Ook de kinderen helpen mee
Van onze contactpersoon in de Dominicaanse Republiek.
At first glance a visitor to the home in the Dominican Republic would not realize that anything has happened in the outside world. The children go to school, the cow’s moo, and the breeze feels incredibly nice in the hot sun. The sound of children’s voices, laughter on the way home from class and the full moon at night give such a sense of peace and tranquility.
The only noticeable difference is the amount of cars/ trucks coming and going in the middle of the night. European and American volunteers arrive at all hours of the night. A few capture an hour’s sleep on a mattress on the floor of the volunteer’s house or maybe a quick bite to eat. Some have travelled for a couple of days and then get in a truck/bus and off they go to Haiti on a 12 hour drive. I picked up two medical volunteers from Germany Tuesday. They flew in on a Lands Aid helicopter via Canada. They had not slept in two days. They had never been to either side of the island and off they went to help with a group of Italian medical staff.
The DR staff is constantly working like energizer bunnies. Physical therapists have become transportation and logistics experts over night. Gardeners, painters and even some of the older pequeños are helping with cargo shipments flown in from all over the world. The generosity of the Italians, Germans, and the Dutch offices has already been felt. Pallets of medical supplies, cereal, rice, water, and flour donated by Italian government, through the Italian Fundraising office, have arrived. Alfonso Leon is driving supplies to many children affected by the earthquake outside of the home through funding from Germany for mattresses, food and water which has been purchased in the DR. Action Medeor, facilitated by the German Office, has provided many medical supplies as well. A helicopter has been stationed at a small airport in Santo Domingo at the disposal of both sides of the island to transport supplies and volunteers as a donation from Germany. (The children wish it would land on the soccer field so they could see it being loaded). The Netherlands office has been able to procure primary health care kits so desperately needed by Fr. Rick in Haiti. A group of Southside Chicago volunteers, under the coordination of John Shattuck, Children of Abraham and Friends of the Orphans, have just sent 3 containers filled with medical and relief supplies. They will be arriving next week.
The local Dominican community has been aiding with the relief effort as well. Farach S.A. has collaborated with providing much needed medical supplies and Sr. Beatrice Barry has spent endless hours arranging medical supplies or anything that can be found in Santo Domingo for Haiti. The Fundación Inicia de Vicini has generously established an account at the local bank, Banco del Progreso. They are willing to match any donations received in the account for Haiti Relief up to US$50,000. Results of this generosity are already starting to arrive in the account from Dominican donors.
The older boys have been helping unload and re-pack the cargo shipments/supplies. School buses, guaguas, Hertz rental trucks and flatbeds have been loaded, reloaded and shifted around numbers of times as more requests arrive for additional equipment. Several local Dominicans have donated trucks for the effort. The parking lot is growing with newer transportation vehicles. Some will remain in Haiti and the rest will stay in the DR for future delivery schedules.
Midnight is the time to leave for Haiti and then unload and return by the next night. The drivers are from the NPH driving staff, US volunteers as well as newly hired Dominican drivers. Under normal conditions the driving schedule is grueling but with potholes, night driving on roads without lighting plus the overflowing lake on the other side of the border, the task is even more monumental.
Many of the staff has gone to Haiti to assist in the relief effort. Roseline, Danny, and Cassandra are currently still in Haiti helping with communication, organization and translating. The remaining staff and volunteers are working overtime to fill in their roles. Everyone looks tired. The office is open at all hours with staff working on preparing shipments and transport.
The children have been praying for their brothers and sisters in Haiti. They are well aware of the situation. The tias (caregivers) have been instructed in earthquake safety procedures. The Red Cross will soon be coming in to provide a program for the entire house for emergency preparedness (hurricanes, earthquake, fire).
More important than all of the work, or the long hours and frustrations have been the stories shared. One Haitian I was talking to said there was death everywhere. He just had to help because he had “life” and he had to help give that to others. Another volunteer spoke about our small chapel at the hospital in Haiti, which is so beautiful with its white stone and stained glass windows. All of the windows were blown out and our volunteer Mike Koziel went in to clean it up. There kneeling on the stone floor in the middle of the glass was a young teenage boy deep in prayer. Mike said that is when he “lost it”. Mr. “Vietnam” still can’t talk about the boy without tears. Someone else said that the upper class in Haiti has been affected the most. They have lost their homes, cars, food supplies but unlike most Haitians, they have never had to deal without anything on an everyday basis. Now that they are in the streets and homeless you cannot tell who was there first and who just arrived. Everyone looks the same! Robin Schwartz says that everything is calming down. The major surgeries are pretty much over. The USS Comfort did a lot of the really bad ones and has begun sending the patients back to St. Damien for recovery. Robin also says that children everywhere in the hospital have lost limbs but still they are smiling!
