One Story Out of Haiti (Guest Voice)
One Story Out of Haiti
by Martha Randolph Carr
I have written a few times about the charity, Mercy & Sharing, which has been working exclusively in Haiti for over 15 years. Susie Krabacher and her husband, Joe an attorney in Colorado, have done amazing work for the children in Haiti. Mercy & Sharing, www.haitichildren.org has established schools, orphanages, a hospital, medical clinics and feeding centers despite corruption, threats of violence and a lack of infrastructure. Most of their work is centered in or around Port-au-Prince.
They have been responsible for saving thousands of children in Haiti from disease, poverty, violence and the black market. However, the earthquake that devastated the area is threatening the well-being of their children as well as everyone on staff.
What follows is an account sent to me by Joe Krabacher of their current conditions as of Sunday morning. It is a disturbing account of the nightmare that has descended on the poorest country in the Western hemisphere that is only 600 miles from the coast of Florida.
Susie drove into Port-au-Prince with a translator, security, satellite phones, medical supplies and new four wheel drives hoping that their children were spared the devastation.
“Susie, Jeff, Bill, Jacques and two Haitian police (as security), crossed the border into Haiti and arrived at the Williamson project this afternoon,” wrote Joe. “Unfortunately, things are not as we had hoped. Typically we have approximately 85 employees working eight hour shifts around-the-clock. There were only a handful of employees on site trying to take care of hundreds of children. They are trying to stabilize the situation in Williamson before nightfall.
“Many of the children have not had water or food in two days; the handicapped children have bed sores. There is no diesel fuel to run the generators, which power the water pumps, electric and internet communications. The well’s hand pumps are largely ineffective. They are getting water and food for the children this evening and then searching for a place to stay that might have internet or other communications.
“We now have reports that the children of the abandoned baby unit have been without food and water for two days. They are reportedly alive but the morgue is piling up with hundreds of bodies, and the morgue is located right next to the abandoned baby unit.
“The office building and hospital in Port-au-Prince have been completely demolished. We have lost all of our paperwork and records, which are lying in the debris and blowing around the streets. The project has been completely looted.
“The team is traveling to Port-au-Prince tomorrow to go to the Cazeau orphanage. We have reports that Cazeau is not safe because the walls collapsed, there are men with machetes robbing anyone with anything or value, and the people in the neighborhood have stormed the building, overpowered the guard and have taken up occupancy in what is left of the buildings on that property. We intend to remove all the remaining children from Cazeau and take them to Williamson tomorrow.
“Madame Chenet, (a staff member) is very traumatized. She has been living in her car and because she has experienced the devastation, she is likely in shock. Dr. Rodriquez lost four family members, Dr. Algenor lost his brother. Our accountant lost his two brothers. Madame Chenet said it is total devastation around her.
“Above all, pray fervently for the US team and the children, as well as the staff, our medical doctors and medical personnel.”
They are in urgent need of cash donations and I’ve seen firsthand the love and support of my readers for others. If you would like to help Mercy & Sharing, you can donate on line at www.haitichildren.org. Please do not send supplies. The money that has been donated so far has helped them to collect over 100 tons of supplies that they are dispersing as quickly as they can to save the children and staff members in their care.
Martha’s latest book to embrace change, Live Your Big Adventure is now available at www.marthasbigadventure.com. ©2010 Martha Randolph Carr. Martha’s column is distributed exclusively by Cagle Cartoons Inc. newspaper syndicate. This column and the copyrighted cartoon by Brian Fairrington, Cagle Cartoons are licensed to run on TMV. Unauthorized reproduction strictly prohibited.
3 Responses to “One Story Out of Haiti (Guest Voice)”
I have seen several christian based relief work set-ups in my time. Some are worthless and some actually do something. Problem is that nearly all of them are independent and small time. When things don't go as expected they don't deal with it well. They have little if any formal association with the larger well organized relief organizations. Some are actually indignant toward the larger organizations. It’s not uncommon for these little groups to get themselves into trouble politically in these underdeveloped countries or otherwise find that their program is untenable at some point. I have seen them totally collapse and completely abandon their charges.
As for Pat Robertson, well as you can see he speaks for himself and does nobody any good in the process. Typical christian conservative.
While it's true that not everyone who starts a very difficult task like supplying relief in Haiti even under more normal circumstances, it doesn't mean every group will fail or quit. Mercy & Sharing has been in Haiti for over 15 years and has overcome each obstacle and kept serving the people, and in particular the children of Haiti with a successful school, orphanages, hospital, clinic and feeding centers. It's amazing how much good they have been doing and for so long and have always been open to working with other groups. Again, they are easily checked out by going to their web site and before they are dumped in an anonymous heap, that would probably be best – especially since thousands of children have been helped by the organization.
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