According to a recent report on Haiti from the World Bank – November 2022 – Haiti remains the poorest country in the Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) region and among the poorest countries in the world. In 2021, Haiti had a GNI [gross national income] per capita of US$1,420, the lowest in the LAC …
Category Archives: Body
It IS a Wonderful Life
For 48 years, Mrs. tVM and I have watched the film “It’s a Wonderful Life” every Christmas season. When we first viewed it in 1974, the film was a mere 27 years old. That would be like watching “Braveheart” today; it doesn’t seem that long ago. As we watched “It’s a Wonderful Life” last night, …
Looking Forward to 2023
In 2023, we enter our 13th year publishing the Vitruvian Man website, and we remain committed to the two most important stories in all of literature: the story of the good Samaritan and the story of the adulterous woman. We are obligated to be our brother’s keeper to ensure that all life matters. We must …
The Children Need Your Help
After a brutal summer characterized by unparalleled gang violence and delays mandated by the Haitian Ministry of Education, we opened the doors to the Barefoot School in Cité Soleil, Haiti last week. This will be our second scholastic year. Our relationship with the Guepard Boxing Club of Cité Soleil [GBCCS] which operates the school goes …
“One of Our Students Was Shot Last Night”
Yesterday evening, Justin informed me that we successfully concluded our summer camp. “Today we are surrounded by happiness,” he writes. “During the camp, the children play with each other, eat together, tell jokes, learn about their culture, and history, and learn things that can be useful to make a little money in the future, like …
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Promises to Keep
As July’s horrific violence in Citè Soleil subsided, we delayed our summer camp until the second week in August, and we completed the first of three weeks without incident last week. As many as 276 children came to the camp each day. Sadly, we could only accommodate 150; we had to turn 126 children away. …
Crossing Paths with Angels
The medication to relieve my BPH (benign prostatic hyperplasia [enlarged prostate]) has not been effective. Passing urine and bowel movements have been erratic and hardly successful. I made a good decision late last week when I followed the advice of my friend and Mrs. tVM and scheduled an appointment with my VA medical team for …
Let Me Give You a Definition of Ethics
“Let me give you a definition of ethics: it is good to maintain life and further life; it is bad to destroy and damage life.” So writes Dr. Albert Schweitzer in his 1933 autobiography “Out of My Life and Thought.” The recipient of the 1952 Nobel Peace Prize, Dr. Schweitzer offers other thoughts that came …
A Sad Day in Citè Soleil
In a country torn by violence, earthquakes, hurricanes, political unrest, and poverty, last week may be one of the worst in Haiti’s 200+ years as a free and independent country. The United Nations reports that nearly 250 residents in Citè Soleil were killed or injured in gang warfare between July 8th and July 12th. The …
Summer Camp in Haiti
We keep the faith. We know there is a way and with God’s grace, we will find it. Within 24 hours of yesterday’s post searching for support for our summer camp in Haiti next month, another Samaritan – husband and wife – contacted us and volunteered to financially sponsor the complete camp. Their generosity enables …