By Louisa Smith, May 2013.  This week while in a cab on my way to dinner in Boston I was having a friendly conversation with my cab driver. He commented on my name and how it was the French spelling, I could tell he was from Haiti based on his accent and asked him where he lived before moving to Boston. We got into a conversation about the aid being given to the country thru organizations in the US and the corrupt government (not your typical conversation with a cabby, normally its about the Boston sports teams). I only so much as mentioned your [referencing Terry Parkinson, Chair of the SCEH Library Committee] involvement with a charity outside of Port-au-Prince. He went on to talk about the one charity he knew and how they were building a “community center/common ground for people in the neighboring towns to go read and have a place to learn” I asked him what the name was and he mentioned “Sister cities”. At that moment I have never been more proud of my mother and realized how large of an impact she and Sister Cities Essex Haiti has on a community in a different country. It was so amazing to hear him speak so highly of a charity that many Haitians haven’t even heard of. Anyways, proud of you mom! Keep up the good work, you are truly an inspiration to me.

Louisa Smith, at the time of writing this Story was a college student in Boston. She is the daughter of Terry Parkinson, Chair of the Sister Cities Essex Haiti Library Committee. It is a note she wrote to her Mother on Facebook.