Hermann Colas

Hermann Colas Interview Transcript
Interviewed by Dae’lonzo Floyd and Dahlia Roney
Recorded by Arlie Sommer
Time: 57:02

**Miscellaneous talk while adjusting sound and preparing for interview**

00:03:52.1

Dae'lonzo: My name is Dae'lonzo Floyd I'm 12 years old and today is May--May 18, 2011. For the record can you please state your name and date of birth and where you were born?

Hermann: Well, my name is Hermann Colas Jr. and uh I was born on April 5, 1948. That makes me quite an old man compared to your age.

00:04:31.2

Dae'lonzo: You were born in Haiti, what do you remember about Haiti?

Hermann: Oh, I was raised in Haiti so I remember really a lot about Haiti, it was a very fun place when I grew up. I (unclear) my parents in Haiti, they owned a distillery. Which is--was the 2nd largest distillery in that country and they made rum, and uh liquors, and uh of course a lot of my friends really loved to be my friends because that was the one place they could come and have access to liquors. So those were some of the good moments that I spent in Haiti with my friends as I became older.

00:05:23.7

Dae'lonzo: Do you speak any Coral? Could you say something? I mean Creole?

Hermann: Well yes I speak both French and Creole. And uh, Creole is like uh for instance, "the days are beautiful outside today" so in Creole you would say (translates into Creole), ok? And in French you would say (translates into French)

00:05:54.6

Dae'lonzo: Do you remember your house in Haiti and can you describe it?

Hermann: Well, yes I do and we--we--my family had a fairly good sized house in Haiti with uh swimming pools and, you know. We were fortunate Haitians and my parents were fairly wealthy so I had a good life in Haiti

00:06:25.4

Dae'lonzo: How did your family come to Portland?

Hermann: Well actually I came to Portland, my family never came. I--I first came into this country to study and uh I am the oldest man of the family. And uh I came from a family of 8, I had 4 sisters that were born before I did, and then 6 years later I was born, the 1st son in the family. And as a result, the expectations were that I would be the one that would keep the business going in Haiti. But when I came here to study I made the decision to join and serve in the US Army and uh, I came here in Oregon, (unclear) in 1971 to be the best man at the wedding of one of my friends. And then I met my wife here and I never went back to Haiti after that.

00:07:35.4

Dae'lonzo: Can you describe the Vietnam war?

Hermann: Can I describe?

Dae'lonzo: The Vietnam war?

Hermann: Well, actually while I did join to go to Vietnam, I never did get there because after I was uh trained in signal corps by the army, they decided that since I was (unclear) at that time that I didn't have the necessary clearance for them to let me hear their conversations that were coming in (unclear) relationships so they first trained me without really inquiring about that first and then they decided after they had assigned me to go that they didn't want me to go and then they send me to different school and uh, one thing led to another and I end up spending most of my time in uh, a place in Texas called El Paso. So that's where I really spent my time during the time I served in the army. And I was trained as a medic, so I saw a lot of the people coming back from Vietnam that were hurt, so in a lot of ways I was really lucky I was not shipped there. But, if they had sent me there I would have gone because that's what I had volunteered to do

00:09:07.8

Dae'lonzo: What's the difference between Portland and Haiti?

Hermann: Hmm. Well---Haitia is an island where one of the 1st difference I can tell you was that when you went to the beach, the water was beautiful and the sand were really very nice white sands, on--on--on the beach. And uh, one of the 1st mistake that I made when I came in Oregon, because I came from El Paso, who doesn't have, you know, the sea nearby, and so I flew here and it was a day like this the 1st time I came in Oregon, and then I went down the coast here, and uh, the sun was really bright and shiny, a glazing sun, and I saw some people in the water and I didn't ask anyone how the water was and I put my trunk down and then I just run and jump into the water. My body was totally shocked, I crawled my way out, I never been in the water since. So that's one great difference between Oregon and Haiti

00:10:36.6

Dae'lonzo: What did you wear in Haiti? Were there different clothes?

Hermann: No, same type of clothes that I wear right now, yeah

00:10:43.7

Dae'lonzo: What were your favorite foods in Haiti?

Hermann: Well our--our national food is uh, rice, beans, and uh chicken, beef, it's really--it's just more like uh anything that you find here, in fact I continue to eat a lot of what one might call Haitian food here, except you know, the spices were different. But nowaday in Oregon, when I first came it wasn't that way, but nowaday in Oregon you find spices from everywhere, and food from anywhere, like avocados, and you know, fish, different sorts, and--and nuts of anywhere so I never feel like I am not able to eat things from Haiti if I want, or from anywhere for that matter

00:11:41.2

Dae'lonzo: What did you and your siblings do for fun in Haiti?

Hermann: For fun? Well for fun I went out with my friends to the beach and we went out dancing, to the movie, all sorts of--sometime mischief

00:11:59.5

Dae'lonzo: What did you do? What do you mean by mischief?

Hermann: Hmm?

Dae'lonzo: What do you mean by mischief?

Hermann: Mischiefs are doing those things that your parents tell you I don't want you to do

00:12:11.8

Dae'lonzo: Got any stories about that?

Hermann: Hmm?

Dae'lonzo: Do you have any stories about that?

Hermann: Well--I didn't do too many of them because I was one of those guys that was quite afraid of my dad. I--I don't know if you--if you had seen uh this thing about uh Bill Cosby when he had all in the family like he said "I'm the one that brought you here and I can take you out". Well my father had those sort of things for real, and sometimes like my friend would call me and say "Man Hermann there is a dance tonight, let's go!" and I say "Well I have to ask my parents", and then uh--and then they say "Oh you shouldn't ask them they're going to say no!" I say "Well I have to" so I would go and tell my dad and he would say "No" and my friends would say "Well you can slip thru the window and then we'll park the car down and you can walk, they'll never see you!" I say "Man, I don't want to take a chance because if my father found out that I left without his permission, this guy's liable to kill me!" and I was really afraid of my father, so I--I didn't do too many mischief

00:13:27.9

Dae'lonzo: Was there a community in Haiti?

Hermann: A community? Can you elaborate on that?

Dae'lonzo: Like there's a community in Portland, Eliot neighborhood?

Hermann: I see. Well--eh--yeah, they are all of different, really, communal arrangement in Haiti as well, yes. (unclear as they start speaking over each other) as they are here

00:14:02.3

Dae'lonzo: Can you describe them?

Hermann: Hmm?

Dae'lonzo: Can you describe them?

Hermann: Well, yes--in--in a certain way like all the communities are kind of uh divided, you know you have uh--places--I guess in a certain way you could say there are some similarities where people that are doing better live in certain communities and then--and then others live in less affluent communities. But even uh--even in the affluent communities in Haiti, because we have such a large pool of uh people that are not very wealthy, but they--they live almost everywhere. And uh--and uh the difference is that people that are doing well in Haiti their houses are built more like what you might see in the old medieval time where you--you have your house and then your house is just with big wall on it and burrows(??) on top of the wall so people cannot come in and these sort of things, yeah

**Dae'lonzo's mom tells him it's ok to talk about the Portland area even though it's not from Hermann's childhood**

00:15:39.8

Dae'lonzo: What was your 1st job?

Hermann: In Portland here, my 1st--eh--eh-- actually my 1st job that's before when I first moved in Portland was uh--at uh--a center called Albina Center and I was kind of a financial director for the Albina Center. Which is on the corner of a--of Killingsworth and Albina. Today they have some new shops, in fact my company have renovate that place uh that was years later, and it was very interesting for my company to be involved in that renovation because uh, I found as we were renovating it all the peoples that were left there, I found uh--I found my work application sitting in there with all information about me, social situations all this thing and I was totally shocked. So I took it and now I have put it in a piece of uh, you know laminate, which I keep in my office now. So that's very interesting 1st work, yeah

00:17:01.9

Dae'lonzo: Did you enjoy that job?

Hermann: Well yes I did. It was a job that was helpful to the community and young people would come in and they would provide classes to them, and art classes and what have you. And uh--and some inspirational--yeah, it was interesting work and I think in term of what I had done there and my youth is something that I continue to promote in my company because I figured the people need to be inspired to know how they can do positive things with their lives

00:17:43.3

Dae'lonzo: Why did you start a construction company?

Hermann: Well, the reason I started the construction company is like I was sharing--or writing this book, and--and my--what you might call 2nd job I was doing extremely well and uh--and I wanted to build my dream house and uh--so as I was doing this, I uh hired a general contractor to do that house for me, to build it. But that general contractor unfortunately turned out to be not so competent and I end up firing that guy and uh--I took over and built the house myself. And as I did that I decided that people shouldn't have to be losing their money in the way that uh I was treated to lose my money and I said uh if I was to change career, I would start a construction company and at that time I was involved more into telecommunications and I was a regional manager that was responsible for 13 different states in--in connection with the department of global positioning systems, which actually led to all those cell phones that we do--in fact I was involved with one of the very 1st cell company in Seattle called Cellular One. And my kids were really used to seeing that we had phone in my cars and everywhere that people didn't have computers and what have you when people didn't have personal computers. So, it was really a very interesting arrangement and I let go of all of that and started the construction company, because of that

**Dae'lonzo's mom suggests Hermann might show them some of those photos**

Hermann: Yeah, and this is--this is--this is--this is what happened. I had one this land and it's a new place in the--in the northwest hill called--called Forest Heights ,and--and I was developing this and this is the house. That's you know, like when you building your house you start with the foundation first, and you set the foundation. And since it was a new hill I wanted to make sure that uh it was going to be the most solid foundation that one could get so that the house would stay up there, even if there is an earthquake. And people used to tell me and say "Well, do you think this is--you're trying to build Fort Knox" because I made so much rebars (unclear) together. And so here this is the framing stage, right here. And all of these are really different skills that people learn that--that really comes to work in my company. And uh, and this is how the house start taking shape, and it's a--before--before we put you know, sidings and what have you. And--and--you know--you--you build this and you--you have to do roofs and sidings and all these different things. But anyway, as you build you keep doing all those things, you put the electrical, the doors, you know, and all--all this, you know. And uh, pretty soon your house start really taking shape. This is the dig and now this is the finished house. And that's--yeah--that's how we finished it in the inside, and this is the bathrooms inside, with you know, like fireplace and what have you. So this is--this is the kind of thing that I--that I did. And here in uh-in this neighborhood here also is uh some of the houses that uh--I tell you I used to live in this house, which is not very far from here it's on what is called now eh Cesar--Cesar Chavez, and this house is right in the corner of 39 and uh--and Going. And that was my house and I sold it when I built the other house. And this is the house on Skidmore, and I think Skidmore is part of the Eliot neighborhood, and this house was in that state and it was to be taken down and destroyed and my company I took it in that state here and I totally renovated, you know--and it turn out into a pretty nice house. It's still there, it's on NE Skidmore and that's one of those (unclear) things that I have (unclear) many renovations that I've done and again this is another house that I built in uh the Eliot neighborhood is on Rodney and uh--so yeah, I've built things all over Portland in uh, in Eliot, in uh Madrona, which is not far off Eliot, it's uh--I've built also in the Concordia area, and I uh--I'm trying to think--well I built uh Portland Community College, I'm building right now. It's a brand new building in uh Newberg, and I (unclear) units, like over 62 units of subdivision in uh Gresham. And uh, we are building a community center, that will be the 1st living building in uh Oregon, and it's uh--we are transforming what used to be an old gas station, I remember this place here used to be a gas station by the way. You guys probably were not born when that got transformed into this but that's what it was. So I--I am right now working on that--on that place and probably it will inaugurated some time next month at the end of the month or something. So as we continue we've built a lot of housing since uh we started the company some nearly 15 years ago, yeah

00:25:16.6

Dae'lonzo: What was the greatest thing you built?

Hermann: Well I'd say--I'd say for now it's going to be the--the building that we're building in uh--in Newberg. Because this is going to be the 1st Portland Community College in Newberg and it's going to house really at least 10,000 students, so that's--that will be--that will be (unclear)

**Dae'lonzo's mom suggests he asks more about Hermann's connections to the Eliot neighborhood**

00:26:14.1

Dae'lonzo: What was it like when you first came to the Eliot neighborhood?

Hermann: Well the area in Eliot and--and uh Concordia and uh Piedmont, all those areas used to be more--more populated by people who really look like you or me, at the time that I started to do work in this neighborhood. And they were really in a decrepit state. And uh, for awhile it was like uh they started to have what is called (unclear) those are really an arrangement where by the city and uh what is also called the Portland Development Commission we're going to try to improve the neighborhood. And uh--and choose to really have redevelopment in those areas. And that is when for instance like I built this--this house right here and to give you one example of uh, of the Eliot neighborhood that was an empty space that really people used to just go and dump waste and what have you there so we picked those things up, developed the house and obviously a lot of different unit will be at all over the place that transform the Eliot neighborhood into what you are seeing today. But uh--

00:28:00.5

Dae'lonzo: Did you try to do anything about the Eliot neighborhood and try and help it?

Hermann: Well yeah, in working in my company to really develop some of these things actually what I did personally is that uh, I started to build in this neighborhood at a time when the banks used to not give loans for people to really keep housing in good shape in this neighborhood and uh--and I bought lands and developed things before the Portland Development Commission in Oregon started to do work in those neighborhoods. And my kids used to say "Papa why do you have to be the pioneer for all those things because you're not making any money that way". Which is true but I really wanted to spur the development in this neighborhood. Of course today they are all well developed except unfortunately the people that were living in those areas they were never in a lot of ways well employed. So when uh the neighborhood were redeveloped they became uh not as affordable as they used to be when they were in the decrepit states. So, many of these people that used to live in these neighborhoods, today have been moved to an area in Gresham now called Walkwood. And uh, I am a commissioner in Gresham today and we are really about to start with developing those neighborhoods and I'm pushing very hard to see that we do not just go in neighborhood and redevelop them, but that we create work for the people who live in those neighborhoods because just simply building new houses doesn't create necessarily jobs for the people who were in the neighborhood before those new houses sprung up. So I've learned quite a bit by doing everything that I have done before so I'm--I'm looking into seeing that people get jobs so that when we develop new housing that they are in a position to be able to afford those new housing as well

00:30:40.2

Dae'lonzo: Do you ever hope to spread your company farther into the country?

Hermann: Yes, my hope is really to--to become a very, very large company that hire a lot of people and uh have an impact on the community where my company exists. And today we have started to do that already because we are one of the few companies where--where you have people like me at the top that can go around, talk to young kids and be able to encourage them to go to engineering and uh, at the same time show them that uh this is the kind of work where you can start with a shovel and uh end up, you know in a place where you're making extremely good money to take care of your family. And I have few of those folks working for me and uh, that's what for me a company is all about is really developing so that you have an impact on the community where you live

00:32:03.1

Dae'lonzo: Did you ever hire anybody from the Eliot neighborhood to support their family?

Hermann: Well I--I have workers from many of the different neighborhood. I--I really don't know for sure where I--where--let me see--well, Alberta is part of uh the Eliot neighborhood, is it not?

Dae'lonzo's mom: It's kind of north of there, but it's all of Albina

Hermann: Albina is kind of connected, yeah, because I was just thinking that uh, one of the person in charge of my Cola's Interior Division lives right here on Alberta on 18th--18th and Alberta, so, that's here, an example of a member of my company who is right there in uh--in--in the community so to speak, yeah. What we--we, yeah do look for, for inspiring young people to--to go into that line of work, because really you don't have to be just a basketball player to make a good living. There are lots of good living to be made by being involved in the construction industry, and many time young people don't ever hear anything about that. There are 16 different divisions when you are building your house. Electrical, you know, sheet rock, plumbing, and concrete, roofs, I mean there are so many different thing. I mean providing doors, windows, you know, electrical fixtures. The house tend to be really the engine for the economy of the whole country, and when that sector is not doing well, the whole country tend not to be doing very well because you can hire such a large number of people when you're doing development

00:34:15.4

Dae'lonzo: Do you have any advice for uh, someone my age?

Hermann: Well, eh, what I do is mostly bring people your age to come and see work during the time that it's sticking(??) at really like at that whole stage, so that you can follow it and understand it and realize that it's something that I am interested in that you can learn. So, yeah, we--we--we do a lot of uh (unclear). One of the plan in my company is as we are finishing developing that uh, PCC in Newberg, we've been working with the PCC in--in Sylvania so that we will take a bunch of kids and drive them so that they can see all these buildings and all these development are taking place

00:35:13

Dae'lonzo: Is there anything else that you wanted to talk about that we didn't get to?

Hermann: Mmm, well I tell you you have talk about quite a bit uh, I really--I really like your question and you're doing a pretty good job. And uh I was myself wondering is that an area that you--you--you'd like when you grow up to go into like you want to be an interviewer, or--or have you not yet made up your mind in term of who you want to be when you grow up

Dae'lonzo: I don't know yet

Hermann: Hmm?

Dae'lonzo: I don't know yet

Hermann: You don't know yet? Ok, well then uh, I--I--I guess maybe the thing that I could say is that uh if you have your chance you should really look into construction and see what you can--what you can learn and from there--and even if you should become one that interviews or tell people, at least you will be able to tell all the young people that well here is really one route that they can go to earn a good living so I invite you to continue to learn as much as you can, about construction. And uh, before I leave I will give you my--my uh--business cards and if you sometimes have uh questions or you'd like to see something, well you give me a call and uh we'll see how we can arrange that

**Dae'lonzo's mom suggests before saying good-bye and thank you's that Dahlia ask any questions she might have (I am now suspecting this is not a mother but a teacher, but will continue to call her Dae'lonzo's mom for consistency)**

00:37:02.4

Dahlia: My name is Dahlia Maroney and I'm 12. I was wondering--so you moved to New York, right?

Hermann: I--when I first came in this country, yes I was in New York initially

00:37:22

Dahlia: Did you go to Portland before you went to New York?

Hermann: No, I came to New York first, that was the first city that I saw when I flew in from Haiti

00:37:32.6

Dahlia: Why did you choose to live in Portland?

Hermann: Uh, well, uh when uh I went to New York and I started my schooling, actually one of my friend was from Portland, Oregon here. She had come to Haiti to study French and uh she attended my high school and uh--and we became friend. And uh, and she decided to get married with someone from Haiti that she met there. And uh I remember when she left Haiti, I thought well, that was the last time that I would see her. And uh, really like her. She had said that she was from Portland, Oregon but that did not really register that much with me, because I figured well she was from someplace, and who cares, you know. And I thought that uh after she left that even though she--she had been going with my uh--with my friend that uh--that wasn't going to be life changing relationship. Well, I turned out to be right. So, my friend went to Canada to study and she and my friend kept in touch and then next thing I know my friend came to Oregon and then they were going together and they decided to get married. And I was sure then to be the best man at their wedding. And uh, when I came in, her sister was uh, the maid of honor at that wedding. And then her sister and I became an item and that's how I found myself here in Portland, Oregon

00:39:53.8

Dae'lonzo's mom: And so did you first move to the Eliot neighborhood when you moved to Portland, Oregon?

Hermann: When I first came to Portland, Oregon, I think I was more like in the Concordia neighborhood, when I first came in, yes

00:40:13.6

Dae'lonzo's mom: And so then your experience of the Eliot neighborhood was when you--

Hermann: When I started urban renewal and doing--yes

00:40:22.5

Dae'lonzo's mom: And so did you know a lot of the commun--did you know community members when you did that or that was when you were building in the neighborhood a lot, you were making a lot of changes?

Hermann: Well, you--you--you--you know the thing that really introduced me toward the different things about the neighborhood was the question he had about what was my first work. When I came and started to work for the Albina Art Center, that's how I met a number of the pillar of the Portland area, folks that were interested in what would happen to neighborhood and what have you. And that's the way that I learn about the churches and what have you, yeah

00:41:07.5

Dae'lonzo's mom: Can you tell us--you know we haven't had a lot of people tell us about the Albina Art Center, could you kind of describe what it was and what you did there a little bit more?

Hermann: Well, eh, it was--it was a community center where especially during summer like--like young people could come in and uh they would be able to do arts and uh they would get lessons and--and they would uh help to take them to parks and what have you. And uh, and at that time I was really the financial director for that art center. And uh at the time they used to have a organization called uh Motor Cities and uh we would really communicate with those and they would be providing some of the funds to run programs so that the kids could be kept off the street when they were not in school, yeah

00:42:11.7

Dae'lonzo's mom: So was it working, did you feel it?

Hermann: Well yeah it was--it was working. Oh actually I was--I was there for--for a short time because I--I came here then in 1974 when I finally moved permanently in Portland and uh--and at that time I uh, I had stop my uh university schooling because I had transferred so that I was closer to--to what was at the time still my girlfriend. And uh, and then uh--I uh--I had to live here at least 6 months in order to establish residence and so that I could really start my schooling again. So that's when I worked with the Albina Art Center and then uh, my--my degrees in mathematics and computer science and uh so I resumed taking classes uh the following uh fall and I left Albina Art Center and then my next work was then with uh Pacific NW Bell which became US West and then I just--I got work there and got promoted to where frankly thought of when I started to continue was they wanted to transfer me to--to Denver and uh they kept promoting me and I got tired of really travelling all over the place so I quit and started my company,yeah

00:43:59.7

Dae'lonzo's mom: Uh, so you were working with computers in the 1970's, what did you guys think of--I mean what is the technical--how is it different?

Hermann: Oh totally different. At that time of day you had to know languages like Fortran and Basic and all sort of things, you want the language to communicate with the computer. They were--they were not as easy as uh--as it is right now. And uh--eh--eh--really to--to have your computer like uh that was able to communicate to another computer was pioneering at the time because you--you know it--it--it uh--it's--its' really a lot of changing. It's just like when--when you guys are working with this kind of smart phones today, I mean people--people in the 70's if you told them that these things would exist they would say "Are you--are you kidding me?" you know. But for you guys it's like how could anybody function without one of those? So, and--and we've not seen anything yet. By the time you are my age probably you would say--you would be sitting some place talking to some kids your age you will say "I remember one time we were interviewing this man and he had one of these stupid phones in his hand and then I don't know what he (unclear) me but I know it's not going to be this". So you guys have a lot to look forward to in term of changes, yes

00:45:41.7

Dae'lonzo's mom: The computers, how did they look different? I mean I don't know if these guys can even imagine, maybe you can describe--

Hermann: Oh my gosh. I remember--I remember the 1st computer that I had, which was a personal computer in my house. I tell you when I bought it, I paid $25,000 for that computer. And--and it could not do anything that this computer or that phone could do. But that was a really advanced piece of equipment. Because mathematically you could put things in there that really could wow people, you know. And people used to come to my house and I would do something for them and it would make graphs in color and people would say "In color??" and even at that time television themselves were not really developed like--today you guys if somebody told you "Oh I have a black and white tv" you'd say "What??". At that time there were not even color tv, you know. So it was--it was very interesting and you had to go specifically to school and learn how to deal with the innards of the computer because that was the only way to communicate with the computer. And--and when--when I joined Pacific NW Bell I did a lot of that in order to develop the lines and to control what kind of phones people were going to have and at that time when people had the phone in their house, like if you wanted to call you could get on the phone and ask me "Hey please can you get off the line so I can make a call?" because the lines were--everybody talked on that same line. And I remember when I joined I was really responsible for all of the Portland Metroplitan area and--and I was instrumental in changing a lot of those lines where people became like one line for their house and--it's-it's--it's really were--I still have that one machine, that $25,000 machine. Now, nobody would give me any money for it, because it's, you know, it's a relic, but it's uh beautiful relic. Because I--I go and learn a lot of things, it's just like banking today. Today you can do banking online, but uh--like mortgage there when--when you took a mortgage on your house to--to--to do all of on what you pay per month, how much interest you paid, how much you--you owe and to make something like this that you can do now with uh, excel on the computer, there was none of those sort of things. So I worked programs that could do all of those calculations. So when I was showing that to people they would say "Oh my gosh!" you know. And uh that was helpful to me because uh I also--that part of why I had things regarding Eliot, what have you, with all this knowledge as well I was able to really use that financially to acquire lots of uh (unclear) tools and what have you in all those different neighborhoods and uh I--I guess maybe I kind of helped some of my friends who aren't here to become fairly wealthy because I could tell them what I saw coming and what have you. And some of those people were grateful to the advice that I provided to them. But today, you know, and a computer like this you can do so many things. So that's why all you young people should take advantage of all the learning that you can and uh also expect that things are going to change and change very rapidly

**Music blares and over the music you can hear Arlie ask if they can ask a few more questions**

Hermann: Just a minute, I am going to make sure that doesn't happen again, ok

Dahlia: Thank you

00:50:30.6

Dahlia: How did you feel about the earthquake in Haiti?

Hermann: Well that was really quite a disaster. Actually I was in my office when that happened and uh, I still have one young--I have two younger brothers that still lives in Haiti. They never left and they run businesses in Haiti. And uh a brother of mine was at uh the City Bank in Haiti and uh he had an appointment with my other brother and so it was just like we are having this conference here and then I say "Oh my gosh I have to leave, to go" and as he walked out, the building crumbled and the other associates that he was with in there a lot of them got uh, crushed, yes. And uh when he called me, it was minutes not--I mean the earthquake was still--still going. He say, he just call me says "You just won't believe what just happened, I was in that conference and then I left to go meet with (unclear)" my other brother, and then he says "The building--the building--the building just crumbled" and then I say "Daniel, you know the area is where the earthquake is happening, make sure you are not someplace where another building can come down and then you will be right in it's way". And as I was talking with him, the phone get disconnected. Because what had happened is like a--when he called me it's just like here when you call, your call goes to what is called a center office. And then the center office then take your call and transmit it over other offices until it gets to the person that--that you need. And he had called me and his call had gone to central office in Haiti and then from there came to me. But the center office that his phone went to was still standing during the earthquake for a few minutes, when he called me. And then as he was talking with me, the center office collapsed then the phone was disconnected. But of course for me, I figured "Oh my gosh, anything can happen. Maybe the reason that I lost him is that something fell onto his head and then his phone got disconnected". So, it was really many days later that I was able to reconnect with him and he himself was not able to connect with my other brother in Haiti, because they happened to be different place and that was such a devastating earthquake that people were not able to drive or anything because I went after the earthquake and visited Haiti and the whole place was a total mess, just as bad as what happened to Japan even though Japan has been preparing for years for that earthquake, but Haiti never did. So the number of people that got killed in Haiti was by far larger than in Japan but uh, it was a totally devastating earthquake. And I've gotten together with people here and uh I--I uh started the--the foundation called Cola's Foundation that I raised money and I gave some money that we sent to Haiti and I got together with some other folks in construction and we were going to be developing a mother city to help people visualize how to rebuild Haiti. And uh I connected with some people in fact there is one group that I connected with that I sent to Haiti they are working with my brothers trying to build new houses for people in Haiti, as we speak.

**Phone rings, they wait for it to finish so they can say thank you and talk about going outside to take photos**

00:55:43

Dae'lonzo: Thank you for the interview

Hermann: Well you are quite welcome, I hope that--that was what you hoped and uh like I say, I want to give both of you my--my cards so that if you should develop some interest--because really construction is not just for men. In fact we have a whole bunch of women that are working at uh--at uh the community center that we are developing, they are part of what we call the tradeswoman and they come in--yes, yes, and they come in to work and if you guys would really like to arrange for visiting that place because it's really going to be very nice community center. It's right across from uh the Peninsula Park at the corner--at the corner of Albina and Ainsworth. And uh it used to be an old gas station that we have really totally remodeled and uh, it's glass all around, it's going to be just beautiful

Dahlia: Thank you

Hermann: You're quite welcome

**Tape Ends**