Well-known Waterford city soccer referee Ian Paul is to travel to Haiti as part of the ‘Build it Week’ team that will visit the earthquake-ravaged island with Irish charity Haven this October.
Ian told The Munster Express that the impression made at a presentation by Haven founder Leslie Buckley at the Tower Hotel three years ago had proven a lasting one.
“Leslie was my boss at one stage when he came to Waterford Crystal and he’s someone I’ve always admired,” he said.
“So to get a chance to help people who so badly need help as they do out in Haiti was something I’d wanted to do for quite some time.”
Between now and August, Ian has to raise €4500 to facilitate his trip to Haiti, where Haven has been based since early 2009.
The charity’s efforts in Haiti, illustrated in an RTE documentary featuring rugby pundit George Hook, have intensified since the January 12th quake which devastated parts of the capital Port au Prince.
Said Ian: “The idea of helping people in a community that has absolutely nothing was something I’d thought about for a long, long time.
“And thousands and thousands of people in Haiti were left with nothing after the earthquake, no food, no shelter, no running water. Nothing. It was already one of the poorest countries in the world before the earthquake.
See The Munster Express newspaper for full story.
