NOVA Hope for Haiti - Bringing Urgent Humanitarian Aid to the People of Haiti

THE BENEFITS OF COLLABORATION

By Charles E, Kordula, M.D.

President, NOVA Hope for Haïti, Inc.

Can it be that two heads are better than one at problem solving? And what about four, or five? Is it possible that two groups, working for similar goals yet not quite at the necessary threshold for success, can push and pull to help each other over the top of obstacles that might otherwise not be attainable were each to continue struggling independently? I believe that win-win situations are created when like minds join hands to create a synergy for success.

This is exactly what transpired here at NOVA this year. Two medical missions past and by pure chance, we met volunteers from a Virginia-based group that had been working through a Parish Twinning Program, also in Cavaillon, Haiti since 1986. The St, Charles Borromeo Church of Arlington, Virginia had been focusing on primary school education, school lunch programs, partial support of a medical facility and agricultural/livestock projects at the one-to-one level. They expressed the desire to expand their agricultural platform significantly. They toured our medical clinic on one of its most active days and were impressed with the scope of care we offered and the quantities of medicines in our formulary. Their team took an on-site tour of our recently acquired property in Martineau and realized that twelve flat fertile acres of farmland might provide a substantial platform for the agricultural expansion they envisioned. The following year the St. Charles Haiti Ministry provided NOVA with a new generator and several fans to alleviate the stifling heat inside our clinic, and this Fall we joined together with members from St Charles on a field trip to Haiti to thoroughly explore the local terrain, engage in dialogue with respected town leaders, inspect other philanthropically active sites and hold town meetings with local farmers and neighbors. Medical and Agricultural Committees were formed locally with a governing board and president. Active dialogue, planning and proposals are currently being exchanged via the Internet.

Whereas NOVA realized from the beginning the need to provide agricultural support in Cavaillon’s agrarian economy, and with this in mind demurred on land purchase for the medical facility until an oversized plot has been identified, it has now become clear since we have acquired the land that we lack the expertise to teach agronomy and that we are fully occupied just keeping the medical aspect of our project on target. After thoroughly analyzing the information we gleaned together during the October 2009 field trip, it became apparent that NOVA’s interests and St. Charles’ newly expanded goals could both be satisfied were the two groups to join hands.

Consequently, NOVA is providing land at the rear portion of its campus for several agrarian projects that St. Charles will fund and oversee. These include a local farmer’s cooperative that will purchase local produce and redistribute this produce into the school lunch programs, currently funded by St. Charles but supplied with foreign produce that is packaged and imported. This cooperative will provide a vital local stimulus of income, important local participation in the project and strong Haitian pride. A Nubian goat farm will also be inaugurated as well as an oxen program to raise work animals that will be rented out to the local farmers by the new cooperative, hopefully alleviating much of the chronic low back complaints so common among the farmers at each medical clinic.

NOVA is not sacrificing its land holdings. Rather, it is collaborating with a dedicated group that has a proven track record and is interested in expanding its role to take on the projects that NOVA had always envisioned but has not been in a position to initiate. As we work together and our needs grow with our successes, it is very possible that some day NOVA and St. Charles will jointly build the 25-person living facility on this farmland in Martineau that has been designed and that we would share throughout the years, obviating a two-hour daily commutes to the only hotel that can capacitate us all at one time, in neighboring Aquin.

So the answer is YES! When two parties share the same overriding interests collaboration can be a great boon to both. NOVA and St. Charles together have construed true win-win collaboration this past fall, 2009. The greatest winners of all, however, are the Haitian people themselves, our neighbors and our friends in Greater Cavaillon – and from the ground floor they have been included in planning the framework for this joint service venture.


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	THE BENEFITS OF COLLABORATION By Charles E, Kordula, M.D. President, NOVA Hope for Haïti, Inc. Can it be that two heads are better than one at problem solving? And what about four, or five? Is it possible that two groups, working for similar goals yet not quite at the necessary threshold for success, can push and pull to help each other over the top of obstacles that might otherwise not be attainable were each to continue struggling independently? I believe that win-win situations are created when like minds join hands to create a synergy for success. This is exactly what transpired here at NOVA this year. Two medical missions past and by pure chance, we met volunteers from a Virginia-based group that had been working through a Parish Twinning Program, also in Cavaillon, Haiti since 1986. The St, Charles Borromeo Church of Arlington, Virginia had been focusing on primary school education, school lunch programs, partial support of a medical facility and agricultural/livestock projects at the one-to-one level. They expressed the desire to expand their agricultural platform significantly. They toured our medical clinic on one of its most active days and were impressed with the scope of care we offered and the quantities of medicines in our formulary. Their team took an on-site tour of our recently acquired property in Martineau and realized that twelve flat fertile acres of farmland might provide a substantial platform for the agricultural expansion they envisioned. The following year the St. Charles Haiti Ministry provided NOVA with a new generator and several fans to alleviate the stifling heat inside our clinic, and this Fall we joined together with members from St Charles on a field trip to Haiti to thoroughly explore the local terrain, engage in dialogue with respected town leaders, inspect other philanthropically active sites and hold town meetings with local farmers and neighbors. Medical and Agricultural Committees were formed locally with a governing board and president. Active dialogue, planning and proposals are currently being exchanged via the Internet. Whereas NOVA realized from the beginning the need to provide agricultural support in Cavaillon’s agrarian economy, and with this in mind demurred on land purchase for the medical facility until an oversized plot has been identified, it has now become clear since we have acquired the land that we lack the expertise to teach agronomy and that we are fully occupied just keeping the medical aspect of our project on target. After thoroughly analyzing the information we gleaned together during the October 2009 field trip, it became apparent that NOVA’s interests and St. Charles’ newly expanded goals could both be satisfied were the two groups to join hands. Consequently, NOVA is providing land at the rear portion of its campus for several agrarian projects that St. Charles will fund and oversee. These include a local farmer’s cooperative that will purchase local produce and redistribute this produce into the school lunch programs, currently funded by St. Charles but supplied with foreign produce that is packaged and imported. This cooperative will provide a vital local stimulus of income, important local participation in the project and strong Haitian pride. A Nubian goat farm will also be inaugurated as well as an oxen program to raise work animals that will be rented out to the local farmers by the new cooperative, hopefully alleviating much of the chronic low back complaints so common among the farmers at each medical clinic. NOVA is not sacrificing its land holdings. Rather, it is collaborating with a dedicated group that has a proven track record and is interested in expanding its role to take on the projects that NOVA had always envisioned but has not been in a position to initiate. As we work together and our needs grow with our successes, it is very possible that some day NOVA and St. Charles will jointly build the 25-person living facility on this farmland in Martineau that has been designed and that we would share throughout the years, obviating a two-hour daily commutes to the only hotel that can capacitate us all at one time, in neighboring Aquin. So the answer is YES! When two parties share the same overriding interests collaboration can be a great boon to both. NOVA and St. Charles together have construed true win-win collaboration this past fall, 2009. The greatest winners of all, however, are the Haitian people themselves, our neighbors and our friends in Greater Cavaillon – and from the ground floor they have been included in planning the framework for this joint service venture.