Visit to Thomonde with CI partner Project Medishare

In August, I had the chance to visit with Project Medishare, a Cross International partner that is involved in a number of community health interventions in an area called La Hoye. La Hoye is in Haiti's Central Plateau region and sits near the border of the Dominican Republic. The below photos show the area clinic that is being rehabilitated through the support of Cross International and USAID. Medishare is collaborating with the Haitian Ministry of Health in the process and will run the clinic once it is completed.
In the meantime, Medishare has medical staff providing services in an area school. Medishare hopes to have at least a section of the clinic construction completed by October so they can make the move before the start of the school year.

Project Medishare provides support services such as medical care, psychosocial support, and education (paying of school fees) to area vulnerable children and their families. Medishare is also coordinating an income generating activity with the mothers of some of these children. In addition to dealing with increased cost of food, many of these women opened up their homes and are now caring for extended family that moved in since the eartqhuake. The women are now being trained to make dolls out of socks, which will eventually be sold in the U.S. The extra income coming from this project will go a long way for the women as they struggle to meet the needs of their families.

We then drove out to an even more rural area called Hycauqes, where Medishare was running a mobile clinic in a church. This was one of the most rural parts of Haiti I have ever seen. As we drove, I couldn't believe how much open space and land there was with so few people. We drove on walking paths through the bush and had to scope out ahead on foot a couple of times to determine if it was going to be passable. Roads in the area are basically non-existant and it showed when we got stuck in some heavy mud with our new Toyota Land Cruiser. Luckily, we had just purchased a tow rope and we had two vehicles traveling together on that particular day. I had figured that we might be using the tow rope to pull out other vehicles. Little did I know that our brand new vehicle would be the one that needed the help. Our project staff seemed impressed with my skills in dealing with the mud. They didn't understand when I tried to explain that I used to drive through the mud for fun in Ohio... The work Medishare is doing in this part of Haiti is really impressive, and truly defines the meaning of community health. They are bringing quality health services to the people in one of the most remote parts of the country.

Closer to the Medishare office in Thomonde, they are taking final steps to begin production at their Akamil facility. Akamil is a vitamin fortified, highly nutritions food product that is made with local ingredients including maize and beans. The factory, which will create jobs and support the local economy, will support malnourished children, pregnant women, and people living with tuberculosis or HIV/AIDS. If all goes as planned, the product will be available for distribution to Cross International beneficiaries by the end of October.

Visit to Jeremie with CI partner Haitian Health Foundation

I thought it would be nice to post a few pictures from some recent site visits to Haitian Health Foundation in Jeremie and Project Medishare in Thomonde. Through their partnership with Cross International and USAID, HHF and Medishare provide support services such as education, nutritional support, medical care and psychosocial support to vulnerable children, and their families.

We spent two full days in Jeremie visiting with a long-time partner of Cross International, Haitian Health Foundation (HHF). In addition to the support services mentioned above, HHF is using innovative approaches to spread HIV Prevention and destigmatization messages. In between our various management meetings, we had the opportunity to visit a number of those activities in action. We visited two separate youth group meetings during our stay. These pictures show youth delivering prevention and HIV destigmatization messages through theatre, song, and dance. The involvement of youth in delivering health and prevention messages to younger children is a key strategy of the Cross Haiti program.



Cross International also supports a girls soccer program that combines soccer with a responsible sexuality training program. Girls don’t typically play soccer in Haiti, but through this program girls from neighboring villages are provided opportunities to play on organized teams, and to compete in games, tournaments, and championship events. In oder to join a team, the girls must attend six days of classes in Female Rights, Responsible Sexuality, Anatomy and Physiology, Family Planning, etc. The program comes at a critical time for the girls as many have lost family or opportunity for education since the earthquake. Soccer provides the girls with a sense of normalcy, keeping them busy through the summer and out of trouble. We had the opportunity to visit a game in the town of Moron (pronounced mow won) The game we saw was interesting… There was definitely some talent on the field, but the girls need some coaching, and the coaches could probably use some extra training.

From the Florida beach to the Haiti mountains...

Many of you have asked us where we are living and how we are adjusting to our new life in Haiti and I am happy to report things are moving along quite well! The housing in and around Port au Prince has become difficult to secure with the large number of foreign aid workers arriving over the past six months. With that in mind, we consider ourselves lucky to have found a comfortable one-bedroom apartment located in a secure compound. Our new place is located in Boutillier, a small community above Petionville and just off the main road to Kensecoff (for those looking on a map).




At times, it can be easy to forget that we are in Haiti because we seem so far from the hustle and bustle of Port au Prince. Within our compound we have a great deal of vegetation, including mango and avocado trees! At night we are surrounded by the loud calls of the crickets and frogs, which are a welcomed reminder of Ohio summer nights. Of course the tarantulas and lizards are a quick reminder that this isn’t Ohio! We have had a few surprise guests inside the apartment, check below! Our family room is surrounded by sliding doors, which allows the cool mountain breeze and occasionally even the clouds to pass through on overcast days! We are fortunate to have such comfortable living accommodations here under the circumstances.






The unwanted House Guest!

BLOG FOCUS IS SHIFTING... NOW MIKE & MICHAELA IN HAITI

Family, friends, and new friends that have discovered our site:

Many of you have been waiting patiently for a new blog entry and we appreciate the kind reminders to get back to sharing Mike's Haiti experience. Life is simply moving at a pace that is tough to keep up with at times.... Mike is taking a temporary retirement from blogging and nicely asked me to pick up the story from this point.

It's six months after the earthquake and our lives have changed drastically in what seems like a very short period of time. We can now consider ourselves residents of Haiti, although our parents might wish otherwise. We've faced a series of important decisions over the last few months about our living arrangements, storage for our belongings, selling cars, possibly buying a home, etc but oddly enough the decision to move to Haiti was probably the easiest. I'm not sure that Mike and I ever had the BIG talk about moving to Haiti or at least I can't recall one. I think it was more of an understanding that this was the path we would take and we would do it together. It was clear just weeks after the earthquake that Mike was feeling a strong pull towards Haiti and traveling back and forth was no longer enough time to get the work accomplished. The travel was already a struggle and the trips were becoming more frequent and longer.

Mike has spent months on the details of moving his job to Haiti and has opened a new office with the Cross Haiti staff. We are also settling in to our own place here in Haiti and look forward to having visitors!

A BIG Thanks to our families and friends for the support and well wishes! Your kind words are appreciated.

Next up:
Pictures of our new place
My first visit to a Refugee Camp
Soccer in Haiti

Back to Haiti

OK, it’s been way too long since I’ve posted something. Things have been crazy to say the least, but that’s no excuse for letting this blog go entirely…

I’ve been back and forth to Haiti a couple of times since my last post, and each trip was very eventful. Aftershocks have calmed significantly. There were a few very strong shakes in the weeks immediately following the quake, but during my most recent visit I only felt one very small shake. Still, I find myself constantly thinking about being prepared for aftershocks. I refused when the hotel I stayed at asked me to move from the 1st floor to the 4th floor for fear of not having time to make it out of the building during a quake. Any time I walk into any building I find myself thinking about where the closest exits are. I don’t expect to experience another major aftershock, but better to be ready nonetheless.

Our big news is that my wife, Michaela, and I will be moving to Haiti to live and work beginning in June. It’s something we had been discussing quite a bit since the earthquake. The need in Haiti is great, and I feel that I can be more effective in my job while I am on the ground. I will continue to manage activities out of our Haiti office and Michaela will search for a work opportunity in the education or psychosocial field where she can put her school counseling background to good use.

Work hours in Haiti have been crazy, as there's always more to do. I’m constantly busy, balancing my time in the office dealing with administrative issues and fielding e-mails, visiting our program partners, completing reports for our donors, and attending numerous meetings in between. We hired a shipping coordinator in March to help manage our relief distributions and he's done a great job, so that has helped tremendously.

With the major influx of organizations coming into Haiti, there has been a huge increase in demand for nice housing. The home and apartment rental prices have doubled and tripled in some cases. Traffic has been insane. Many of the back roads throughout the city are blocked, so traffic is naturally funneled up and down the main roads. One day it can take you 20 minutes to get somewhere, and the next day it can take you an hour and a half.

Rainy season has officially arrived. It has rained through the entire night on a number of occasions, making life even tougher for people living in camps. About thirty camps in the Port-au-Prince area have been identified by the Camp Management cluster as being at a higher risk to flooding and planning is underway to have them relocated to safer areas.

At the same time, life in camps is getting a bit better. People are getting creative with small businesses such as barber shops and restaurants under tarps. Electricity has been wired in, and it's now common to see groups of people circled around a tent watching soccer matches. This is the new norm…

Most organizations, including Cross International, are beginning to move from a short-term response to mid and long-term responses. It is a transition from the "relief" phase to the "recovery" phase. We know that shipping rice and beans to Haiti to give away is not a sustainable activity. Focus is moving to education, transitional housing, cash for work, and psychosocial support programs among other things. As delicate as the situation currently is in Haiti, there is much hope for the future given the amount of attention the country is receiving from the international community.

Looking back, I can’t help but wonder why our office building sustained almost no damage in the earthquake, while almost every building and home in the area either fell or had major damage. I don’t think it was any mistake that I happened to arrive in Haiti on the morning of the earthquake, and I don’t think it is any coincidence that Michaela and I don’t have any kids, don’t own a home, and have basically nothing else holding us back from making the move. We took our time in making this decision, but eventually decided that it was all part of the master plan.

Time out...

It was good to be home. I weighed myself and found out I had lost 10 pounds in 10 days. I did my best to relax over the weekend, but it was impossible to focus on anything but the earthquake. Between friends, family, work colleagues, media, I felt like I was talking about it 24/7. When I wasn’t talking about it, I was reading about it or following on the news. Rubble… Logistics… Aftershocks… Rescues… Orphans… Kidnappers… It never ended.

How is it that the earthquake occurred on the day I arrived in Haiti? I mean what were the odds? Clearly, I was meant to be in Haiti when it happened, and clearly I am supposed to be part of the relief efforts. But I couldn’t stop thinking about what my role would be in helping. I felt like the last eight years of my life had all been in preparation for this very moment and it was time for me to step up in a big way.

I went into the office very focused on Monday morning and did everything I could to help coordinate our relief efforts. Daily meetings at 10:00 AM serve as a time for the management team to come together to share updates and resolve issues. Mike and Claudio were able to hit the ground running with fresh legs and ample supplies. As we received more and more information from our partners, we did our best to meet their needs through cash grants and distributions of commodities such as food, water, and medicines.

Cross International staff members gave me a very warm welcome back in the office. I received hugs from just about everyone, even had a shirt ruined from a lipstick stain to prove it. I must have had twenty people come up to me in the office to tell me how they and all of their friends had been praying for me while I was gone. People back in the office were concerned about my well-being and suggested that I check in with a counselor to make sure my head was straight. I felt fine though minus the fact that every once in a while I felt like the ground was shaking. It was kind of like having come off of a boat after a full day on the water.

The needs of our partners outside of Port-au-Prince, partners like Pwoje Espwa and Haitian Health Foundation, were increasing by the day as tens of thousands of people fled from the city in search of food and shelter. Reports were that up to 100,000 people had fled out to the Grandanse region which meant that families that typically had six or seven people in a household now had eleven or twelve.

The death toll had surpassed 100,000 and was quickly approaching 200,000, and about 300,000 injured people were being treated. It is expected that about 10,000 people lost either all or part of a limb. There were approximately 250,000 houses destroyed, 30,000 business disrupted, and 90% of area schools were destroyed. 60% of the government buildings were destroyed including the National Palace! Port-au-Prince looked like a war-zone and it wasn’t going to change overnight. Fortunately for me, I had the ability to take a time out. Just like that I was able to hop on a plane to Miami and get some R&R before planning my trip back down. But I couldn't stop thinking about all of those people who were still sleeping on the streets of what was once Port-au-Prince. They didn't have that option. I would do what I could from Florida, but felt the urge to get back down ASAP.

Day 10: January 21, 2010

I was told to be at the airport two hours early to assure that I was able to get through the lines, out to the tarmac and onto the plane. It was very important that the plane was prepared to depart at our timeslot of exactly 1:10 PM. With only one runway, the flight traffic was so heavy that there was a chance we would not be able to depart at all if we didn’t make it.

I definitely still had mixed feelings about departing Haiti. Of course I wanted to get back to see my wife and relieve family and friends of their concerns about my well being. And yes, I was looking forward to contributing to management meetings in our HQ office. But at the same time I felt a lot of guilt. I told myself that no matter what I would refuse to spend any more than one week back in Florida.

There were crazy lines outside the airport when I arrived. Commercial flights were closed, but because free rides to the U.S. were being given to U.S. citizens, thousands of people were trying their chances. U.S. immigration had taken control security and I noticed a few Haitian-American servicemen walking around helping out with translation. As I stood line awaiting my turn, I noticed that about one out of every three people who showed up was getting turned away. It was sad to see loved ones separated from each other because of lack of proper documentation. People were desperate and were ready to do anything to get out of here.

The owner of the jet, who had flown in to deliver supplies to Save the Children, was on his way home to New York but had agreed to stop in West Palm Beach to drop me of and refuel. This could not have been any more convenient as my wife works in West Palm Beach and would be getting out of school just as the plane touched down.

The jet was impressive. I have done a lot of flying over the last 10 years, but nothing like this. There were only four seats in the front area, a dining table in the middle section, and then beds to lie down on in the back. It was a shock to see, and couldn’t have been any further from the misery I had been around for the past 10 days. My thoughts were scattered. On one hand I felt even guiltier for leaving Haiti in these high-class conditions. On the other hand, I thought “man is this sweet.” I was totally exhausted. As I looked at the chair I tried to guess how for back the seat might adjust.

I was standing in the aisle talking to the pilot when all of a sudden a little old Haitian man walked onto the plane and quickly sat down right next to us. He held a Haitian passport tightly in his lap. When the pilot asked him, “Can I help you sir?” he replied in a very broken accent “Good morning sir.” The pilot asked again, “Can I help you sir?” Obviously not understanding, the man again responded “Good morning sir.” After escorting him off the plane, the pilot told me that just before I had arrived, about 10 Haitians hid in the back of a box truck and made their way around security and out to the tarmac. They were caught and hit with tear gas by U.S. military before being turned away. The pilot wisely checked the baggage compartment twice to make sure nobody was hiding there before takeoff.

The flight was quick and comfortable. As we flew over West Palm Beach, I looked down at the rows of nice homes and swimming pools below and couldn’t help but to imagine everything crumbled to the ground. As the days passed, I realized more and more that the images I had seen in Haiti would stick with me forever.

DAY 9: January 20, 2010

I found out in the morning that I was confirmed for a flight out on the private jet for tomorrow afternoon. Because today was going to be my last day, I had quite a bit of running around to do. There were several people and places that I wanted to check up on before my departure, so the driver and I made sure to get started early.

First, we dropped by the home of Gary Downey, a friend and former Peace Corps Volunteer that had been living in Haiti for several years. Gary’s friends and family back in the U.S. had not yet heard from him, so I thought that I stop by and make sure that he and his family were doing O.K. When I arrived, I found that Gary was not around. His wife and children assured me that everyone was fine and told me that Gary was out working. Their house had some very minor damage, but it was still standing. That was great news.

Next, we drove up the hill to visit La Maison l’Arc-en-Ciel (MAEC) in the neighborhood of Boutiliers. MAEC is a key partner of Cross and one of the five sub-partners for the HIV/AIDS program that I have been working on. They have three key aspects to their program. One piece is the community outreach center which supports about 100 families that are affected by HIV/AIDS through services such as nutrition, health care, and psychosocial support. The second piece of it is a community mobilization program in which they educate, train, and support other community-based organizations, enabling them to better address medical and social issues surrounding HIV. Thirdly, the Penettes (the family that runs the program) provide a residence for 36 children who have been orphaned by HIV/AIDS. Over the past year, Cross International had been a major contributor to the construction of a new residence for those children. Construction was scheduled to finish before the end of this year.

In my visit to MAEC, I was hoping to find out about the safety of the children and staff, and also to learn about the extent of the damage at both the current residence and the construction site. When we arrived I found all of the children to be sitting outside in front of the house. Unfortunately I had missed the Penettes as they were downtown working from the Outreach Center.
The children’s spirits seemed high as they happily led me around the house to point out some of the small cracks left as a result of the earthquake. The house had only some minimal damage, but as a precaution the children were spending their time playing and sleeping outside within the compound. Thankfully, all of the children were safe, the Penettes and staff were safe, and while I was not able to go to see for myself, I was told that the construction site had very little damage as well.

On the way back down the hill we stopped into La Reserve, a Petionville hotel and restaurant where I was a regular guest. I had heard that the hotel had somehow made it through the earthquake with no damage, but I needed to see it for myself. This hotel was built on the side of a mountain and was four stories high, and I couldn’t believe that it would have been left without a scratch. Upon speaking with the owners I learned that it was true, the hotel and restaurant were virtually untouched. The more of the city I saw, the more confused I became. It would have been totally impossible to have predicted which building would withstand the earthquake versus which one would crumble. It was very common to see what seemed like a poorly built home standing with very little damage right next to a big beautiful home that had collapsed to the ground. It forced me to think about how lucky I was to have been in one of the few buildings that just happened not to have fallen…

The next place I wanted to visit was the Norwich Mission House. Haitian Ministries of the Diocese of Norwich was another long-time partner of Cross International. In addition, I have had some great friends work as director of the mission house over the years and had many wonderful memories from my frequent stays there. I had already heard reports that the house had fallen and that staff members had been rescued after having been trapped under the rubble. Part of my desire to go there was simply curiosity. It was hard to imagine that what was once such a beautiful house, a place I had spent a lot of time, was totally destroyed. I also wondered if any Norwich staff had been back since the house had been evacuated and if I might be doing them a favor by stopping by to check things out.

The extent of the damage became very real when I pulled up to the house and found that the front barrier was destroyed and had crumbled across the street. The security guard wasn’t there to greet me. I climbed up and over the wall and quickly noticed that the entire house had collapsed. This had been a beautiful two story house and now it stood no more than a few feet from the ground. I circled around the back of the house noticed the remains of the second floor bedroom and bathroom that I had previously stayed in.
As I recognized different pieces of art, pictures, and paperwork scattered around the edge of the house, I wondered if the Norwich Diocese staff would appreciate getting some of it back, or if it would only create more pain. I decided that if it was me that I would appreciate receiving it. I decided to collect what I could and planned to store it at our office until someone from their team was ready to pick it up.

On the way back to the office we decided to make one final stop by the Hotel Villa Creole. I had not yet been in touch with Ellen, my friend and colleague from Project Medishare, and I had a feeling she would be there. Project Medishare is another major partner of Cross International and one of the five partners working on our government grant. I walked into the hotel and found Ellen sharing a table with a bunch of reporters in the partially destroyed restaurant area. It was so great to see a familiar face and to catch up on events of the past week. We were both totally exhausted. I was surprised when Ellen informed me that the Project Medishare office had collapsed, and that the housekeeper had been caught inside. Thankfully, she was able to get out and find the treatment she needed. All of the rest of the Medishare staff was otherwise safe.
This report of the Medishare office falling really hit home again. When considering options for office space back in April of last year, Cross International had all but settled on leasing office space from Medishare. At the very last minute we decided that we were going to need more staff than originally planned and therefore would need more space than what was going to be available for us with Medishare. Needless to say, I’m glad that things worked out the way they did.

Day 8: January 19, 2010

I spent Tuesday morning in the office meeting with Save the Children staff. Among other things, we further discussed ideas for collaboration and logistics in our relief efforts. I also spent some time working with Kathryn, their Health and Nutrition Advisor, on creating an organogram for their emergency health programs.

In checking my e-mails later that morning, I learned that two of my colleagues, Mike and Claudio, were confirmed for flights down to Haiti on Thursday via Santo Domingo. I began exploring flight possibilities to leave on either Thursday or Friday, which would give the three of us some time to sit and catch up before my departure. Save the Children colleagues mentioned that I might be able to catch a ride out on a private jet. Apparently, one of their donors was using his jet to transport medical supplies in and out of Haiti and was scheduled to come in on Thursday.

I was concerned about our Haiti office staff. Each of them had been accounted for and was safe. The problem was that the banks were still closed and staff members had no way of accessing their salaries, which was typically wired in from the U.S. each month. I requested that at the very least, some extra cash be brought down by Mike and Claudio to provide the staff with an advance on their salary. As it would turn out, we were going to be able to provide each of them with a gift of $500. This would go a long way, especially for Guerline, the housekeeper. Guerline had lost her home, her clothes, everything, and was now sleeping on the street. To put it in perspective, $500 is double what she otherwise makes in a month.

I went back to Hope Hospital later that afternoon to confirm that Gladys had made it back, and to pick up the satellite phone that she was carrying down for me. I found the hospital grounds to be a very chaotic. Gladys had arrived, a team of American doctors had arrived, a team from World Vision (including President Richard Stearns) had arrived, and now I had arrived. Once I managed to track down Gladys she told me that the ride over had been smooth and she was ready to get to work. I was sad to find out that the doctor I had met yesterday was unable to save the woman in the case of the complicated pregnancy.

Gladys had purchased most of the supplies and medicines she needed in the D.R. with funds from Cross International. On top of that, she received another load of supplies from World Vision. While I could see the pain Gladys was feeling in her eyes, she was surprisingly calm. She was in the zone. Gladys’ country had suffered greatly and I knew that the fact that she hadn’t been there to help tore her up. Her daughter and the hospital staff had been entirely overwhelmed. They had been up against a challenge far too great for anyone to handle. The team had seen thousands of victims, each case more devastating than the next, and they had lost many patients along the way. Supplies were limited, space was limited, and staff was limited… At one point they were forced to temporarily close the hospital so that they could take the time to try to wash the mattresses that had been drenched with blood. It had been a total nightmare.

At 4:53 PM all of Haiti observed a moment of silence for the lives that had been lost in the week following the earthquake. After a long string of silence, Gladys spoke.
She spoke and prayed with so much conviction, I was totally blown away. I didn’t realize that she had it in her. Gladys asked God for strength and courage, and then promised to fight with everything she had in her. The hospital’s fearless leader was back and had arrived with both a plan and a lot of back-up. Gladys and her team would undoubtedly overcome any obstacles that lay in their path.
The spirit and the sense of hope that Gladys brought back to Hope Hospital was exactly what the people of her community needed. When I opened up my eyes and looked around me, I realized that Gladys had brought everyone to tears. Helicopters passed overhead as the group sang songs of thanks and praise. It was unreal. The arrival of Gladys at Hope Hospital was truly a symbol of a new beginning.

Day 7: January 18, 2010

Everyone had been nagging me to come home for a few days now. My parents, my wife, my work colleagues, my friends, they all felt that it was time to come home. While I appreciated everyone’s concern for my safety, I didn’t want to leave. This disaster was not a reason for me to cut my trip short; it was a reason to stay longer. At the same time, I felt very helpless as I compared what I was getting done to the amount of suffering I saw in the street every day. I couldn’t help but wonder if I was doing everything I could to help. Was I being as efficient and effective as I possibly could? What was I going to be able to accomplish in Florida from our office?

I started my day by catching up the rest of my unread e-mails and then was able to connect into our Florida office through Skype and participate in our Emergency Relief Management Meeting. We began by summarizing our efforts thus far. Our focus had been on supporting our partners that were providing medical care to earthquake victims. Money transfers were made to partners such as Medishare, Cure International, and the Hope Hospital in Port-au-Prince. We had also been able to access food that we had in storage in the city to feed people who were displaced. Additional supplies of food, medicines, water, and other goods were also scheduled to be airlifted in the coming days. I had been coordinating assessments of our partners and assessing the damage needs throughout the city, and those assessments were already being used to respond to the needs.

It was time though, to organize our efforts and begin laying out our short, mid, and long-term strategy. After a thorough discussion with our HQ management team, we were able to develop a draft outline for our short and mid-term efforts.

In the short term (Jan-Feb ’10) Cross International response would be as follows:
• Coordinate and assist the delivery and distribution of cash and products such as food, water, medicines and clothing with some of our strategic partners that have storage, transportation, and other logistics capability.
• Continue assessments and meet needs of our Haiti partners in Port-au-Prince and outlying areas through cash grants and shipments of needed goods.
• Assist in the delivery of medical care in Port-au-Prince.
• Assist Save the Children carry out education sector assessment in affected areas.
• Resume payments to partners that support teachers through education programs.
• Approach USAID and other donors regarding change of programmatic scope and potential use of funding for emergency needs.
• Solicit requests from partners for long-term grants.

Mid-term strategies (Mar-June ’10) would include:
• Continue distribution of medicines, food, and clothing through partners to areas where displaced persons had congregated.
• Continue the education sector assessment.
• As possible, provide needed support to education partners in order to resume classes.
• Accept grant applications from partners and make decisions on long-term grants to our Haiti partners.
• Assess new opportunities for CI to obtain grants to support ongoing programs.
• Re-assess our HR needs in our Haiti office.

I felt a bit better after this meeting and began to see that I could be useful in helping to better coordinate our efforts from back in our office. Cross International was not going to “save” the country of Haiti overnight, and neither was anybody else, but one thing was clear. We were in this for the long haul.

I headed out in search for Bresma Orphanage to find out how Ali, Jamie, and the supposed 150 kids were doing. I took a few cases of food and water with me to deliver to them in case it was needed. The e-mail we had received provided some typical Haiti directions (turn right at the moto taxi station, drive over the bridge, veer right at the tree that stands in the middle of the road, etc). Needless to say, I had a hard time finding the place. I eventually did find it though, and when I arrived I found out that everyone had been transferred over to another orphanage. Bresma was apparently a network of three different orphanages, each one serving a different age group of children. The folks that I encountered there were kind and indicated that everyone was fine, but that they needed supplies. They provided me with a phone number for Ali along with a new set of directions.

I eventually made it to the right place and just as I pulled up to the house, a U.N. truck pulled in and began unloading many cases of food and water. Ali and Jamie seemed to be hanging in there, but both seemed exhausted. Thankfully, all but 16 of the 150 kids were already in the adoption process. Arrangements had just been made for 50 of them to fly to Holland, and a number of others to France. Still, the house was overcrowded with children. Their biggest needs were cleaning items such as soap, bleach, diapers, and clothes. The girls didn’t even have an extra set of clothes to wear themselves as they had lost all of their belongings in their home. Of course, these were all items that I didn’t have available to give them. I didn’t make any promises, but figured that I would at least be able to gather some clothes to deliver to them tomorrow.


I left there and headed towards Hope Hospital to find out if Gladys, the director, had made it back safely into Port-au-Prince. She had been in India when the earthquake occurred and was making her way back through the Dominican Republic. Cross International had sent her funds to purchase a load of medical supplies in the D.R., which she would carry into Haiti with her. In addition, she was going to be carrying a satellite phone for me that had been sent via our HQ office.

When I arrived, I found that Gladys had not yet arrived, but would be crossing the border tomorrow morning. As I walked around the hospital grounds, I came across an American doctor who was apparently there volunteering his time to help out. Before I could introduce myself, he said anxiously, “Do you have transportation? We have a situation here and we need to get this woman to another hospital ASAP. She is in shock and I’m afraid we are going to lose her. We need blood and there is no blood here.” I suggested that I make a couple of phone calls to determine which hospitals in the area would have the capacity to help this woman. The doc yells, “Write this down… Placenta previa pregnancy… in shock… Find out who can help us!” He disappeared back into the hospital. I tried placing calls through each of my phones over and over, but cell phones still weren’t functioning properly. After two or three minutes the doctor popped his head back out of the hospital door and said, “forget it, there is no time to transport her. We have to move forward here”. I felt terribly as we pulled away from the hospital. This was just another example of unnecessary suffering and loss taking place all over the city because of the lack of needed supplies and medicines.

Late that night, I spoke to Michaela over Skype. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing when she told me that CNN had reported that Ali McMutrie, along with 53 children from Bresma orphanage, had been evacuated to Pennsylvania. What a turn of events! I couldn’t believe how quickly everything had pulled together. When I was there visiting earlier that day, the girls had no clue that there was a chance they would be on a flight out by later that afternoon. As it turned out, all but one of the children had been evacuated. Ali’s older sister, Jamie, refused to leave without the last one. For more on the girls’ story, click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuAuReP99d8