Ray's Travels

Not a lot on the agenda today.

We had the armed guards and the security vehicle hired for the day. Getting an armored vehicle and trained guards in Haiti costs about $800/day. Because of kidnappings and other violence it can be wise to have secure transportation. I was told that not all kidnappings are necessarily for money these days in Haiti. Some are just staged to make the current government appear to be weak. Still, anybody with any money can be a target of kidnapping.

Therefore, Joe Krabacher and I had the security guys drive us up to St. Mark. This is a city north of PAP that is a port for Haiti. We wanted to take a look at the place. I wouldn’t call it a tourist attraction. There is little there other than another demonstration of the poverty and desperation of Haiti. There is a very nice cathedral that apparently wasn’t damaged by the earthquake (unlike the national cathedral in PAP). There was a large funeral taking place at the cathedral so we didn’t stop to tour it.

Without getting out of the vehicle we went around St. Mark and then went back to Williamson and Kaliko.

The Cathedral at St. Mark

The largest Coca-Cola truck I have ever seen.

Wow! After the Cuban travel fiasco I actually flew on an international flight that wasn’t a total horror show. Arrived, boarded, flew and landed on time. The Port-Au-Prince (PAP) airport was chaotic but very civilized compared to Kinshasa. Maybe there is hope for Haiti.

Despite the chaos and the disorganization I made it through immigration and customs and met my contacts. We inched our way out of the airport. Upon leaving the immediate airport it was apparent that all is not well in Haiti after the earthquake. A lot of people are still living in tents. The tents are oftentimes just tarps that have the USAID logo on them. The are side by side on any available spot of land. I can’t imagine what life is like in that condition with no space, no furniture and no sanitation.

Here is a photo of a tent encampment taken from the road.

We didn’t spend time in PAP or travel around to see the devastation. However, it was apparent that there is a lot of work to do going on two years after the earthquake. The roads are in horrible condition, there remains a lot of rubble and there is a lot of dust.

We traveled up to the location where the Williamson orphanage is located. Because we were staying outside PAP we had rooms at the Kaliko beach resort on the ocean. The resort was nice. It is clean and save but there are few amenities.

After getting checked in we went up to the Williamson orphanage. It was amazing to tour the place, see the children and observe what has been accomplished. When I was last in Haiti the orphanage was still under construction. Now it is up and operating and the orphans from PAP have been moved there. I recognized a lot of them. One in particular is my little friend Enok. He is an abandoned child who got pulled from the junk heap of humanity and is now a lively, smiling little boy who runs around and has a lot of friends.

This is the same kid that is at the top of my blog. At that time he couldn’t walk, talk and was malnourished. Now he is a very normal little boy.

We toured the facility and then went back to the resort for some food and rest. It was a long but satisfying day.

I’m going ahead with the trip to Haiti. However, the other day I was on a conference call. It seems that one our schools was robbed and vandalized by a gang from Cite Soliel. They seem to think that since we ask the families to pay a portion to buy the uniforms that are required for the children then we must be making a lot of money. In fact, what is being asked for the cost of the uniforms is less than 10% of what the cost is of giving the child an education and a hot meal each day. (It’s never ultimately beneficial to give away anything for free.)

So anyway, our in-country manager will shut down the school temporarily. It will be explained to the community that we have been robbed, don’t have money to pay the teachers and feed the children. Until donations arrive then the school will remain closed. That is the only way that the community will hold the perpetrators accountable. Within about 10 days they will be turned in and either reimburse the money or the will be jailed. That’s the only way this can be handled.

We have to remember that these are people with very short-term goals. No matter how much money they steal they won’t invest it in their long term interests. It’s all about today. When dealing with them you have to account of their mindset as stupid as it may be.

It’s sad. the conundrum that charitable organizations face is that they realize that they can’t help by insisting that the culture change but they are dealing with cultures that needs to change in order to advance. How do those concepts get resolved?

So I will go to Haiti but, as much as I would like to, will probably not visit the projects we support on Cite Soliel.

I’ll try to keep this blog updated while in Haiti.

This month I intend to visit Haiti. While I have been there twice before, I haven’t been there since the earthquake. The purpose of the visit is to visit projects that we have been supporting. The visit will only be for a few days. Haiti a a place that you don’t want to hang around in if you don’t have to.

I’m anxious to see what is going on and to take photos of the current conditions.

I am told that Enok is becoming a smart, inquisitive, friendly kid. He has his friends, smiles a lot and is very involved. I am really looking forward to seeing him. With all that I have been blessed with it would make me feel great if I somehow pulled a kid out of total despair and provided him with the chance at a a productive life.

I want to post this update on what is happening with Mercy & Sharing in Haiti. I’m not sure the pictures will upload but let it be said, these children are at the bottom of the social totem pole in the Western Hemisphere. Are they not people that deserve a chance at life? Examine your own conscience as to how children, that cannot fend for themselves should be treated? Is it best that they be left to die? You tell me.

Mercy & Sharing UPDATE August 20, 2011

New Arrivals at Mercy & Sharing Orphanages

Children Continue to Be Abandoned at Public Hospital

As many of you may know, Mercy & Sharing used to operate an abandoned baby unit in the government hospital in Port-au-Prince. After the earthquake, it was shut down by the Government of Haiti, and Partners in Health arrived to help run the hospital, but that short-lived assistance has ended, and the public hospital is back to where it was before the earthquake — a dysfunctional facility where children continue to be abandoned in squalor.

If you have to go to L’Hopital Universite d’Etat d’Haiti, the public hospital in Port-au-Prince, plan to bring your own syringe, bed sheets, food and medicine, and plan to have money to bribe the government doctors as to provide medical care. Otherwise, it is largely a dumping ground for unwanted children.

This is where the safety net provided by Mercy & Sharing comes into play, a safety net provided by your generous donations! While the budget of Mercy & Sharing continues to be strained, we recently took SIX new children, and wanted to introduce you to them here — five boys and one girl. Upon their arrival, they were taken to the clinic for a medical check up. One of them had a high fever, another one had a pretty bad skin condition, one is suffering from severe malnutrition, two of them (a boy and a girl) are mentally and physically challenged, and one little boy just needed to be fed and re-hydrated. We have to wait for the medical examination and lab exams to have more precise information on their actual condition. After the preliminary check up, they were cleaned up and dressed in fresh clothes. For safety and sanitary reasons, they were put in a private room for observation. Right now they are being fed and hydrated.

Please consider the least of these children, hundreds of thousands of whom live less than 500 miles from the shores of the richest and most powerful country in the world!

Mercy & Sharing Students Have 99% Pass Rate!

We are proud to announce that 99% of all of the students at the John Branchizio School passed the national exam and will go on to secondary school levels. There was only one girl who did not pass, and unfortunately she was too sick to attend classes on regular basis.

President Delays School Openings for Fall

Unfortunately, there was a Presidential decree issued just this week that the public schools will not open until the second week of October, on a date yet to be announced. As a result of the Presidential decree, private schools, including the Mercy & Sharing schools which are free and provide a hot meal every day, will not be allowed to open until the public schools. The government announced that they do not have enough money to open the public schools, even though this was a major plank in the political campaign of the current President. Gridlock is not confined to Washington, DC — the Haitian President has been unable to appoint a Prime Minister due to deadlock with Parliament, and as a result Haiti has no cabinet and effectively no functioning government yet again.

Student Profile from John Branchizio School

Evariste Chelandie – Age 10 and in 4th Grade at the John Branchizio School

We continue to feature students at our schools so that you can understand how important it is that you continue to support Mercy & Sharing, and in particular the educational programs that you are helping us to provide.

This is the report from the school director: “Chelandie is in 4th Grade. She likes school very much. When she grows up, she wants to be a nurse. I asked her why she chooses to be a nurse. The answer was that to be able to take care of my mom when she gets older. She thinks that it cost a lot of money to take care of someone. So if she becomes a nurse, her mom will be well taking care of at no cost. I smiled.”

Evariste Chelandie – Wants to be a Nurse!

Wisdom for Today

“The tongue that brings healing is a tree of life”

Proverbs 15:4

Thank you all for your continued support of Mercy & Sharing. Pray for the children and staff as we seek to plan ahead for their very lives and salvation.

YOU CAN HELP SAVE A LIFE TODAY…

You can visit our website and donate on line:

www.haitichildren.org or follow us on our Face Book page (search ‘Mercy & Sharing’).

Susie & Joe Krabacher
Mercy & Sharing
201 N. Mill Street, Suite 201
Aspen CO 81611
(970) 925 1492

Mercy & Sharing is a registered Haitian NGO and a US 501©(3) Public Charity. It has been operating in Haiti since 1994. Its mission is to rescue the abused, abandoned and disabled children of Haiti and provide them with care, hope and opportunity. Mercy & Sharing employs more than 210 Haitians who run all operations there. 100% of every outside donation goes to the Haiti projects, with the Founders and Directors of Mercy & Sharing donating 100% of overhead, fundraising and administrative costs.

© Mercy & Sharing 2011. All rights reserved.