severely thought impaired, as Meh.Cooper707 clearly demonstrates with the balance of his/her/its insipid comment. I have a question for Meh.Cooper707...
If the Haitians did, in fact, stop "being so dependent on everyone else" then if it were up to you, would you start then giving them help? DON'T ANSWER THAT, because it is a rhetorical question pointing out the illogical stupidity of your original comment.
If the Haitians did NOT need the help now, because of the continued aftermath of the earthquake, this little girl - Rachel Wheeler - would never have known of their need or thought to find a way to help them. When the Haitians are able to do for themselves, which they will be thanks to good people like Rachel, then they will not need the aid and will no longer be dependent.
Meh.Cooper707, the concept is that: When people need help, when they are dependent on others to survive, you do what you can to help them. When they are no longer dependent on others, then they may well be in a position to help others who will be somewhat dependent upon them in the future.
Nobody needs the kind of thoughtless insensitiuvity as displayed by a Meh.Cooper707. Let us all hope and pray IT IS NEVER UP TO YOU Meh.Cooper707!!!
I am not cynical and commend this young lady for raising so much money to help. However, most money and donations sent over there never gets to the people that need it most. It goes in some officials pocket.
M.Cooper
Thank God nothing is up to you. You sound cold and inhuman.
This girl represents the essense of being an American. This is what we do and have always done... reach out a helping hand to people in need worldwide. Too bad our president does not recognize this....he feels that it is his job to punish America and apologize for us......but then he IS a Kenyan...
To M.Cooper707
Even for a troll you have reached a new low, Judging from your post you have lost that much of your humanity and should be pitied.
I agree that we need to help our own too but Haiti is in much more need than any American point blank. The tragedy here is that NBC showcased a charity that has a history of scandal. I just googled them and found articles about the founder who stole money from the charity and was forced to resign. Now his brother is CEO. How can we trust them? Rachel is doing wonderful things with her life. She is to be commended.
It a great example that help like this goes a longer ways then being dumped on the government something to think about
What has the president to do with this you sh-t head ???, Americans have so far as I know always helpt out other countries in need,the fact is however that the Haitien leaders in the past have pocketed most of that money themselves and was not used for the people that needed it the most. What this girl is doing is great and keeps the money away from the government I hope, unless they find another way to get their hands on it. The biggest problem in that country is they absolutely do not produce anything, and therefore the situation in that country will never change,and they will forever be depended on others to pay the bill.
Why don't all of you do some research on Hati. They were once a thriving economy and the number one producer of sugar in the world. Now they make zero sugar and have no economy, even before the earthquake.
He is right Hati needs to do something for themselves.
M.Cooper - Lazy? More like stuck in a horrendous and inescapable environment.
Haiti is suffering from mismanagement by greedy, corrupt officials. The average man in the street can no more affect a change their than the average man on the street in the USA can affect a change in the corrupt world of investment banking.
Haiti is suffering from mismanagement by greedy, corrupt officials. The average man in the street can no more affect a change their than the average man on the street in the USA can affect a change in the corrupt world of investment banking.
If the citizens and politicians of Haiti cared about Haiti one iota, they would'nt need this girl to raise any money to house all the Haitians that their government forgot about......
Its hard for a government to help anyone, when 1/2 the government was killed in the earthquake.
What have you ever done to help one person ?
Hey drip101, what does death of corrupt politicians have to do with anything. Get a life.
What raises my eyebrows is the fact that the Haitians are still sitting around wallowing in - whatever they are wallowing in, doing nothing to help themselves, and this little American girl is building homes for them in their country. I guess it's better than building them in our country. Watch, in a few years she'll have jealous do nothings occupying her front lawn because she is successful and rich and full of ideas. Oh the irony.
I think that is pretty pathetic and so "American" sounding. We all live in this world, we are not so different just because we live in different borders. They are people just like you and most are children! Those people can not help themselves if they do not have the means in the first place. AND you obviously have done nothing to help anyone or you would not be so cynical and just down right mean in your post. Why don't you get a life Sue. SHAME ON YOU, how embarrassing you are to others.
And the homes lost and the people displaced by hurricane Katrina are still waiting for help. We help every other country but our own. let the government do it. Not enough votes to make it worth the politicians while. Only about 200,000 people lost their homes, in 3 states.
While she apparently did a great job raising the money, the headlines should not imply that she was involved in the construction.
Build homes in this country! Help people in your own home town.
Let Sean Penn do his thing in Hati.
Why do people go out of the US to help?
Vincent Denali--I totally agree with you. The headline WAS misleading. But I am so proud of Rachel, her mom & Mr.Mahfood (what's in a name!). At the same time this well-written story makes me so sad.
I wonder why black American kids and young adults aren't making the same kind of contributions to our
people in strife-torn regions around the world. And rich black celebrities are a philanthropic disgrace compared to their white counterparts. That lackadaisical attitude really needs to be gone. Here's to
Rachel, And all who are working above and beyond to make this world better for just being here. Lots
of Love to you all.
This young girl represents the best of what it is to be an American as our country has always raeached out a hand to help those people in need worldwide. Too bad our prezident does not recognize Americas inherent goodness, but then again he couldn't because he is not an American.....
Granted - it would seem that the people of Haiti need to do more to help themselves BUT it is difficult to explain why with all the aid that has been poured in, why they are not doing better. Years, generations, of political corruption have taken their toll. People don't have the tools to effect the needed change completely on their own. History and the current state of affairs bears this out. The degree of poverty there defies description. It is more than just physical hunger. A welfare mentality is propagated by handouts instead of handups, people will do what ever they have to just to survive. There is no infrastructure. I don't know about the homes this young girl has helped provide but there is a lot of waste due to poor interagency organization or the complete lack of it in some cases - homes being built and not occupied because the location is too remote for people to travel to work & school. The terrain is not easy. Malaria and other diseases take their toll. However, I applaud this young girl's efforts and her attitude. I am certain she will go on to do great things.
I agree w/every word u said Ariole. Embarrassing and pathetic.
Sweet SUE -If you read the books" IQ and the wealth of nations" and "The global bell curve" you will understand why hati is hati and so much worse off than the Dominican republic that is on the other half of the island hati is on . The island was the richest and most fertile of colonies before the whites where killed off, and now the dominican republic tries to enforce its border better than we do ours. Before the earthquake the US had built up Hati 4 times and each time the infrastructure disintegrates faster than if there where no humans in the nation. This little girl should have saved homes in the US as they will still be standing 10 years from now unless they are in detriot.
While what you say may be accurate, don't belittle the young girl's desire to help.
well said ... too many people miss the point of the story
I don't think anyone is belittling the girl. But, she's being canonized for misplaced efforts - which reinforces in her mind and the minds of many who simply read this and thing, "Isn't that sweet?" that this was a good thing. Clearly the kid's heart is in the right place. But, personally, I'd be more impressed if she had put this effort into helping people in THIS country.
True. I'm gonna take a wild guess and say the most of the people on here poo pooing Rachel's efforts don't do a whole lot but sit on the sofa and watch cable news....and troll message boards to make themselves feel like they're actually doing something.
@ Miker-3057253,
Most kids in America aren't starving to death, living in tents and eating mud cookies. But if the need were to become that great, I'm sure she'd rush right over to help. As people of her nature usually help whenever and wherever they can, they don't sit around worried only about themselves. Maybe you can learn something about character from this young lady.
@Shannon: If you don't think there are kids living in tents in this country and going hungry, you need a lesson in how to pay attention a helluva lot more than I need any lessons in character. I volunteer in my community. How about YOU?
Miker - Maybe the girl wants to keep the Hatians in their own country. After all, they're doing nothing more for themselves than those fools occupying all over this country. Do we really need any more useless people living off the tax payer dollars?
Sues: I love the way you think! I had not considered the silver lining here!
Build 27 homes here. How many people lose there homes everyday? Help at home.
With momma looking over her sholder,this is an act of profiling. Look at me!
No one wants to help our neighbors but will build 27 homes in Hati.
Give me a break. A poster above asked,When did you help someone. I can say I help
some one every day. In my town and in my neighborhood.
I for one think this girl does a beautiful thing and also the right way keeping the money out of the hands of the corrupt leaders in that country,so nothing wrong with her. For years even before the earthquake they were send tons of money year after year to help the people,where did all that money go too ???? No this country need to get their ars in gear and start producing,otherwise they will depend on others forever and ever.
We have food pantries in our own nation that all this money could go to.
Rachel is a special girl who should be commended for her good intentions and her dedication. However, the last sentence of this article is complete nonsense. The idea that 5 years of solid donations would change Haiti is rubbish. Mr. Mahfood is a self-serving fool. The United States has sent billions in aid over the last 20 years, especially under Clinton, and absolutely nothing changed.
The government is wholly corrupt and the people lack discipline and any sense of self-reliance. Until the people want to help themselves, nothing will change.
Good points. It's just sad that the adults in the world aren't as compassionate and caring as this young girl is. Hopefully folks like Rachel (and credit her parents as well) and articles like this will inspire adults to get to the real core of the problem. So, there is definite worth to her efforts and this article.
Oh to hear the doubters and their holy ideas. one is that the people don't do for their self. Well this little girl is working to get them a new school. There is only the school to teach about living life and to go forward. take your selve's back 700- 800 years in this USA. What did the population know then, not how to have running water of any means except the get something to carry it in, perhaps an animal's bladder. Then England came with their knowledge, now look at our country. The leader in all.
What school teaches "Sit on your ass and we will fix everything"
Mearly- I have drank from a 2000year old aquaduct that still supplies a european city with water. Ancient greece and rome had better consturction then almost all of africa and hati today. When south africa was colonized by europeans they took the land from maleria and the tetsze fly (thanks to gin and tonic with quinine cureing maleria) the natives there did know know of the wheel less than 300 years ago. If you read "IQ and the wealth of nations" and "the global bell curve" you will understand how hati went from being the jewel of the carribean to being so much worse off than the dominican republic on the same island.
In Haiti they call houses "kindling".
Sorry Rachel, your intentions are good but this is Haiti we're talking about. The reason those kids are eating mud cookies is because the Haitians burned all the trees and plants to the ground for cookfires. Maybe you've heard terms like "Not the sharpest tack in the bulletin board", or "Not the brightest light in the marquee" - that's Haiti. Somebody has to be the lowest achiever and you've found them.
Maybe you should watch the video about the "girl who silenced the world for five minutes" on You Tube and then maybe you can do instead of criticize another country while you sit in you central heated, air-conditioned house with a car to take you where ever you want with stores filled with just piles and piles of junk and oh yes you also can go buy groceries when ever you are hungry and not start a fire to do it. People on here think they are better, obviously because they were born in America, instead of just lucky. How interesting.
In spite of Haiti's internal cultural and political problems...Good For Her!
Thanks Rachel... you made the rest of us feel like cr@p.. good for you.
i don't feel like crap. help us not HATI.
Why don't you get off your self righteous ass and help people yourself Mark. You obviously have plenty of time on your hands. People with your selfish attitude are whats wrong with the world today.
Very nice and all, but what happened to the other $80,000??? So she kept 32% of the funds raised?
If you bothered to read the entire article you would know that the additional $80,000 is more than likely the half of the money that she has towards building the school.
That's how all charities work.
Thats probablly the least corrupt deal in hati if 60% of funds actually went where it should
That money could have been better spent here helping her own kind that are just as poor. We have whole families here in the U.S. that are living in half way houses. America First.
Well here is the example. Tell us when you come up with your plan for the poor here in the US.
tarzan7. " her kind" what kind of crack is that someone needs to take you out behind the woodshed she's just a good human being better than a troll like you.
So Tarzan - When are you putting your plan into action? In a few more years she'll be part of the one per cent. Maybe you can take your occupying friends and camp out on her lawn.
Would you people quit posting your garbage. It takes considerable effort to find a single uplifting story and you all want to trash it with all of your negativity. Go back to the Iranian or Libyan blogs to talk your trash and leave this triumph of a little girl intact.
Thank you Rachel for showing us that there is still hope in the actions of good people.
It would have been very nice If she was doing this for her own country. Charity should stay at home, until home no longer needs it.
The world doesn't revolve around America. They need help much more then we do. That is selfish thinking.
Tiredofsilly: I believe the phrase is "charity starts at home," NOT "charity stays at home." It would be a much sadder world if we kept all of our kindness, goodness and charity to ourselves. Plus, there are too many loopholes in our country that would prevent this girl from volunteering here and raising money here. She probably wouldn't be able to do much hands on work around here because people would be worried about a lawsuit, and her money is doing a lot more good there than here. She can build a village down there. Here she might be able to build 5 houses.
5 houses is better here than a village there
Well, Tiredofsilly, maybe when you devote three years to charitable actions you can donate your proceeds to wherever you like. The point of the story is that a young girl did something truly selfless for others and you can't even see that with your negativity. If you have a problem with that maybe you should get off your computer and hit the pavement with some donation cans, or even organize a bake sale. Until then, be proud of this girl for her selflessness and keep your cynicism to yourself.
I wasn't trash talking...I said very nice, but where's the other $80,000? the other 32%?
Quite probably in the fund for rebuilding the school.
Oh, for crying in church. You did write the words "very nice," but the questions you asked clearly imply you think something else entirely. Why don't you say what you really think -- that Rachel and/or her family did something underhanded with the rest of the money. That's why they were so open about the amount she raised and the amount spent to build the houses -- so everyone would know that she the remaining $80K was spirited away somewhere else.
shipping handling!
Sherbud, even if she kept the 80K, it still is more efficient the nearly every other charity. Still a hell of an achievement.
the last i remember leonardo dicaprio had publicly donated his own million dollars a few years back to haiti. where is THAT money? haiti can be defined as one big mess of human beings all piled in one place. in other words, hell.
Hell is probably a place no human being would like to go but based on many of the comments on this blog...many will not spend 90 minutes in heaven as Don Piper did years ago.
@scirnabonYouTube
That money was used up on your Moth....r
You Scum
I don't know who Don Piper is but all i know is all the big stars and others make a big cause out of Hati. When will these peple spend their money here helping
The headline was deceptive. I expected to see a 12-year old who had built 27 houses. I read the article to find out that she had raised the money necessary to build the 27 homes.
Congratulations to Rachel for making Haiti and the world a better place. Rachel is a special child of whom her friends and family are very proud of.
I agree, but the headline was no more deceptive than all the people you talk to who will gladly tell you that they're "building a new home." They aren't. 99% of them wouldn't know which side of a saw to use or which side of a hammer drives nails and which side pulls them. But, they're "building a new home." Right.
You can't seriously want a 12 yo girl to spend time down in hati. Do you have any idea how bad the crime is down there
This shows what worthless human beings the Haitians are. If adults can't help themselves why should anybody else.
wow...you're about as much uplfting as an autopsy on a suicide victim
amen rob roy
I was there in 1966 and it was a crap hole then and hasn't changed. These lazy scumbags cry and whine for Somebody Else to help them. Yet they do nothing to make there lives better. Just because your poor does not mean you can't have a clean house or neighborhood. In 40+ years nothing has changed. They need a small girl to do what they should have done years ago. It is a French Protectorate, the the useless Frenchie french do it.
yeah i know, but still, 32%? Isn't that kinda high...suppose college is paid for i guess
hey mr positive Sherbud...I bet she STOLE the money....maybe you and Teabag Michelle Bachman should waterboard her and get a confesssion
Yes, Sherbud -- that's exactly why it was made crystal clear in the article just how much she raised and how much it cost to build the homes -- so you could make clever remarks like this one. Boy -- you and your unsubstantiated assumptions sure have clarified everything for us all.
Wow, that's mature...anyway I do plenty of nice things for all of my friends...I was just kinda wondering wth happened to 80k...wouldn't you? And what am I assuming, nothing, just asking a simple question...look at how quick you jump up and have to point fingers
Plenty of nice things for your friends...what about people you don't know?
Maybe she should build homes in North Dakota to take care of the elderly who are getting booted by price-gouging landlords.
Maybe you should do that.
This girl makes your Wall Street bankers look even more pitiful and trashy.
All the negative comments. So Sad.
In the end a 12 year old showed compassion, leadership and love. We need more 12 year olds like this. If we can raise a generation of Rachel's, we might have more outgoing and responsible adults.
This girl has great things ahead of her in the working world. I know too many adults that wouldn't keep up with a pledge like that. Good Job!
Very good job that girl is doing,give us more girls like that for the future of America who knows we can bring our country back out of that hole we are in now, so far it looks like we never will get out of this one due to our incompetent government and both political parties.
Thank you, Harry. I was just thinking that there aren't enough girls like her thinking of others instead of themselves. That's why I'm glad I was raised with a youth-group as my after-school activity-my brother and I both, learning how to and actually supporting the community around us with food drives, packages for soldiers overseas, teddy bear/school supply drives for the local children's shelters, etc. I tell people nowadays that I was a life-long 4-H'er when I grew up and not many people can say they did the same-maybe it's just the younger generation but all my friends and I were in it when we were kids and I think, aside from the fairs and winning ribbons and all, that it helps to build the better adult you're going to be. Adults need to get their kids into it and support the process.
Good point Tarzan7, can you kindly list what you've done to help the poor (besides pay taxes like everyone including Rachel and her family does) here in the US. Thank you.
Did everyone miss this part?? "She has about half of the money she needs to fix the Reap de Morel school in Leogane, where 200 students learn the basics of reading, writing and arithmetic in classrooms that have no walls, a patched tin roof and dirt floors. Mahfood calls the fact that children even attend school "a small miracle," given that most are homeless, hungry and live in a country where more than half the population can't read or write their own name." Perhaps the delta between the $250,000 and $170,000? The point is she is doing something to help others.
how many kids in this country can't read or write their name?
let's do something here. maybe the $250,000 would help in your town for teachers since cut backs are
cutting teachers. not to mention police and firemen also emt.
You're right, Mark. We need help here but I do admire this little girl's spirit and willingness to do something for others.
You are right mark but most of the kids you speak of probably came from hati
This girl is AWESOME!! Too bad she can't get on the GOP ticket. It's great to see a child excel in life. She is helping others with her time and giving those in need a true gift!
Today's GOP-Teabaggers look down on helping others..
Wow.. I read these comments and I'm astounded. These assumptions about Haitians being lazy and worthless. The idea that she should help Americans before others (because for some reason Americans are more important than other people?) Just complete and total negativity, hatred, prejudice.. and just all around ugliness. It's really sad that so many of you seem so angry and hurtful. Did it actually improve your day to leave such negative comments? Did it make you feel better? Did you feel like you contributed something useful? I'm just curious -- because I have never been able to understand the levels of negativity and hate that I see on the internet.
Read "IQ and the wealth of nations" and "the global bell curve" if you want to understand about global poverty, its not about being lazy. It doesnt matter how energetic a nation is if it has an average IQ of 70, useing G wieghted(logic, math, spatial recognition) IQ tests. Hint, "What is a bed?" is a question on a non-g weighted IQ test that has a min score of 65 while there are nations with an average IQ in the 50s.
Rachel I think what you have done is great, ignore the nay sayer's and idiots who be little what you have done. At least you are doing something and criticizing you makes the fact that they are to lazy to get up and do something OK. Remember you can't house them all or feed them all, but every little bit helps. I am sure there are those who appreciate what you are doing. I think a lot of family's in the U.S. will donate books, money, and food, for your school if only given the chance. God Bless You and keep up the good work.
Just amazing the reaction from some of the Faux Fox Ditto Head....
not unbelievable just par for the course this is a wonderful story about a girl with a vision it made me feel good that the US has people that don't think only of themselves YOU GO GIRL and I hope you don't read the nasty post's on this site.
agree.....