Current Haiti Team

Our team in Haiti is composed of volunteers from all around the world.  Some stay for only a few weeks, but others have continued working since their initial arrival after the earthquake in January 2010.  We are indebted to their hard work and commitment to SASH.

William Brown developed his leadership and survival skills in the Combined Cadet Force where he was Company Sergeant Major. He worked in a support role with young people with learning difficulties which enabled him to enhance his communication and group skills. After working for the Civil Service in Manchester William travelled extensively working in Australia, Malaysia and Indonesia. While working with local people in Aceh after the tsunami William recognised that smaller communities need support to access aid and that sustainable projects are needed. William and his wife Melanie are founder members of SASH.

 Melanie Coull graduated in Marine Biology from Birmingham where she took part in a number of conservation projects. After an administrative job in Manchester where she was able to use her talent for organizing she travelled and worked in Australia, Malaysia and Indonesia qualifying as a Diving Instructor. It was while working near Banda Aceh after the tsunami that Melanie became aware of the plight of small communities who are unable to access aid from big organisations and so become forgotten.

Sharon Bush joined SASH in late July 2010.  She had been working in Haiti since February 2010 with a neighboring organization, CODEP, which focuses on sustainable agricultural practice and reforestation in the mountains between Bellevue and Jacmel.  Sharon lived in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania before coming to Haiti where she worked as a mental health therapist for children and their families.  Her experience as a social worker taught her to listen and view a problem from a more holistic approach.  Her ability to speak Creole has been invaluable in the day-to-day activities and projects of SASH.  

Tsetsi Malinova is originally from  Bulgaria but now lives in the US. Occasionally. Her qualifications are in Journalism and it is through an interview with Joe Basine back in May that she came to hear of SASH and came to join us in September. Since then she has been involved in a number of projects and her graphic design skills have been key in the creation of the road safety signs. Give her a hammer and a saw and she'll be happy. 

Joe Basine is from Provincetown, Massachusetts where he works as a Whale Watch captain and musician. Since arriving in Haiti less than a month after the earthquake, Joe has been involved with food drops, tarpaulin distribution, and orphanage support, working alongside NGOs such as NGO logistics, America Continental 2000, Eagle Wings, Help For Orphans and Nature Healing Nature. Joe joined SASH in March 2010.  After Joe's first week volunteering, he said "I am thrilled to be working with SASH because SASH is definitely getting it done. If you donate to SASH you get the most bang for your Buck."

Joe is one of our long-term volunteers as his love for Haiti has resulted in multiple trips for extended periods. Even when he's not actually present, his aura is still around in the pile of neon-colored T-shirts, his guitar and his private stash of Bakara and Comme il fault. 

Jordan Kaplan, known to friends as ‘Jordie Kaps,’ is a man of many interests.  He lives in Philadelphia where he writes and records music and works as a server and bartender to pay ‘the bills.’  His interest in volunteering abroad led him to resign from his job at Thomas Jefferson University doing research in cancer biology last year.  He is now able to focus his full attention on his work in Haiti with SASH from mid June until early August.

Jordan is very seriously considering starting graduate school this fall to pursue a master’s degree in public health and ultimately wants to attend medical school to work in global health.  That said, he is also open to the idea of staying in Haiti on a more long-term basis to continue working with the groups and communities he has met and grown fond of. 

Jordan can’t help but appreciate the comforts of home, but all-too-well recognizes that many people around the globe are much less comfortable, and he has no problem sacrificing those comforts if he can improve the lives of others in doing so.