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| File photo: Himanity First fundraiser event in Los Angeles |
Source/Credit: Gadsden Times
By Laura Catoe | May 5, 2011
A nationwide bike trip brought three medical students through Gadsden.
Cyclists Jeff Crawford, Clayton Bell and Kyle Martin set off on April 4 from Los Angeles, after dipping the rear tires of their bikes in the Pacific Ocean. Their journey will be complete when they reach Charleston, S.C., and dip their front tires in the Atlantic.
Bisiklet for Haiti, the reason they are biking cross-country, is raising money and awareness for Humanity First, an organization that runs a medical clinic in Seguin, Haiti.
The Cloud Forest Medical Clinic is the only medical facility serving the small mountain village of Seguin, located 25 miles south of Port-au-Prince. The clinic serves more than 12,000 patients a year.
The money raised by Bisiklet Haiti will maintain the Cloud Forest Medical Clinic for a year. It also will allow Humanity First to hire a full-time physician to run the clinic.
All three cyclists have worked at the clinic. Bell completed medical school at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and moved to Haiti in June 2010, six months after the earthquake that devastated the country.
Martin, a third-year medical student at Michigan State University, joined Bell at the clinic. Martin has been traveling to Haiti since he was 12 years old.
Crawford is in his final year of medical school at the University of Michigan. He first visited Haiti at the age of 16; he says Haiti changed his life and motivated him to attend college and then medical school. A shared love for Haiti and a passion for endurance sports led the three men to the idea of Bisiklet Haiti. They are traveling 3,000 miles in the span of five weeks. Their goal is to raise $30,000.
They keep up-to-date with the clinic via daily email as they continue their journey.
With less than a week to go and only 400 miles remaining, Crawford said, “It's been an amazing adventure.”
The best part of the trip, he said, has been “meeting all the wonderful people.”
Supporters have opened their homes to the trio along the journey. A Hokes Bluff couple intended to do the same, but unforeseen events prevented them.
Jimmie and Betty Wetzel had planned to host a fundraiser for Bisiklet Haiti and house the cyclists overnight. The tornado derailed the fundraiser and on Saturday, Jimmie had a biking accident that landed him in the hospital.
Jimmie still was at Riverview Regional Medical Center when Crawford, Bell and Martin rode into town on Wednesday. They came by to visit the Wetzels.
“Talk about a dynamic bunch,” Jimmie said.
“We really enjoyed meeting him and his wife,” Crawford said.
The cyclists talked with the Wetzels for about an hour, trading stories from Haiti and the recent tornadoes.
“I just assumed their work in Haiti was centered around the earthquake,” Jimmie said. “But it's been a part of their life. They've been going so long, a lot of the local Haitians watched them grow up.”
The visitors wanted to sample local fare for dinner, and Crawford and Martin were intent on fried catfish. The Wetzels suggested Top o' the River.
“It was quite an experience to get to meet them,” Jimmie said. “I think they're a special bunch of guys.”
Follow the rest of the Bisiklet Haiti journey on Facebook at www.facebook.com/bisiklethaiti or visit the website at www.bisiklethaiti.com.
Read original post here: Cyclists on cross-country trip to benefit clinic in Haiti pass through Gadsden
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