BY ANDY BAGGOT
UWBadgers.com Insider
MADISON, Wis. — When Hurricane Matthew trained its destructive crosshairs on Haiti this week, Jake Bunz couldn't help but be concerned.
A sophomore defenseman with the Wisconsin men's hockey team, Bunz and his family have put down roots in the small, star-crossed Caribbean nation, so the idea that another natural disaster was bearing down on the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere was jarring.
Bunz thought of the Fond Blanc orphanage and the 60 inhabitants he's come to know through multiple mission trips the last five years.
He thought of the school he helped build, the road he labored to stabilize and kids like Franklin, Givenchy, James and Washington to whom he's grown close.
Bunz thought about the all the people involved with the Fond Blanc Foundation — teachers, caregivers, parents and sponsors — and how much damage the Category 4 storm had done to the area.
Bunz said he and his mother – Tia is the executive director of the Fond Blanc Foundation – are heartened by what they've heard from those on the ground via social media.
"They said that because it's inland, up in the mountains about two hours north of Port-au-Prince, the winds aren't too bad and things are pretty structurally sound, so it's not a big issue," Jake said.
"But the rain is the problem. There's one dirt road to get up to Fond Blanc and enough rain can wash the road away and cut them off from the rest of Haiti."
Haiti and its people have seen this before.
In 2007, three hurricanes and a tropical storm lashed the country in a span of four weeks, killing 800 and inflicting $1 billion in damages.
In 2010, a magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck, killing 200,000 and creating devastation that can still be seen years later.
That's the backdrop for the Fond Blanc Foundation, a Middleton-based operation which organizes humanitarian missions, cultivates sponsors and conducts fundraisers.
One of those fundraisers was held last week. A year after $36,000 was raised — among other things, it helped put a roof on a new school, paid for certified teachers and provided clothing and supplies — Jake said $45,000 came in that will help address a long-term to-do list in Fond Blanc. On it are improved bathroom facilities, a playground, library and a community health clinic.
The latest fundraiser included members of the UW men's and women's hockey teams, who volunteered their time through the Badgers Give Back program.
"They are so willing to do it," Tia Bunz said of the student-athletes, who spent four hours playing games with kids. "You hear so much about their sports and their abilities and what they do. You don't hear about their heart. You don't hear about where they want to put their time and the things that are meaningful.
"To take a Sunday and come help us raise money for the school, it's amazing. I love it. It makes me want to cry when I see them out there because they have so many other things to be doing."
Three of those student-athletes – Jake Bunz, teammate Will Johnson and Mikayla Johnson (no relation) of the women's hockey team – took part in missions to Haiti over the summer. If nothing else, their experiences provide a measure of perspective heading into new seasons.
The UW men's team plays its opening non-conference series Friday and Saturday vs. Northern Michigan at the Resch Center in Green Bay.
The women's team, meanwhile, hosts Ohio State in a Western Collegiate Hockey Association series Friday and Saturday at LaBahn Arena.
"The things you take for granted – worrying about your phone being charged or which place you're going to eat at – you just don't realize it's something you shouldn't be worrying about so much," said Will Johnson, a sophomore winger from Santa Barbara, California.
"Life gets busy and you think certain things are more important than others," said Mikayla Johnson, a senior winger whose father, Mark, coaches the UW women's team. "Going to Haiti, for me at least, throws everything into perspective. These kids have nothing, yet they're happier than the majority of the people I see here."
Jake, whose father Garry was a defenseman for the Badgers from 1984 to '87, was 16 when, unwittingly, he became one of the driving forces behind the Fond Blanc Foundation.
The way his mother tells it, their introductory week-long trip to the region was over when they climbed aboard a bus to take them to the airport.
"It was the hardest week of my life," Tia said. "We were leaving the orphanage and I was so happy to be going home. But I could see he was crying."
Tia had been fond of telling the kids on the mission to "look up." Not so much from their cell phones, but "to look up from your life and see that there's all these things out there you can do."
Jake turned those words back on his mother.
"You've been telling us to look up and yet you're going to drive away from the orphanage and those kids are starving," he said.
Thus began the process of creating the Fond Blanc Foundation and Tia Bunz becoming one of its guiding forces.
"We take for granted everything in the states," she said. "When you travel to a developing nation, you don't realize you take for granted the roads, you take for granted the medical system, you take for granted the schools."
Two of the older kids enrolled in the Fond Blanc school rise at 5 a.m. and walk 90 minutes to class.
Jake said he's been on six missions to the region over the last five years and comes back enlightened.
"Really life changing," he said. "We have to do more. It's so impoverished. These kids barely have anything."
There are no power tools or heavy equipment available, so digging the foundation for the school was tedious.
"It's all pick axes and shoveling," Jake said. "It's really back-breaking work."
Hard, but rewarding.
"It's tough, but it's worth it," he said.
For Mikayla Johnson, the mission trips are a family affair. Her mother Leslie, brother Patrick and sister Megan have all gone. The most recent trip also included McKenna Meuer, a close friend of Mikayla's who played for the UW women's soccer team.
Mikayla said one of the most challenging things she's done on a mission is help dig pipelines with a broken hand.
There is other pain, though.
"One of the hardest parts is leaving," she said, "knowing that you only get to be there for a week and you wish you could be there for more."
Kids at Fond Blanc eat beans and rice almost every meal, Will said. Rocks and sticks are often used as toys, Mikayla said.
"With nothing they find each other and they have love," she noted. "It's something you don't get a taste of here a lot."
Members of the UW men's team are getting acclimated to a new coaching staff led by Tony Granato and getting energized after back-to-back losing seasons.
"Everyone's in love with the game again," Bunz said.
"We're still bonding, but we're ready to go," Will Johnson said. "We're all so eager to get on the ice and make a statement about what Badger hockey is and who we're going to be."
That bonding process was seen during the latest Fond Blanc fundraiser, where a contingent led by sophomore winger and captain Luke Kunin mingled.
"It means they care and are willing to give their time," Bunz said.
Fresh off a bye week, the UW women's team will try and fortify its No. 1 ranking during its home-series opener.
Mikayla Johnson said the fundraiser brought out a group of teammates that included assistant captains Jenny Ryan, a senior defenseman, and Sarah Nurse, a senior winger.
"I asked and right away five hands went up in the locker room," Mikayla Johnson said. "It was really cool to see that."
They all will play this weekend focused on a specific task — winning — but also thinking of others in a devastated land far away.
"Just thinking about it, it's so sad what they've had to go through and what they're going through right now, but the memories I have being there are unbelievable," Will Johnson said.
"It puts everything in perspective," Jake Bunz said. "If you're having a bad day, just think of what's going on down there."
