A Foolish Consistency

On a recent flight to Miami my wife and I met Chad Bissonnette, a 25-year old from Tolland, CT, not far from Manchester where I spent my youth. Chad was on his way to Haiti where he has been working with the community of Gran Sous, an island in the Gulf of Gonave, to improve their water supply. A visit to Gran Sous in 2005 developed into a commitment to help the community that Chad describes at http://supporthaiti.blogspot.com/. He has lived in Gran Sous for most of the past six months. Among many impressive attributes–Chad is intelligent, articulate, and funny–what impressed me the most is Chad’s commitment to working with the community instead of imposing on it his preconceived notions of what it needs. He acts as the community’s agent, helping to implement their decisions, although it is clear that his involvement and fund-raising have catalyzed the project. It is a wonderful to meet someone committed to community service for purposes other than resume-building.