RAYJON’S 20th
ANNIVERSARY YEAR – 2006!
The
Rayjon community recently celebrated its 20th year anniversary! January 23th,
1986 marks the actual day when we became a non profit organization. Who would
have thought two decades ago that this small team of volunteers would lay
the foundation for a thriving, successful NGO?! When John Barnfield and Ray
Wrzykowski planted the seeds of their vision and attracted a group of champions,
it was anyone’s guess as to how it would blossom. This year, we stand back
and salute those who made it possible with their dedication, commitment and
love.
Here’s a summary of the many ways we commemorated this special milestone:
Anniversary Dinner Gala:
June 10th, 2006 was the night of the Gala Dinner and celebration of RAYJON's
20th
Anniversary. It was an evening only six hours long, a year in the planning.
It was an
incredible evening, recasting the word "celebration" into a whole
new meaning. Ask
anyone who was there. Nearly everyone who has been instrumental in bringing
RAYJON into its 20th year took part in the event. Special mention was given
in many heartfelt ways to Ray Wryzykowski and many "Ray" stories
from all those who knew him well delighted everyone. Trip participants from
the first Awareness Trip way back in 1986 were there and trip participants
from 2006 attended as well. Our first Field Directors from the Haiti Community
Development Project were there: Elaine Laengert and Louise Griep, along with
Louise's husband Johannes and their toddler son, Theo. Dieudonne, our present
Project Director was there, along with Roseline, who has been with RAYJON
for many years. Sr. Rosemary Fry, of the Cap Haitien Urban Development Project
was there. John Popiel, our Dominican Republic contact/advisor for many years
was there with his wife Sadhanna & two children. Local dignitaries included
Mayor Mike Bradley, who said in his remarks that he has never known an organization
like RAYJON before, as well as our new
local MP, Pat Davidson. Every RAYJON Program Director was there along with
people
who have been working tirelessly behind the scenes for these past 20 years.
How RAYJON has grown! It was apparent as one looked around the room, that,
except for its initial vision and objectives, RAYJON has changed in many ways.
The theme of the evening came from the story of the starfish thrower, the
small child who threw the dying starfish one by one back into the sea. He
couldn't save them all, but he could make a difference to that "one".
So starfish decorated every place setting as a reminder of what one person
can do. Displays from each RAYJON Program were set up in a separate room to
show through their individual display boards how they were making a difference.
The room was full, full of not just picture displays, but of years of memories.
Everyone had stories to tell; everyone had a more-than-willing audience. We
all belonged.
So many people, so many age groups, so many different experiences shared
over the past 20 years - RAYJON was the connective tissue that bound us all
together.We were the past & the present of RAYJON Share Care. But in John's
speech near the end of the evening, he asked everyone to stand as he called
out age groups. Over 60, 40 to 60, 30 to 40. We all stood as the numbers representing
our age were called out. The last group to be called were the "under
30's", at which point John said "You, you are the future of RAYJON."
It went by all too quickly. It was everything that it was planned to be,
but so much more. It was reunion, it was celebration, it was life - it was
all of us who are "RAYJONShare Care." Click
here to see photos.
Click Here for the story of the STAR THROWER
Anniversary Trip to Haiti:
In April, John and Maggy led a group trip to Haiti to enjoy a “Celebrate
Haitian Culture” theme. A group of 9 of traveled to Haiti on a commemorative
tree planting trip. RAYJON’s Project Director in Haiti, Dieudonne, had organized
the
planting of 5,000 seedlings in January (11 different varieties requested by
the people) – and when we arrived in April with our gardening gloves ready
for work, the 5,000 seedlings were ready to plant.
We fully expected the next few days would be physically challenging as we
strived to plant the 5,000 trees alongside local community members under the
hot sun. In fact, we had visions that this initiative would pave the way for
future tree planting groups – perhaps we could be a catalyst in helping the
region to plant 1 million trees over the next 5 years. That would certainly
help to address the severe deforestation problem in the area.
The first morning of the team's visit, Dieudonne had arranged a dedication
ceremony to celebrate the opening of RAYJON’s first tree nursery. She had
invited all the students from the St. Patrick’s high school and several local
dignitaries. She
explained in Creole to the excited and expectant crowd some of the highlights
of the 20-year history of RAYJON in Haiti. She then invited John to come forward
as the “Jon” of RAYJON to plant a tree commemorating RAYJON’s 20 years in
Haiti. What John didn’t know (it was kept as a deliberate surprise) was that
the previous month, Marg Irwin, Ray Wyrzykowski’s daughter, who was on the
Awareness trip to Haiti in March, had planted a tree on behalf of the “Ray”
of RAYJON. Seeing these two trees side-by-side was a very moving occasion.
After this highly emotional ceremony, we were invited to personally hand each
student a tree of their choice to take
home and plant. (They had already been instructed on how to plant and look
after them). We then helped the RAYJON staff load the trucks with hundreds
of trees – and off we went. We visited schools where students were invited
to plant
trees around the school yard. As they did so, the agronomist explained to
the students with great pride how to plant and look after their trees. We
visited numerous homes where excited volunteers came forward to accept their
chosen tree. They, too, were given a thorough explanation of where and how
to plant their tree and how to look after them. Every recipient was recorded
in a register, so members of the project staff could follow-up in a week or
two’s time.
That first day, we witnessed the distribution of all the hundreds of trees
we had loaded in the trucks. The next two days was the same. We toured much
of the accessible project area distributing trees to volunteer recipients
as we went.
Everywhere we went we were greeted with great excitement – and after their
mini-training sessions, the recipients would return home full of pride with
their tree of choice. At the end of three days, we had witnessed the distribution
of trees to perhaps 1,000 community members – young and old - and every recipient
was recorded in the register for follow-up. It was awesome to witness.
Just before we left, I asked Dieudonne what she planned to do next. She explained
that the remainder of the 5,000 trees were spoken for and would be distributed
within the next few weeks. She had plans to expand the number of tree nurseries
and recipients next planting season. We apologized to her for our naive North
American view that the problem of reforestation could be solved by simply
planting a million trees in 5 years. She said we may well do so – but this
way we involve the people and empower them to plant and look after their own
chosen trees. We were humbled !!!! yet inspired by the prospect of thousands
of
people excited about planting trees. Isn’t that what development’s all about???
Tree Planting Commemoration:
RAYJON’s local ceremonial tree planting took place in Canatara Park, Sarnia,
on June 11th 2006.
Media Stories:
Rayjon had a special insert issued by The Observer, as well as coverage
in various other media outlets. Click here for
The Observer Special Insert.
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