A Last Rodeo

“Living with purpose and meaning is much better than not living with purpose and meaning.”

That uncomplicated declaration represents an essential truth for Kevin Scobie, one that has long guided the 64-year-old’s existence. It’s a perspective that he’s put into practice decisively by using his skillset to help ease hunger in a place where it’s all too common. 

In 2007, he journeyed to rural, impoverished southern Haiti to lead a nonprofit organization’s irrigation construction project and to start a vocational school. Initial plans called for the project to last six months. But the former, long-time Goodland resident ultimately extended his stay to six years to work with farmers, teach, and mentor boys at an orphanage in the impoverished region.

Today, 12 years after returning to Southwest Florida, Scobie is in the process of raising funds for a second humanitarian mission to the area around Les Cayes, situated on the Caribbean coast. The goal remains much the same, however: easing food insecurity by installing irrigation systems for farmers. But this time, rather than involving a charitable organization, the project is his and his alone. 

Scobie's motivations are twofold. For one, he sees a heightened need for improving Haiti’s homegrown agricultural capabilities, given current trends with food aid programs benefitting the world’s hunger-stricken countries. 

“With all of the changes with USAID and international funding, the money and the food have stopped,” he explained. “World Food Programme food drops aren't going in there any longer, so there's going to be a lot of problems with food. I figure the best thing for them is self-rescue. It’s always better if you can pick yourself up, rather than having somebody come and pick you up.”

USAID - the United States Agency for International Development - is the federal agency responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance. The White House is in the process of cutting staff, funding, and 83 percent of the agency’s programs. Remaining programs will be absorbed by the U.S. State Department. 

Based in Rome, the World Food Programme is a United Nations organization that is the world's largest humanitarian organization and the leading provider of school meals. 

Scobie wants to purchase electric submersible water pumps and the needed plumbing for 75 to 120 or more irrigation systems he wants to install during the roughly two-month stay he envisions. Donated pumps are also welcome. He said they cost about $175 - $230 on Amazon.com.

“They have decent enough pressure to be able to work with what they’ve got there,” said Scobie. “Because they only have power for two or three hours a day, the pump will come on, fill a cistern that's at elevation, and they’ll have a reserve they can work with. So, it won't matter what time of day, they can go out and work and have water available to do whatever it is they’re planning on doing.”

Dependable irrigation is spotty in Haiti, leaving crop size dependent on receiving adequate precipitation, he said. 

“If I can get these places quadruple and quintuple their output, that'll make a big difference for everybody,” explained Scobie. “It'll make a difference for the farmer. Obviously, he's going to be making some money. It'll stimulate commerce. There's a whole number of positive things that will come from it.”

Purchasing pumps is generally beyond the means of Haiti’s farmers, he said.

“Saving up that kind of money could take them as long as a year, maybe longer, depending on their status and how they make money. Some people are just never able to get over that hump. The idea is to find guys that already have land and access to water or a well and give them just enough help to get them off the ground. This is specifically targeted to people who are already in the business of growing things for food and commerce, and to give them a bump. The difference between a farmer with good irrigation and a farmer who doesn't have it is exponential.”

The trip will also represent a homecoming of sorts, enabling him to reconnect with people he lived and worked with during that initial trip. Since returning to Collier County, he’s maintained regular contact with one friend there, a farmer who has kept him abreast of what life is like in the Les Cayes area. 

He described the southern region as being more rural, less populated, and relatively free from the violence and competing factions that plague Port-au-Prince, about 120 miles to the northeast. The tens of thousands of refugees who’ve fled there to escape the violence in the nation’s capital have heightened food needs in Haiti’s southern region, he said.

Personal safety isn’t a major concern for Scobie, who has resided in Golden Gate since returning stateside. 

“I've got enough friends and connections there that I really don't have to worry about security or anything like that,” he said. “The State Department is saying, ‘It's really dangerous. Don't go there.’ Well, I'm willing to take a gamble on that. I have enough Haitian friends that I'm quite certain I can pull this off.”

Scobie spent much of his youth in Massachusetts, where his family settled after his father ended his U.S. Army career. After serving in the army himself, post-high school, Scobie embarked on a vocational career that includes commercial fishing, the construction trades, sales and marketing, general mechanical engineering, and more. 

The result is a varied skillset that makes his work in Haiti possible. 

Scobie hopes to depart in two to three months. 

To raise the money needed for the trip, he’s set up a page on the GiveSendGo crowdfunding website, with a goal of raising $20,000. Scobie would gladly accept donations of pumps. He’s also open to working with churches or organizations that are interested in aiding his cause. 

The inspiration for embarking on a second mission grew out of a gloomy phase he experienced about two months ago. 

“I found myself in the doldrums where I'm just like, ‘What, is this it? Is this going to be how I wrap things up, just kind of fading away like this?’ It was working on me in a way that was very negative. And I just decided, you know, it doesn't need to be over. I mean, you go for it. You've got nothing to lose, you know? So, I started getting in contact with old friends from Haiti and talking to them fairly regularly.”

He’s referring to his quest to again aid farmers around Les Cayes as his “Last Rodeo,” given his age and time’s effects on the human body. 

“I know I'm strong enough to do it right now, but I don't think I'll be strong enough to do it in five years,” explained Scobie, who suffered a serious heart attack two years ago. “Right now, I'm 64 and this will likely be the last major thing I do with my life. I don't think I'll be able to do it at 70. I'm not even sure I'm going to be here at 70. But I know I can do it right now.”