Greg And Hollie In The Morning

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Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Videos For The Students Back Home

The 3rd ESC was asked by a few local School Systems to provide some insight on how the Soldiers and the Haitians were currently living. So it was decided the best plan of action would be to film a video showing a day in the life of a soldier and to visit the streets of Haiti with the Commanding Generals Interpretor SSG Theirry Alexandre. with me serving as the narrator. A little background on SSG Alexandre, he was born in Haiti and moved to the United States as a teen. He speaks Haitian Creole and sometimes likes to surprise the Haitians with that fact.

The Camp video was just completed and is going though final editing as I type this blog. It will show how the soldiers eat their MRE (Meals Ready To Eat), how they wash clothes, take a shower, get their mail as well as video from around the camp. I believe it will help students truly understand the sacrifices our soldiers make while deployed downrange.

The second part of this video presentation was filmed this past Sunday morning (Feb 21) at the Farmers Market next to the port in Port-Au-Prince. SSG Alexandre, myself and SFC Dave McClain (with camera in tow) had the amazing opportunity to spent well over an hour talking with Haitians about daily life, what they hope for in the future and how they feel about the American presence here. Having SSG Alexandre with us was an amazing tool, we were not just media people will a camera filming all of the damage, we were people filming to help educate American children on how the Haitians live, and find out what they were feeling after this devastating earthquake.

We also made a visit to the park close to the Presidential Palace, a park that once was a place to play for SSG Alexandre, but is not a makeshift tent city. His description of the park them and the park now could not have been any different. Seeing the devastation of the Palace and the Cathedral was astonishing, but what stood out to me that day was how resilient the Haitians are and how they only want the basics of life and make do with anything they have. To close this blog I would like share with you what a young teenage girl shared with me when I asked "What would you like to say to the American students watching in the States?" The young girl paused, then said this "Listen to your Mother & Father and stay in school.........because unlike me, you can". The mindset is the same, only the situations are different. Be happy with what you have.

If your school or group would like a copy of this video please feel free to email me and I'll forward it on to the proper personnel.

Greg

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