It has been a tough couple of days since the news hit about the earthquake in Haiti. The pictures of the death and destruction swirl around in my mind. It all seems so unimaginable. I see the news and shudder as I see one place after another, places that I know and have been in, crushed by the earthquake. I think of the people I have dealt with in those places and wonder what fate they may have met.
The hardest part for me now is wondering about the friends I have made during my visits to Haiti. Are they alive. Will I ever see them again? One good friend, Josapha, is alive and well. I heard of the good news from the people I work with in an orphanage in Port au Prince. He came by the orphanage to see if the kids and staff were safe. He shared that although his family had lost their house, they were all alive. Good news.
The orphanage itself sits between the Presidential Palace that was destroyed and the Petionville neighborhoods built on the mountain. Although it was built better than most of the housing in Port au Prince, it has sustained major damage. It has moved off of it's foundation and large cracks in the wall are everywhere. With each tremor, more cracks appear. It is evident that the building will never be used again and will have to be abandoned or leveled. Many of the other homes in the neighborhood are also severely damaged.
For now the children and staff of the orphanage are living in makeshift quarters under tarps. They have some food and a team that entered from the Dominican Republic brought some much needed supplies. Now the hard part comes as they search for a safe place to take the kids. One of the orphanage worker's sister, who lives several hours from Port au Prince, has offered shelter to the orphans.
What makes the scope of the damage seem more unreal to me is that Haiti, and especially Port au Prince, was chaotic to start with. The city is a flat, horseshoe area surrounded by mountains. Petionville, the epicenter of the quake, is the gateway to the south. The road that leads up the mountain is surrounded by extremely crowded neighborhoods jammed with people. The houses, all made of cement block and concrete, are literally built one on top of the other. The destruction must be overwhelming there.
City Sole and Bon Repos, two other districts within the city where I have spent much of my time have also sustained major damage. Many of the pictures you see on television are coming from those areas. Before the earthquake, they were extremely overcrowded with people living in all sorts of makeshift homes. Now they look like they have been reduced to little more than rubble. Where will all those people go?
So now I am waiting to go back to Haiti. I am packed and will leave as soon as it is possible to get into the country. I am fearful of what I will see and experience once I am there, but I have to go and do whatever it is I can contribute. I also hope to find some more of my friends alive and well.
Tim Pickel
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16 comments:
Thanks for sharing this with us Tim. It must be a very difficult time for you after all the work you've done there, the friends you've made and the families and orphans you have helped. I hope that you find everyone you know down there safe. I'm glad to hear that the children have been offered a place to stay outside the city--I hope there is a vehicle with enough gas to get them there, or that someone with a vehicle outside the city can come in to meet them.
Do you have a preferred charity that you would like to recommend to people? I know that we can donate $10 to the Red Cross by texting HAITI to 90999, which is very easy to do, but is there another charity there that you think is a good place to send donations for this relief effort? Also, let us know if you intend to set up a charitable donations account for the orphans--it would nice to be able to contribute to something that we know is being handled personally by a neighbor we know and trust.
Tim,
I was thinking about you when I heard about the quake and whether you had any contact with anyone to find out what was going on. Saw a piece on CNN about an 11 yr old girl who was trapped for two days with a crushed leg and was finally rescued only to die later because the hospitals had no supplies or adequately trained doctors to treat her injury. What a mess.
I know you had a tough time health-wise last time you were there and sanitary conditions now must be horrendous. But I know you have to do what you have to do. If I was in your place I'd be leaving too.
Be careful.
PS, I received at leat six emails from relief organizations this week. I'm sure Googling "Haiti relief effort" will return a whole bunch of orgs. that are sending supplies and help.
DRL
You are the real deal Tim. I am proud to be your friend.
Thanks for posting this personal reflection on this tragedy -- without a personal connection, the reality tends to get lost in all the sensational headlines.
There are a lot of scams out there, and even known organizations may use more money for administration and overhead. In addition to the well-known organizations, people might want to consider Partners in Health, a nonprofit medical relief organization with a strong presence in Haiti. Dr. Jim Yong Kim [president of Dartmouth College and one of the co-founder of Partners in Health] said PIH is 'probably the largest health care provider still standing in all Haiti' and assured people that donations will go directly to relief efforts. <www.standwithhaiti.org/haiti>
As John Donne said almost 400 years ago, 'No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.... Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.'
Peter
Contributions to the orphanage, which is called Rescue Children, can be made to:
Lifechurch
1401 East Cedar Street
Allentown, PA. 18109
In the memo section of the check please write: Rescue Children Orphanage."
The donations will be used to help relocate the orphans to a safe place for now and eventually to a new home. It has always been our intention to move out of Port au Prince. We have land that was donated to us in Puli, a town near the DR border. We hope to build an orphanage and medical clinic there someday. Perhaps this will be the start of this wonderful project.
Thank you Tim for your post. I was thinking about you when I heard of the tragedy and I'm glad to know the details.
Thanks for also posting the address. I am extremely leery of sending money to help b/c it seems like it never really goes to the people who need it most. Especially with Major "non profits".
I will give what I can, and I wouldn't personally see a problem if you kept us up to date with your posts on Haiti. If no man is an island then what affects them will certainly affect us.
Thanks for the info Tim--it's reassuring to have a trustworthy local organization to donate to. I did donate to the Red Cross, but I will send a check to Allentown to support the orphanage you helped to build as well. Having been an orphan myself as a child, orphanages are a soft spot for me. And sadly, after this quake, they are likely going to have to take in even more children since there are so many who have lost their parents in this tragedy.
I hope that everyone who can give, will give to this wonderful project, even if it's just $10. That's the price of a movie, and even the unemployed go to movies. Every little bit will count in a meaningful way to these children that Tim works with.
I'm really proud to have a West Ward neighbor involved in this kind of work, and it makes me feel better when I watch the relief efforts on TV that I can help, even if it's the tiniest bit.
My first thought when I heard of the horrific news was that you were already safe back in Easton and what a nightmare it must be for you and everyone there, who are in my prayers for recovery and healing.
I don't want to just reiterate what everyone else said but as well as I know how passionate you are about stuff,I immediately thought of you and your work...I don't want to sound hokey,but i know you are tough enough to deal with whatever you have to,I know you have that"Faith" thing down.
I was at Notre Dame HS yesterday where I work with a group of kids on a green project,we discussed this and you..hope ya don't mind so I will mobilize my group and if when you get down there and get some info back,maybe I can do more.
You know me and my big mouth,so I am sure that all of our thoughts and prayers will send an extra guardian angel with you and stay in touch.I,too feel privileged to say I know you! Peace
Dear Tim,
My deepest prayers and meditations of my heart are upon the Lord to heal the broken hearted and desperate souls of Haiti. May He strengthen the weak and pour a balm of love, through you and those like you, into their wounds.
I praise God for your love and passion for your friends who you have shared such concern for and I will pray that you will find them and for those you do not that you put your trust and hope in God.
Terrence
I passed the information about donating to Lifechurch to every person I work with with an email address. That's about 30 people where I work. I hope everyone will do the same :)
Tim,could you update"Neighbors" not a day goes by that you and the people you love down there don't cross my mind and I pray.And I hate feeling helpless.
And the more you share the more it remains in our lives. Peace
Just to update everyone on what I know about Haiti. The orphans have been moved to a larger orphanage a couple of hours outside of Haiti. They will stay there until a new facility is found. The old orphanage has been abandoned after our team took as much of our stuff as they could.
Most of our team is heading home for now. I am sure we will be back down there in the near future. I did not make the trip this time because of the hepatitis. I am no where near 100% and it will take a while to get there. I am walking again and hoping to build up my strength so that I can get back down there.
All but one of my friends are alive. Many of them have lost homes and family members to the earthquake. I am prayerful that my one friend will show up sometime down the road. I hope to work with him again someday.
Thanks Tim,For what it is worth my daughter and I and many friends from this area play an application on Facebook,we all were discussing this and I gave everyone the Life Church info because there was a link to donate to Haiti,I hope you don't mind but I told them about the orphanage and your work and then told everyone how to keep it at home.Since everyone is from the area I made them all feel guilty (lol) and ask them all to do whatever they can,you know me!
Seriously all this was done with pride in the fact that I know someone who cares.No promises but the keyboard can be a powerful too.I am still praying,Peace
Tim~ thanks for updating us, and please continue to let us know how the orphanage is doing, since so many residents have donated and are personally interested in this rescue project now.
I hope you make a full recovery soon!
oh, Tim~p.s. any new updates on the orphanage would be great in new posts, as this one will slip off the home page soon--thx!
also, when you do, if you happen to have any photos of the kids, it would be great to see on the new posts!
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