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After a year spent in Haiti serving abandoned, orphaned and special needs children in a network of charitable homes that struggled to filter out the influences of violence and poverty, Catherine Flemming returned to the U.S. without a lot of money in the bank. But she believed in Barack enough to donate $25 when asked to do so by a New Hampshire supporter.
Catherine's duties as Lay Minister at Centenary United Methodist Church in Winston-Salem, NC took her to Haiti. Catherine first visited the orphaned boys’ homes in 2005. Moved by the work being done for these boys, she decided to go Haiti to serve as a mentor to the leaders of the homes.
Catherine believed that this service was part of a higher calling, but in order to make the move, she needed funding. Thanks to the help of parishioners and other individuals inspired by her passion, she was able to afford a year in Jacmel, Haiti.
The kids needed help developing the character traits needed for successful adulthood; the education the boys received from the leaders emphasized personal responsibility, respect for others, work ethic, and education. Many of the leaders who organized the boys were themselves former charges of the homes.
“My job was to empower the leaders to help develop the character traits these boys are going to need to grow into responsible adults,” she said.
During her year in Haiti, Catherine realized that Haitians took more time for one another than Americans and had wider extended family networks, resulting in a culture more deeply rooted in personal relationships. Thus, for the disconnected boys that lived in these homes, the knowledge that people cared for them and respected their development went a long way towards healing the wounds of abandonment, loss, and war.
As she prepared to depart, she helped lead an initiative to build a bakery on the grounds to help empower the boys to handle responsibility and run a business. Though Catherine has returned to the United States, she continues to serve as a point person for the bakery.
After a year abroad, with her livelihood dependent on money raised from altruistic benefactors, Catherine is hardly in the financial position to make a contribution to a campaign. Nevertheless, she donated through My.BarackObama.com. She said:
I would not have given money if I did not believe in Barack Obama. I’m a volunteer and depend on financial help from others to get by doing something I love. They give it to me because they believe in me and what I’m doing… The common theme I see in Barack’s words is his focus on reaching out, on diplomacy, and pulling up developing nations. I see a real effort to lead by example, to reach out, and to listen.
Catherine’s story makes her contribution exceptionally valuable, and she inspires us with her service.