David Youssi has promised his wife that Dec. 25 is the day that he will stop leaving home each evening and driving five minutes away to sleep in a tent. His outdoor home-away-from-home, which he calls Camp Haiti, sits atop a 75–foot embankment that bottoms out into a busy four-lane road in Woodstock.
What started on March 13 as a four-month fund-raising effort has lasted almost eight months. Youssi, founder of the nonprofit Irrigation Without Borders, decided to camp outdoors to raise $150,000 for an irrigation project in Haiti, and to educate the metro Atlanta community on the life-saving benefits of irrigation in third and fourth world countries.
A church mission trip to Haiti in 2009 fueled a passion in the 53-year-old for providing irrigation plans that give Haitians easy access to water and a plan to generate sustainable commerce. It’s a natural way for Youssi, who has worked for 30 years in the irrigation industry, to help.
“I saw a little girl who was using a broken plastic Coke bottle to drink water from a pothole, then eating the mud because she didn’t have any food or water,” he said. “I felt compelled to help the neediest of the needy.”
Youssi chose camping as a way to bring awareness to the project to “show solidarity with those who live in these conditions.”
Since he began his mission, Youssi has endured temperatures of 132 degrees inside the tent and mid-30s outside, a tornado in September that destroyed his campsite, and “indescribable” lightening storms. The only nights he’s missed at Camp Haiti were the six following surgery he had on his rotator cuff in August.
Camp Haiti is located on property that belongs to Towne Lake Community Church. On one side of his tent is the drop down to the parkway. A few yards in the other direction is an outdoor classroom he's created with a grid of small garden plots watered by different methods of irrigation. When folks stop by during his “visiting hours,” which are 6-11 p.m., he gives them a lesson on irrigation processes.
He's had a variety of visitors during his eight-month stay, including repeated visits from a homeless man who Youssi helped find temporary shelter, a job and long-term aid. He chroniclesexperiences on his Facebook page at www.facebook.com/pages/Irrigation-Without-Borders/174211232596907.
Youssi is especially moved by the young visitors who bring him the few coins and dollars they’ve saved from their allowances.
Lindsey Noojin is a 7-year-old who noticed the tent each time she rode past. She begged her mother, Jill Noojin, to bring her to meet Youssi. Her mother relented after finding this note from her persistent daughter: “Bring munny to the hatetey Gi” (Bring money to the Haiti guy)
Another girl named Annabel Ingersoll held a lemonade sale and donated the money to the cause.
While some stop by for a visit, others offer prayers for the camper as they drive by.
“I look up every time I drive by, thinking about how much passion he has for a worthy cause. He is there in every type of weather and he still hangs on. It shows he believes strongly in what he is doing,” said Woodstock resident Katherine Amick.
Debbie Turner, who passes the campsite several times a week, worried about Youssi's welfare when the storms hit in September.
“I admire people who see a need and put effort and personal sacrifice into meeting that need," she said. "It’s easy to talk about doing something, sometimes difficult to get started, but even more difficult to stick to it.”
So far, Youssi has collected $35,000, 40 percent in cash and the rest in pledges. While the amount isn’t close to the goal, it’s enough to begin phase one of the first irrigation project.
“We’re very happy with what we’ve gotten. In this economy, I feel pretty darned blessed,” said Youssi, who plans to take a team to Haiti in early December. The first project will be to provide irrigation at an orphanage, where residents can grow food. Youssi hopes that proper irrigation will make the crop yield so fruitful, they can sell what they don't eat as a source of income.
"There have been times when I've asked myself what in the world have I gotten myself into? When I'm all alone up there at night, I wonder if this is what I'm supposed to be doing. But then I think about little Lindsey, and that keeps me going."
The most compelling lesson Youssi has learned from his experience is discovering how much children love helping other children.
“Race, education and background are irrelevant because little kids sense that we are talking survival. We adults should watch and listen to them more carefully. Their innocence, honesty and hope inspire me to go back to the basics because there is nothing more basic than life and death.”
AT A GLANCE
Irrigation Without Borders
Camp H.A.I.T.I. is located in the parking lot of Towne Lake Community Church (www.tlcchurch.com), 132 North Medical Parkway, Woodstock. For more information, visit www.irrigationwithoutborders.org
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