Ecotrust in the News
Portland Monthly
October 2009
by Ted Katauskas
Venturing Forth
Go ahead. Ask John Haines about his wheelchair.
He’s happy to satisfy the curiosity of strangers. But once he’s told you his story, don’t try to rationalize his quadriplegia by suggesting there’s some larger purpose to the freak accident that nearly killed this accomplished explorer/financier a decade ago in the Czech Republic. (Claim to fame: he and a friend were among the first Westerners to paddle the length of Africa’s Niger River in 1991.)
“People talk about serendipity, that there’s a reason for why things happen,” grouses the typically circumspect Haines, executive director of Mercy Corps Northwest, the overshadowed regional arm of the renowned international relief agency. “Yeah, I’ll tell you why this happened. I just had to get a cup of coffee, and I had to get off a damned moving train. I made a stupid decision.”
Contact Us
Ecotrust
Jean Vollum Natural Capital Center
721 NW Ninth Ave, Suite 200
Portland, Oregon 97209
tel: 503.227.6225
fax: 503.222.1517
Email us
CONTACT | SITE MAP | OUR WEBSITES | PRIVACY | TERMS | Follow us:
721 NW Ninth Ave • Suite 200 • Portland, OR 97209 • 503.227.6225 • 503.222.1517 fax