Raining Cats and Dogs

I cannot believe that I have already been in 2 natural disasters this year! First the earthquake in Haiti, and now the worst flooding in Nashville, EVER! I was due to go to Minnesota at the request of my Cousin Mia to give presentations about Haiti to her FCCLA group and other classes at local schools. I arrived at the Nashville airport, Sunday, and I can tell you that the weather looked horrible. Southwest had us board the plane, and then sit and wait for a break in the weather for a chance to take off. Fortunately, such a break did occur, and we were off. It was one of the bumpiest rides I have ever been on. I was lucky to get out; Nashville closed the entire airport at 3:00 that afternoon.

After safely arriving in Apple Valley, Minnesota, Mia took me on a quick tour of the Mall of America (cross it off my bucket list) and then we spent the afternoon and evening with her two sons (Tyler and Corey) and her husband Paul, a pilot for Southwest. On Monday I went with Mia to the high school she works at, and watched as she taught a course on human relationships with her students. Her students had taken fake babies home for the weekend, and they all said they were absolutely exhausted from the babies crying all the time!

Today I had the pleasure of first visiting Tyler’s 4th grade classroom and presenting about Haiti. I was so impressed at how much the children knew about Haiti, and they had fantastic questions about my experiences during the earthquake, comparing it to the earthquake in Chile, and what can be done to help Haiti. I then went to Corey’s first grade class, and again, to see first graders get so emotional about Haiti was amazing. After I described the elementary schools in Haiti as most not having libraries, several of the first graders were adamant that they should donate books to Haiti so that the children could have libraries. It was really sweet.

Finally, this evening I presented to Mia’s FCCLA high school student group. I talked about Haiti, my experience during the earthquake, and that I hope they will continue the conversation about Haiti and help make it a better place. The students were so excited, that by the end of the presentation they all wanted to take a Christmas/New Years volunteer trip to Haiti to help build our orphanage! Again, I cannot express how awesome it is to see youth in America excited to help others less fortunate.

Thank you Mia, Paul, Tyler, and Corey for a wonderful time in Minnesota! I can’t wait to come back!

Steven Kirby
President