Friday, April 27, 2012

Profile: Evens Lanot

We are pleased to provide you with the first (of what we hope will be many) profiles of individuals with whom Thriving Villages International interacts.  The purpose of these profiles is to provide a very personal perspective on the work that we are doing.  We are incredibly grateful to Jim Bishop who is volunteering his time and talents to develop these wonderful write-ups. 

This first profile features Mr. Evens Lanot.  As of this April, Thriving Villages International (TVI) welcomed Evens as Project Manager in Haiti. 

The profiles will be posted on our website as well as our blog & Facebook.




Getting Personal


We at TVI are a small organization with a big mission. We go to small villages in a small country, and we save lives. Here are a few stories of the men and women in Haiti serving in vital roles across the Pestel region and the people whose lives they touch...



Name: Evens Lanot

Hometown: Port-Au-Prince, Haiti

Job: Project Manager for TVI

Favorite food: Everything made with vegetable and fruits.

Favorite Bible Verse: When it comes to the Bible you can call me a lover. I fall in love with that book every day I wake up. I don't have a favorite verse, but I have favorite books: the proverbs, the ecclesiast and the apocalypse.

Hobbies: Depending on my mood, I do arts, dance, and read. I enjoy the gym as well, and I'm into sports a lot like basketball, tennis and swimming (even when I don't know how to swim yet).

If you could teach English speakers one phrase in Haitian Creole, what would it be? Viv la vi. (Live life.) I love this phrase so much.



In Brief
Evens Lanot, 27, serves as TVI's Haiti Project Manager. He travels from Port-Au-Prince to Pestel to oversee projects, train workers, meet with stakeholders,
translate, arrange in-country travel, and perform many other duties. Current projects include supplying the children of Pestel with vitamin A and the deworming medicine albendazole. He's fluent in English and enjoys teaching Kreyol to non-native speakers.
(First lesson: Kijan fanmi ou ye? How is your family?)

Mr. Evens met Dr. Ben Fredrick in Port-Au-Prince when he attended L'eglise Bethel de Clercine. Evens offered to translate the church service, which was in Creole. Inconversation afterwards, Ben realized he'd found the ideal project manager candidate.  They exchanged contact information, and before long, Ben asked Evens to join the TVI team to help provide water and health care to the people of Pestel. "I was surprised by Dr. Ben's determination  the way he handles problems when they come, and that he is open to hear what others think," Evens said.

Three years ago, Evens fell sick and was close to death. "The doctors didn't understand the symptoms at all. After I healed, I realized how much my past life wasn't very fruitful. That is when I took the decision to be more productive, to focus more on what I want to do." Working at TVI, he said, gives him the chance to see a project from beginning to end.


In His Own Words:
"I've dedicated myself to helping others because of my mother. I didn't have the opportunity to know my mother. She died when I was two years old. I'm 27 now and when I meet someone who knew my mother they always cry and start telling me how wonderful my mother was. She was dedicated to helping others. I've seen people making big sacrifices to help educate me. I have always wanted to be a son that my mother would be proud of if she was still alive. I wanted to continue the love and compassion she would have shown to the world."



-- Evens Lanot (left) with Dr. Seneque (right) at training session for APPAS in Pestel, Haiti




Ben Fredrick, MD
President, Thriving Villages International

Thriving Villages website

Thriving Villages blog
http://thrivingvillages.blogspot.com/


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