Honorable Mention winners
Congratulations to these five young humanitarians, whose entries won Honorable Mention.
Read excerpts from the five letters
Dear President Bas Vanderzalm,
As a child I had always been awed with the fact that I am so lucky to be healthy and free in this extraordinary country of America. Furthermore I had never been able to completely grasp how cruel the world can be to people, to countries, and also to itself. I went to your REAL. LIFE. Exhibit, and it moved me in a way nothing else ever has or could have done. All eight of your exhibits were unique and heartrending in their own ways. Each problem in our world is different and eye awakening to me. I have also come to understand that only feeling sorry for these people is not going to help them in any way. Now, as a young adult and fully knowing what is going on in our dysfunctional world, . . . I wish to donate $100,000 to your efforts to help the world, to help Haiti.
I want the donation to be split up evenly into two different reliefs funding, one half for health and medical equipment specifically for the common people and the second half for replenishing food and water for the many hungry and thirsty people in Haiti. I know fully well how important it is for everybody to be at complete health before they can start to fix the damage that has been done to their country. It is important for Haitians to be able to help fix their country side by side with the many volunteers that are working hard to do their part. It is my goal and hopefully going to become or already is your goal to help every common person that was affected by the horrible earthquake that hit. Every common person: man, woman, and child that do not get regular health check-ups will be able to have that luxury. All of the doctors in Haiti already will get to have their equipment restocked to help the many suffering people sleep soundly, and live healthy. I will hope to get all of my medical supplies needed in the United States, also I hope to use the same drugs, tools, and instruments doctors in Haiti have been using already so they will know what to do with each instrument.
With my donation I hope to help hundreds and maybe thousands of the unfortunate men women and children that have been struck by the horrifying earthquake. I hope that they will be able to feel physically a little bit better to help them deal with their mental and psychological tension about what their lives are going to be from now on and how they are going to deal and solve this problem. I know that even though these people have lost many of their loved ones they will be able to live another day with food in their bellies and water sitting on their tongues. They will be able to live another day with healthy bodies and a safe environment.
Sincerely,
Chayse Pearson
Waluga Junior High School. Lake Oswego, Oregon
Grade 8
Teacher: Ms. Kelly Running
Dear Mr. Bas Vanderzalm:
. . . The REAL. LIFE. Exhibit greatly impacted me and my peers, bringing us to tears, yet also showing us hope to an extent I thought nearly impossible. As I walked through the exhibit, I felt sadness, horror, anger, even regret, but also excitement and optimism. The sadness and horror are self-explanatory; who did not experience those throughout the exhibit? The anger came when walking through the section about child soldiers, eight-year-olds being kidnapped with guns thrust into their hands, forced to tear apart families and communities. Who would do such a thing? What kind of dark, evil person could take children from their sleeping families and then force them to kill people they had known their entire lives? How could those people bring themselves to make children kill their friends, their parents, their brothers, or their sisters? I now regret not having given back when I could, not having volunteered, or donated. The money would have made almost no difference in my life except that I might not have eaten a cookie that day, or sipped on the frosty soda. Yet now I feel excitement, because even though there is much I could have done, I still have plenty of time to do, to help, to save. Seeing the difference in the before-and-after sections, especially of the orphanage, make me optimistic. Though much misery and anger still lives in this world, I know that something is being done and that I can do something, too. . . .
The one hundred thousand dollars would obviously help immediately but could also make a lasting mark on Haiti. . . . The difference that this donation could make is tremendous. It has the power to speed the process of recovery for the entire country and its people. It has the power to help hundreds and improve the quality of their lives, even if they suffer permanent injuries from the disaster. This donation will show them hope, show them that people care, show them that they are not alone in this world filled with sadness. It will prove that there can be happiness in this world, and that the happiness does not exclude them because of what they have lost. . . .
Though one hundred thousand dollars seems as if it could fix all problems, it does not and cannot. This money must help save Haiti, but it will not be enough. Though my ideas may help greatly, I cannot and will not be the last to donate. That is why it is important to explore all possibilities, for one person can make a difference, but one person cannot save the world. I hope that others will realize the power they have to do, to say, to help, and use that because if we all come together we can not only make a difference, but we can save the world.
The money I donate can be the start, but who will be the finish?
Sincerely,
Andi Bisbjerg
Waluga Junior High School. Lake Oswego, Oregon
Grade 8
Teacher: Mrs. Meabe
Dear Mr. Vanderzalm:
. . . If I had $100,000, I would entrust it with you, Medical Teams International, to rebuild and revive the struggling country of Haiti. When you use this money, please keep in mind the following ways in which I would like you to spend the funds:
1. Trauma counseling especially for children who will have to grow up with this disaster in their past.
2. Provide medical care and food for as many as possible.
3. School supplies for children so that they can keep learning despite the
disaster.
4. Rebuilding structures that will stand better in a future earthquake.
I must also ask you also to please divide the money up and give $15,000 to provide counselors, $30,000 for medical care and supplies, $20,000 on school supplies, and $35,000 on rebuilding structures. Counselors will help everyone, but there should be a special focus on children as counselors will need to help children piece together the shattered areas in their lives. Money put aside for medical care and food will pay for basic medical kits, medical assistance, and nutritious food. The $20,000 on school will fund volunteer teachers and pay for supplies the children will need. I chose to use the most on rebuilding structures because I know that will cost more. Even though it will take money away from the previous uses, it is imperative that their buildings are rebuilt sturdier so that they can withstand future earthquakes. It is my hope that this money will help as many people as it can.
. . . It is vital that we puncture the bubble that shields us from the rest of the world and help Haitians through their struggle. Restoring Haiti will not happen overnight, and we cannot be daunted by the amount of work that is needed to be done. It is our responsibility to help. We must take action.
Sincerely,
Austin Goldsmith
Waluga Junior High School. Lake Oswego, Oregon
Grade 8
Teacher: Mr. Adam Dennis
Dear Mr. President Bas Vanderzalm,
Recently, my school went on a trip to view the REAL. LIFE. Exhibit at Medical Teams International. This exhibit struck me with a towering force as large as the tsunami wave. I had had no idea that children, in this modern day, age, and time, were still treated in this way. As I strolled through the rooms, I realized how lucky I was to have been chosen to live here, free and safe, in America. Why was I not born in Haiti? Or Romania? Or Uganda? Why am I blessed with food, shelter, love, and so much more when children are scavenging through dumpsters? This exhibit showed me how much we, here in America, have—and how much others don’t.
I am donating $100,000 with the faith that you will use it as I would. First, provide medical care and food with $20,000, for even we speak, children are dying. They are starving, scavenging amongst the ruins of their homes, looking for something—anything—to lessen the pain in their stomachs. They have no one to cleanse their cuts and scrapes, wash their bruises and wounds, for their parents are gone—lost amid the thousands of deaths caused by this appalling event. Seek out these orphans, and even those whose parents are alive but can’t care for them, and give them medical care and food. These children need to recover, to grow strong once again, for they are Haiti’s future. They will be the ones to rebuild their country; they are the future leaders. They will be the ones, in years to come, who look back on this time and say, “We did it. Our children have homes, our families are safe, and our country is rebuilt. We have taken what was once nothing but a wasteland—a country filled with broken houses, broken towns, broken people. Broken spirits. We have found hope.” They need to survive, but cannot do so without food and medical care.
With the remaining $80,000, build a hospital. This hospital is to provide medical care for all under the age of 18 with serious injuries. It will serve as a haven from the chaos of the streets. You will hire doctors who have been trained for at least 2 years so they will be sure to have a background in medicine and will be able to perform their duties to the highest of their abilities. Use $40,000 for the actual construction, and use the remaining $40,000 for equipment such as hospital beds and surgical instruments. . . . This hospital will provide hope for dozens of poor children who are right now being left to fend for themselves on the streets of Haiti. They will have medical care as well as food so that we may help them recover. They need to move forward, to realize that there is still hope. They need to rebuild their country. They need our help.
Sincerely yours,
Kayla Hausmann
Waluga Junior High School. Lake Oswego, Oregon
Grade 8
Teacher: Ms. Kelly Running
Dear Mr. President Bas Vanderzalm,
. . . When I first walked through the REAL. LIFE. Exhibit for my school field trip, it was like a giant boulder crashing straight into me. It was just shocking seeing everything that was going on in the world, and this field trip showed only some of the world’s problems. It was almost too much to comprehend. These people that live with almost nothing, people that are forced to kill their best friends, people that never reach their fifth birthday… It made me realize how lucky I was. It made me realize that we all live in such a bubble. It made me realize that there are so many people in the world that need help, and we need to give it to them.
I would like Medical Teams International to use my $100,000 donation to rebuild houses and buildings in Haiti and give medical help to the injured citizens of Haiti. At the epicenter, the earthquake in Haiti was a 7.0 on the Richter scale and injured three hundred thousand people, and left one million homeless. If we don’t get help to these injured people, the death toll of this earthquake will increase. These people don’t need to die. Also, the million that don’t have a place to live can’t just keep living like that. They won’t survive, and everyone deserves a home to live in.
I would like the money to be split equally between each cause, with $50,000 going to rebuilding homes and $50,000 going to medical help. Volunteers from Medical Teams International would fly into Haiti to start rebuilding houses and businesses (these are just as important as the houses, as the earthquake effects on the economy will be huge, with one in five jobs lost). It will be a long job, but Haiti will be rebuilt. Also, medical supplies from the Medical Teams International warehouse will be distributed to the remaining hospitals and doctors, and Medical Teams International doctors and nurses will come to help guide the doctors and help with the medical care. But they won’t stay there forever. After a little while, Medical Teams International doctors and nurses will leave, and Haiti’s own doctors will heal their people. They’ll have the supplies and the knowledge, and having Haiti’s own doctors helping people will help Haiti rise up on its own. Haiti needs help now, and this plan will deliver it.
Laura Manning
Waluga Junior High School. Lake Oswego, Oregon
Grade 8
Teacher: Ms. Kelly Running