News

6/23/2010

Kenergy employee helps out in Haiti

MARION, Ky. – It’s not unusual for Donnie Hunt to lend a hand after disaster strikes.

Three times in the past, the Kenergy line foreman participated in recovery efforts after hurricanes pounded the southeast U.S.

When a devastating earthquake hit Haiti earlier this year, Hunt was ready to roll again. He and his pastor joined a humanitarian mission to visit the Caribbean country May 15 through 22. Their construction crew laid rebar and poured concrete. But they also doled out food, visited a school and played with orphans.

Because Hunt has eight grandchildren, the latter proved to be his favorite part of the adventure. "The kids needed someone to play with them, hold them, love them."

During his visit, Hunt learned a lot about Haiti and its residents, who practice an odd mix of voodoo and Christianity. Church-going is a nightly affair.

As part of his weeklong mission, Hunt repaired a church. No concrete trucks eased the burden. Instead, a Haitian worker mixed small amounts of concrete with a shovel all day. He poured the mixture -- two to three scoops per bucket – and a human chain moved the concrete to the work zone.

Unlike U.S. recovery efforts, little or no heavy equipment assisted with cleanup, and Hunt saw only a handful of organizations working in the poverty-stricken village where he stayed.

International workers couldn’t drink the local water, so they purchased hundreds of bags that held only 3 to 4 ounces -- barely enough for a good swallow in 100-degree heat. Helpers’ diets existed mostly of rice, but one night Hunt was offered goat stew. He respectfully declined the dish.

Hunt stayed at a pastor’s home, sleeping on the roof in a tent. The house lacked electricity. A generator ran about two hours each night. A 500-gallon water tank on the roof supplied running water, but no pressure. Gravity was the only force moving water from the roof to the shower or sink.

"It was quite an education," Hunt says.

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