Moses Lake grad helps in Haiti

MOSES LAKE - When Analiesse Isherwood made up her mind to learn about third-world medicine firsthand, whether by coincidence or providence, she chose to travel to Haiti.

In December 2009, she landed in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, where she worked with God's Chosen Ones Ministries (GCOM), a Christian medical team, for two weeks.

Less than two weeks after she returned home, in January of 2010, Haiti was struck by a devastating earthquake. People she had helped. and people she had worked with, were killed.

While she hadn't initially planned to return to Haiti, in March 2010, Isherwood returned to help provide disaster relief.

Isherwood recently returned to Haiti yet again, and this time she took approximately $1,000 raised by Moses Lake middle-school students to send Haitians to school. It will be Isherwood's fourth visit to Haiti. She will deliver the money and supplies raised by the students.

When she told Tracy Strophy, an eighth-grade teacher at Frontier Middle School, about her work in Haiti, Strophy arranged for her to speak to the school's eighth graders.

The students collected more than 100 pounds of toys, gifts and medical supplies for Isherwood to take to Haiti on her third trip to the country in March of 2010.

"I went to Haiti with all my supplies and every day I was there I was in e-mail contact with them, answering questions, telling them what I was seeing," said Isherwood. "When I came back I was able to show them pictures of where all their gifts had gone and tell them very relevant stories of the impact they were able to be a part of."

Isherwood decided to also talk to eighth grade students at Chief Moses Middle School about Haiti. With Isherwood's encouragement, eighth-grade students at Frontier and Chief Moses Middle schools pooled their pocket change together and raised the $1,000 Isherwood took with her on her most recent trip to Haiti. Four eighth-grade classes at Frontier, and ten eighth grade classes and one seventh grade class at Chief Moses participated.

Isherwood recently spoke with classes at Chief Moses to tell the students where their money was going.

Isherwood's Haitian friend Gardy Charles, a translator for GCOM, has already identified six women as the first recipients of the money to go to school, she told the students.

"When we were first planning this, when I talked to you guys last March, I kind of had in mind younger people," she said. "But these people are actually older, these are 18- and 19-year-olds ... They grew up in an orphanage and at 18 years old they got kicked out of the orphanage so now they've been living on the street."

The girls know how to read and write but have never been to school, she said. Four of them want to be nurses, one a secretary and one is undecided.

She also told the class that because they were inspired by what the middle-school students were doing, the Rotary Club of Moses Lake agreed to pay her airfare and First Presbyterian Church in Moses Lake donated $800 to purchase books for classrooms.

"It's only because you guys are raising money," she told the class. "They are pretty excited about everything you guys are doing."

"It helps out the people down in Haiti," said Chief Moses eighth-grader Mitch Hohman, 15. "We saw pictures of kids and they looked like they were in harm and like they needed help."

"It feels really good to know you impacted somebody's life in such a way, that you know they're going to do something with the money," said Chief Moses eighth-grader Derek Dunkin, 14.

"I really like the fact that she opened up another world to our students," said Linda Miller, an eighth grade social studies teacher at Chief Moses Middle School. "They're at an age where they can become more of a force in the world, especially when they're encouraged to do that and they see somebody like her as a role model."

Isherwood just graduated from Western Washington University as a presidential scholar. Presidential scholars are chosen based on GPA, research, community service and diversity. She was nominated by her biology professor, Dr. Sandra Schulze and her research advisor, Dr. Janet Finlay.

During her commencement speech, Isherwood talked about her experience helping people in Haiti and encouraged others to find their own opportunities to make a difference in the world.

"A year and a half ago I spent two weeks helping provide medical care for those in Port-au-Prince and only a couple weeks after I left, many of those I helped treat, and those I had worked with, were killed in the 2010 earthquake," Isherwood said in her speech. "When I look back at my time in Haiti, it's not the medical care I was able to provide that I think about, but I think about the conversations I had and warm smiles and dances I shared. I don't wish I had taken just one more blood pressure or given just one more vitamin, but I wish I had taken the time to give just one more hug or make sure just one more person knew how much they meant to this world. While I have been given this very unique view of life early, at the end of this life we're all going to share the same perspective, that the only truly lasting impact we can have is the one we have on the lives of others."