Loading...
Mission2019-09-29T13:01:44+02:00

Hi! I’m Alex.

  • Name: Alex

    Age: close to 40s

    Occupation (before world trip): Leader in the construction industry, responsible for several foreign offices

    What I do not like at all: getting up early, having to chat without coffee before; wet, cold feet

    What I really like: Heiko of course, my job, chocolate, a good wine, going to my limits, evoking enthusiasm in others

    The biggest stumbling block before our journey: fear of my own courage; Giving up a job that satisfies me

… and I am Heiko.

  • Name: Heiko

    Age: a little over forty

    Occupation (before world trip): electrical engineer

    What I do not like: being alienated

    What I really like: Alex, good food, nature

    The biggest stumbling block before our journey: none

Our Motivation

Many years ago my husband and I were talking and dreaming about the future. We already felt that time was racing. We agreed that – if we have the opportunity one day- we would take a year off to travel the world. We wanted to push our physical and mental limits and grow personally.
It was a challenge to find a time for this sabbatical year. Professionally, we both are in good positions in good companies, love what we do and have a comfortable life. Should we give up everything to fulfill a dream? And what happens after that? More than once we doubted: about the right time, about giving up our fullfilling jobs and about our own state of mind – are we really ready for this? One thing was clear, if we did not live the dream because of fear about “the after” – we would certainly regret it.
So we decided to go for it!
18 years after the original idea, the time for our journey is approaching! On the 1st of January 2019 we will start! During the preparation, we realized how lucky we are to be able to fulfill this dream.
For that reason we decided to connect our year with a social cause. We want to make a difference for people who are worrying about something, that is certain for each of us: clean drinking water. The goal is to earn money for the improvement of living conditions in Haiti with every mile we hike (about 1600 miles in total).
Together with Alex’s Rotary Club Stuttgart Wildpark we want to raise 45.000$. With this we can ensure clean drinking water for three communities in Haiti! You can help us doing this!
More about Rotary Club Stuttgart Wildpark

Our itinerary

New Zealand South Island (Te Ararora): Hiking with backpack and tent, about 3 month

USA Roadtrip (Driving with a camper van from Las Vegas to New York): about 3 months

Las Vegas – Death Valley – Yosemite – Los Angeles – Grand Canyon – Winfield (Kansas) – Everglade National Park – Lancaster – New York

Project visit in Haiti: about 2 weeks – Going to Haiti ourselves will allow us to see first-hand where the donations are going. We will haven an opportunity to see a well inauguration (this is a huge celebration for the communities!). And we will help the communities in the last steps for their inauguration.

Newfoundland (discovering the island by our own): Hiking with backpack and tent, about 3 months

Canary Islands (GR131): Hiking with backpack and tent, about 2 month

You are member of a Rotary Club and our route is near by? We would be happy to visit you and present our project!

Contact us: info@hiking4haiti.com

New Zealand

Haiti

USA

Neufundland

Canary Islands (GR131)

You want to know where we are?

Live Tracking

Why Haiti?

Haiti has 10,5 million inhabitants. 2,5 million live in nearby the capital, Port au Prince. It is the poorest country of the western hemisphere. Most of the world came to know Haiti due to the severe natural disasters – the earthquake of 2010 being the most profound. However there were other tropical storms in 2004 and 2008. Given an already weak infrastructure, these natural disasters made it difficult for the people to rebuild. Unemployment in Haiti is astronomical and  2/3 of the people do not have a regular income, the illiteracy rate is 40% and even worse for the woman at  70%! Employment aside, 42% of people in Haiti do not have access to clean drinking water.
To fetch the water is the task of the women and girls. This also explains the high illiteracy rate for females. On average the Women walk 30 miles each week to gather water for their family. Unfortunately, the water is often not clean and leads to a lot of diseases.
This unfortunate reality is not only in Haiti, one would probably find similar conditions in Africa, India and other developing nations. Why did we choose Haiti? For us it was important that we have a chance to personally visit the community where we want to make a difference with the donations we raised. We stand behind the project with our name and our energy, and we want to be able to give a direct report of how your donation made a difference. That’s why we have chosen Haiti.

Why Haiti Outreach?

When choosing the organization in Haiti two criterion were especially important for us: Transparency and Sustainability.
Corruption is unfortunately very common in Haiti. Haiti Outreach is a non profit organization that has been established since 1997. They have official NGO status in both Haiti and the United States and have partnered with several Rotary Clubs in the USA and Germanys. They show full transparency by stating full financial reports on their website and by voluntarily getting audited.
The personal experiences were for us next to the good figures very important. We talked with Rotary Clubs who have been to Haiti several times and worked with Haiti Outreach and have shared their personal experience about the organization with us. In addition we set up a videoconference with Dale Snyder, one of the founders, who could answer all our questions fully. All in all this reassured us to have found a partner we could trust!
Concerning sustainability we are 100% sure to have chosen the right partner, as that is one of the core principles of Haiti Outreach. The communities have to apply to Haiti Outreach. They must also agree to participate in a 3 month program to receive training in sanitation and in maintenance of the well to ensure it will last for generations. Everything is set up to empower the people to take complete responsibility and ownership, and that aligns perfectly with the philosophy of Rotary. After the well is drilled the community receives a visit each month from a Haiti Outreach staff member to ensure the well is still functioning and help with any issues that might arise.
Using this model, 90% of the wells are still functioning after 10 years – a phenomenal result!
More about Haiti Outreach

DONATE NOW!

Together for clean water in Haiti

DONATE