It doesn’t start with billions of dollars of pledges. It starts with one brick—and then another. In the wake of the Haitian earthquake last year, the international community mobilized to bring forth a promising recovery, but this can’t translate into progress on the ground without individual efforts.

That’s what inspired Kenneth Lam, a senior in business and administration, to take a week off of school to serve in Haiti.

Lam, an active participant with the Center for Student Leadership, Ethics and Public Service, decided to skip a week of class to accompany CSLEPS director Mike Giancola and to work in Port au Prince with a Raleigh based non-profit organization, Together We Can, Inc. Lam and Giancola traveled the week of Jan. 23 with a team of doctors, medical staff and construction volunteers to work along with Haiti Outreach Ministries.

“In essence, we were there to provide support for projects that the Haitians had already started,” Lam said. “Our mission was to supplement the Haitian workers, not to replace them.”

Together We Can has established a strong partnership with the Haiti Outreach Ministries and the Raleigh-based organization has traveled to Haiti in the past to fulfill a long-term relationship with the Haitian people.

Examining the improvement of the recovery, Philip Dail, Together We Can volunteer, said, “from the March following the earthquake, when I last visited, until now, there has been much improvement. Not enough, though. I was there in August before the earthquake, and the condition isn’t nearly the same.”

Dail, the director of advising and admission of the College of Textiles, was unable to join the group of volunteers this time around, but he commented that the work Together We Can demonstrated progress.

“The approach that the volunteers take down there is critical,” Dail said. “The collaboration is about, ‘What do you need?’ instead of ‘This is what you need.'”

The team of volunteers, including Lam and Giancola, spent their time working on a construction project to expand a children’s home in a suburb of Port au Prince. The children’s home, which acts as an orphanage and support home for underprivileged children, is a project of Leon Dorleans, the founder of Haiti Outreach Ministries.

“We worked on construction,” Lam said, “so we spread concrete and laid a lot of cinder blocks. It was tough work in the heat, but it was productive. The week we were there, we were able to accomplish about three times as much work than under normal conditions, which is what the trip is all about.”

This children’s home is a part of an educational network that provides more than 80 percent of schooling to Haitian children. The dearth of public institutions and infrastructure require churches, orphanages and private institutions to provide a last recourse for primary education.

“Unfortunately, the education and medical system is in limbo,” Dail said. Due to this, Together We Can focused its group of volunteers to serve these two needs.

“Along with us working construction, the medical clinic, based out of a tent, worked around the clock without much rest,” Lam said. “I think they got a 30-minute lunch break. This is impressive, considering I got heat exhaustion one day.”

The construction and medical work provided instantaneous signs of improvement, but Lam and Giancola organized a projected to bring sustained aid to 10 primary school students. The project, called Wolfpack Class of 2026, promises a pledge of $300 to 10 three-year-old students up through university. This sponsored education entailed $300 a year per student until the sixth grade, providing schooling, food, healthcare and even holiday presents. After sixth grade, the contributions will increase with regards to student needs.

“This will bring back something more tangible, something to track and establish a connection with,” Lam said. Following the mission of Together We Can and Haiti Outreach Ministries, the Wolfpack Class of 2026 project provides a human aspect to service in Haiti.

“With regards to service, there must be a relationship,” Lam said. “People feel disconnected when they throw money at a problem without feeling some sort of attachment. These 10 students will be the precedent to follow. We are hoping that this will inspire other organizations across campus to think about sponsoring other students.”

The Haitian recovery is more than just providing medical care and laying brick. But according to Giancola, it’s up to individual efforts. Without this initiative on the ground, money and aid can’t accomplish the long-term goal.

“It reverts back to this simple tenet,” Giancola said, “Nobody can do everything, but everyone can do something.”