16947: Lemieux: Lansing State Journal: Grandma's Mission to Haiti (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: JD Lemieux <lxhaiti@yahoo.com>


By Hugh Leach
Lansing State Journal

Dorothy Frederickson would prefer to stay home in Lansing
and be grandma to her seven grandchildren and one
great-grandchild.

But she can't bring herself to do it. There are too many
people in Haiti who need her.

Frederickson, a former Ingham County commissioner, has
spent most of the last 12 years there, doing what she can
to help build a better future for the poorest nation in the
Western Hemisphere.

"I can't understand how the United States can allow Haiti
to be in such a shape when it's only 600 miles away," she
said.

"I feel a responsibility. I have skills I can use to help,
and I feel I have to do what I can."

After spending the summer in Lansing - spending part of the
time trying to raise money for her Soaring Unlimited
mission and raising awareness of the plight of the Haitians
- Frederickson headed back for the Caribbean Island nation
last week.

Working in Haiti was an abrupt change for Frederickson, a
former elementary and special education teacher who
represented south Lansing on the county board from 1983
through 1990.

She lost a race for state representative in 1990, and her
husband died of a heart attack that same year.

"I needed a new focus," she said.

She decided to become a missionary and was scheduled to go
to Ecuador. Instead, Frederickson wound up in Haiti when
the church determined her teaching skills could be better
utilized there.

But she thought she could do even more, so she started
Soaring Unlimited.

"I was teaching rich kids," she said. "I wanted to work
with the poor families."

Frederickson said her involvement with Ingham County
programs, such as Cooperative Extension and the Board of
Health are serving her well.

"I have tried to replicate some of those programs in
Haiti," she said.

Helen and Don Robertson of Ashby, Minn., learned about
Frederickson's work while drilling water wells in Haiti and
determined to do what they could to help her.

"For between $50 and $75, you can educate a child for one
year," Helen Robertson said. "In Haiti, 75 percent of the
people can't read or write. By educating the children, we
can provide good leaders for the country's future."

The Robertsons work to get sponsors for Soaring Unlimited
and recently acquired a pickup that Frederickson took back
to Haiti.

"We needed it," Frederickson said. "I was transporting
things like drilling pipe on the roof of my car, and it was
caving it in."

John Brady of Holt, president of the Soaring Unlimited
board of directors, met Frederickson when she was a county
commissioner.

"I saw what she did there and thought she was really good
at helping people with their problems," he said.

"She's a wonderful lady. When she runs into obstacles, she
just works through them. There's nothing going to stop
her."

Contact Hugh Leach at 377-1119 or hleach@lsj.com.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright 2003 Lansing State Journal Use of this site
signifies your agreement to the
Terms of Service (updated 12/20/2002)

__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
The New Yahoo! Shopping - with improved product search
http://shopping.yahoo.com