Heeding the cry for help

Bella Vista volunteer makes a difference in Haiti

Thursday, April 10, 2014

Ralph Mathey travels -- a lot.

About six times every year, the Bella Vistan heads to Haiti, where he will stay for anywhere from 10 days to three weeks.

Fast Facts

On the road

with H.E.A.R.

• Volunteers traveling with the organization to Haiti must pay their own way.

• After arriving by plane, it is more than a five-hour drive to Port Salut.

• A typical trip lasts about 10 days and costs about $1,500, including airfare and lodging.

• Volunteers can teach classes and assist in interviews.

For more information, visit the organization’s website at www.hearthecryhaiti…, or contact founder Ralph Mathey by phone at (479) 876-1693 or by email at [email protected].

— Source: Ralph Mathey

Mathey is the founder of H.E.A.R. the Cry Foundation (Haiti Education Assistance and Relief), a nonprofit organization aiding those in need and promoting education in an area of Haiti since 1998.

Haiti, a country of nearly 10 million, is 95 percent black and 80 percent Roman Catholic, according to the U.S. government's World Fact Book. Less than half the population is literate, and only 8 percent of the population is older than 55.

Since the foundation's inception, Mathey said more than 60,000 families have been impacted by his work.

"I can't change the culture; I can only change the environment, person by person," he said.

He just happened to be included in a trip to Haiti with a medical group in 1997, although he is not a physician. He helped issue deworming drugs and other medicine to children, along with vitamin A, he said.

"It kind of sparked my interest," he said.

Through his organization, academic scholarships are issued to students and families for primary and secondary education, along with advanced education through a partnership with the American University of the Caribbean.

"In the area that I work, we have had an enormous impact because of our education programs," he said.

The organization's efforts are concentrated in the area of Port Salut, on the southwest part of the island -- 25 miles long north and south and spanning about 60 miles to the east and west, he said. It's primitive, mountainous and rural, lacking paved roads and mostly agricultural based, even though it's hard to grow food in the rock, he said.

The area is more than 80 percent illiterate.

Mathey's program is the largest English language program in that part of the country.

"English is the language of commerce," he said, adding that knowledge of the language allows Haitians significant opportunities.

University students who receive scholarship funds are required to work with the organization in these rural areas. There is a competition for scholarships once a year, and students must have a certain level of English skills before being considered.

"It's part of their commitment since we're picking up the tab. We want the cream of the crop. If we are going to invest in them, we want people who are committed to going to class," he said.

While working with the students to build leadership skills, ethics, integrity and a sense of self-empowerment, Mathey also distributes clothes, shoes, food and medical supplies. The organization built a school in 2004 called Coeur School, which now has nearly 200 students attending.

They give small cash grants each year, "to help families in a difficult situation solve a problem," he said. "We can't solve all their problems, but we may be able to help solve one."

Some areas they work in can be reached by vehicle, Mathey said, along what he called a "donkey path." But when the road ends, it's a journey on foot to the secluded villages in the area, delivering food, clothing, shoes and "gobs of stuff."

It costs for kids to attend school in Haiti, but Mathey said even if the organization pays a child's tuition, the child is not allowed to attend school without a pair of shoes.

During a January trip this year, the volunteers traveled to an area where they had not yet been.

"All the children were naked," Mathey said.

It's amazement on their faces, he said, and gratitude when the kids are given clothing that is "incomparable," Mathey said.

"When there's some kid who is 12 years old standing in front of you saying, 'I want to go to school,' I can say 'OK, I will help you'," he said.

H.E.A.R. impacts 1,500 kids every year, from primary school to advanced or skilled education, he said.

In January 2010, the group was traveling down the donkey path when the vehicle began "shaking profusely." They thought something was wrong with the vehicle. By the time they stopped and got out, the earthquake was over.

"Even though we were 128 miles from the epicenter, (the quake) broke the tie rod on our vehicle," Mathey said.

Within 48 hours, they had made it back to Port-au-Prince, and a container of food equivalent to 200,000 meals had already been delivered by a partner organization. Mathey stayed for 10 days or so, then let the military evacuate him, while his colleagues stayed behind to distribute food and supplies.

"I am 66 years old; I can't be a one-man-band ... I was slowing people down," he said.

The quake was Jan. 12. Mathey was scheduled for a hip replacement March 6.

The most difficult part of his work is the energy level it takes. But whatever energy Mathey expends is replaced by the energy of the young adults that work beside him.

Their work is never done; there is never enough time. And there are hard choices to be made.

"We always run into people with emergency medical issues. Once there was a 7-year-old girl who broke her leg and never had it repaired. Do you see she's helped, or do you send another 100 kids to school? A lot of men in their 40s and 50s have severe hernias that are killing them. Do you take them to a doctor?

"You have compassion for everybody, but you can't help everybody," he said he's learned after nearly two decades.

NAN Profiles on 04/13/2014