EARTHQUAKE UPDATE
Dear Friends:
In the days following the earthquake, as we accounted for all of the students, we began looking for opportunities for many students to study abroad, so they would miss as little school as possible. However, as the days passed and we saw the needs of the hundreds of thousands of people displaced by the earthquake, we decided to concentrate on integrating our students into the relief efforts, rather than looking to send them away. To this end, we have placed 40 students in volunteer or paid positions, including all 16 medical students in their third year of study or above. Two med students are working at the University of Miami field hospital, and 5th-year med student Edmond Frantz, who was pulled from the rubble of the HELP center with a broken leg and subsequently operated on at the same hospital, now helps out with translation, hobbling after doctors and nurses on his crutches. Several med students are also volunteering at the golf and tennis club, whose grounds now house a camp of tens of thousands of refugees run by the US Army 82nd Airborne Division.
We also sent several students to a field clinic in Jacmel, set up by longtime HELP partner, Haitian Timoun Foundation. It is gratifying to see students that HTF has been sponsoring putting their new-found skills to work.
Six of our students have been working with the Red Cross for the past month, distributing health kits, blankets, tarps and the like to people living in refugee camps. Several civil engineering students are working in nearby cities, providing infrastructure for the tens of thousands of people who have migrated to these cities in the wake of the earthquake. Other students are working as translators, teachers and administrators, some even engaged in work for HELP, as we reconstitute all of our files and continue work on long-term projects that predate the quake.
While HELP students have been helping others, many of you have been helping HELP--we are greatly appreciative of the outpouring of condolences and support this past month. In addition to the many generous contributions, HELP supporters have organized fundraisers all over the country and beyond. Below is a sample of past and future events. If any of these are in your area, you might want to join the fun and meet other friends of HELP:
JANUARY 25th, Montpelier, VT: Friends gathered at the Three Penny Taproom enjoy a selection of beers, with proceeds benefiting HELP. We send our heartfelt thanks to good friend Patrick Bryson, event organizer, and host Scott Kerner, a Taproom proprietor.
FEBRUARY 6, London, England: Three friends of Haiti and HELP, Tatiana Auguste, John Jepsen and Delphine Gardere, hosted an event "focusing on the beautiful sights, sounds, and tastes of Haiti." John said," We had Haitian artwork, music, delicious food, and, of course, plenty of Barbancourt rum."
FEBRUARY 11, Fort Collins, CO: Melissa Basta organized Open Hearts for Haiti with a portion of the proceeds going to HELP. Melissa reported: "...my Haitian flag of Erzulie Freda (used on the invite) went for $950. The final bid was by a nurse practitioner in cardiology and her husband who is a cardiologist. It has found its rightful home!"
FEBRUARY 14, Miami, FL: HELP was one of four organizations that benefited from a dance performance presented by Dance Now Miami. Special thanks to Hannah Baumgarten for organizing, Lisa Frankel for suggesting HELP as a recipient, and Melissa Moonves for representing HELP at the event.
FEBRUARY 14, Sacramento, CA: Longtime HELP friend Patrick Celestin introduced us to Bella Dreizler, a movement specialist and healer who dedicated her Valentine's Day dance event, a "collective moving prayer," to HELP. Bella writes, "I am afloat on the energy of this morning. This amazing, generous heart-full tribe raised $1700 that goes directly to the Haitian Education Leadership Program....Once a year we dedicate a day to opening our hearts and feeling the love. I am feeling it, I'm sending it out there, I hope that you are feeling it too." Special thanks to Patrick, Bella and the whole "tribe" who dedicated their beautiful practice this morning to HELP.
Upcoming Events:
MARCH 5, New York City: Marassa - A Celebration of Haitian Art & Style. Vanessa Jacquemin has organized an elegant affair to be held in the Cooper Square Hotel, where an invited audience will bid on artwork from a private collection. Guests will enjoy live music, food and beverages in the spirit of Haitian culture. The evening is being generously sponsored by Louis Vuitton, Moët, Hennessy, with proceeds going to HELP and LakayPAM.
MARCH 12, Eugene, OR: Those of you in the Northwest can stop by Espwa Fe Viv - Hope Springs Eternal an evening of Haitian music, food and art, organized by our good friend, Kathy Lynn.
Coincidentally, Patrick Bryson, Melissa Basta and Kathy Lynn were all Peace Corps Volunteers in Haiti--thanks to the Peace Corps crew for their continuing support!
And, there have been other remarkable efforts on our behalf, including:
• Sale of a t-shirt designed by Nikki Cochrane with proceeds going to HELP. Check out her blog here.
• Donations by employees of the South Mountain Company were matched by the Company's Foundation, with HELP selected as one of three Haiti NGO recipients.
• Johnny Schwerk, a friend teaching in Uganda, mobilized his students to make a contribution to Haitian organizations and selected HELP as a recipient.
• Among our newest friends, Emily Smith & her fiancé, Brendan Greenaway, canceled their wedding celebration and are using their budgeted funds for selected charitable purposes. They selected HELP as one of the beneficiaries and will make a contribution equivalent to two full scholarships.
As you can see, your contributions have an immediate and direct impact in Haiti. They allow HELP to provide food and lodging to our students, many of whom have lost their homes, and to coordinate with other organizations who need qualified personnel. We are thus able to transform our students from victims in need of assistance into relief workers helping their fellow Haitians. This is what HELP is all about in the long term, and thanks to you, our students are able to offer their talents and energy to Haiti in this time of great need.
Conor
PS - HELP has also been in the news lately: The Boston Globe published this letter submitted in support of universal education in Haiti, and I and several HELP students are quoted in a New York Times article on higher education in Haiti. The Chronicle of Higher Education also features HELP in this article emphasizing Haiti's urgent need to rebuild its university education system.
A Sad Day at HELP February 1, 2010
The following message is from Conor:
Dear Friends,
Samson was recovering some books at the old HELP center yesterday afternoon when a neighbor approached him with a letter that someone had asked him to deliver to HELP. The letter announced the death of Marc-Erline Dezulma, a second-year HELP accounting student from Gros Morne. Samson gave the the letter to Garry, who spoke with Marc-Erline's family and confirmed her death: the Port-au-Prince apartment building where she lived collapsed in the quake, leaving no survivors
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Garry later discovered that students who had been filling out the contact spreadsheet in the days following the quake erroneously marked Marc-Erline as "contacted" rather than "attempted contact". We reviewed the entire list again today and found that another student, Evenson Jean, second-year in computer science, also perished when his classroom building crumbled, taking fifteen students with it.
Marc-Erline graduated at the top of her class in 2008 at Jean XXIII high school in Gros Morne. Her older brother Erland had been the top graduate two years before her, and the Catholic brothers at the school had sponsored him to study engineering in Port-au-Prince. Once admitted to HELP, Marc-Erline followed Erland to the city, where they were joined by a younger sister, who also perished in the apartment. Erland had the difficult task of returning to Gros Morne with the tragic news.
Marc-Erline was one of the 18 students sponsored by our friends at the Haitian Timoun Foundation (HTF). HTF President, Pastor Rick Barger, writes, "Those of you who remember meeting this gracious and talented young lady will know that we all, HELP, HTF, and Haiti, have suffered a big loss. It is hard to put into words what it means for someone with so much promise and who had worked so hard, overcoming all kinds of obstacles, to be crushed in this disaster. Please pray for Marc-Erline's family, the HELP community, and Haiti."
Evenson Jean was the first in his family to graduate from high school. Also first in his class at his Port-au-Prince high school, he was one of a group of students previously sponsored by the FOKAL Foundation that transferred to HELP this year.
His advisor, Smryne Saintil, said he wasted no time adapting to HELP, offering his considerable computer skills whenever needed. Evenson usually attended classes in the morning session, but as first semester exams were approaching, he began to attend review classes in both the morning and afternoon to better prepare for finals. It is doubly tragic that Evenson paid the ultimate price for his determination to succeed.
The letter left for us at HELP in the name of the Ezulma family ends thus:
"We thank you for this noble service that you have offered our family, which, sadly, through this natural catastrophe, ended before its proper conclusion."
We will be establishing memorial scholarship funds for Evenson and Marc-Erline. Please let me know if you would like to contribute.
Conor
To make a donation in support of HELP's relief efforts, visit our webpage at www.haitianeducation.org, or click here.
HELP Update: Recovering Haiti, Renewing Hope January 30, 2010
The following message is from Conor:
Dear Friends,
A friend here recently said "things are starting to come back; not to normal, just back." There is a new normal in Port-au-Prince, with a large portion of the population living in makeshift tents of sheets and tarps spread over every inch of the capital's rare open spaces, from the grounds of the presidential palace (imagine a tent city on the White House lawn), to the large city park, the Champs de Mars, to Haiti's only golf course at the Petionville Country Club. Food, water and sanitation are extremely difficult for these people, many of whom escaped with only the clothes on their backs, and the government, whose infrastructure was hit hard, seems simply overwhelmed.
In the midst of this, Haiti's informal infrastructures have worked in its favor. Many, if not most businesses (from clothing to auto repair to restaurants) are run by street merchants, and if there is no longer opportunity for them at their old place of business, they have decamped with the population to the tent cities: it is still possible to buy a pair of second-hand jeans, get a tire fixed and have a sandwich, all at once, in a place that was completely uninhabited three weeks ago.
HELP has followed this model to some extent. As I explained in an earlier update, we have set up a temporary HQ in a student house that an architect has certified as
having "no significant damage." Almost half of our students have returned to Port-au-Prince (most left for home immediately following the quake), but some are still reluctant to return until the aftershocks subside. Apparently the number (50+) and time frame (two weeks) of the aftershocks make for a very rare post-quake pattern, one which seismologists, let alone traumatized victims, have trouble interpreting.
Most of our staff is also back to work. Our Administrator, Edelyne Paul, was operated on yesterday to set a broken foot, and we were also visited by Jean-Dumas Maurice, a HELP alum and our IT manager, who sustained a broken arm and a scalp wound when a neighboring three-story building collapsed on the computer lab.
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Garry says that if we hadn't been here to organize the students, he is sure they would have all gone home and stayed there until school opened again. Instead, our students are learning and assisting their neighbors in need. This week, we started 8 hours a week of English and Spanish classes and our leadership program, which frequently has to take a back seat when university is in session, has also been ramped up to 8 hours per week. Students have a full morning schedule with afternoons free for homework and service projects. On the admin side, we are working on backing up files for the data that was not backed up prior to the quake, although fortunately, all of our accounting info and much of the staff data was backed up and retrievable.
Again, the only reason we are able to do any of this is because of your generous and immediate response. In the week following the quake, we received $25,000 in donations, and the Ekta Foundation generously agreed to match that. (By the way, President Obama just signed a law making all gifts to the relief effort between 1/12 and 3/1/10 eligible for a 2009 charitable tax deduction).
Thanks to Ashok and Amrita Mahbubani and the other Ekta board members for their swift action. The donations have continued to come in, and we will continue to need them to fund these unanticipated operations. We are now providing three meals a day for 50 people, and while that number is sure to increase as more of our students return, there is no end in sight to Haiti's new reality.
Conor
To make a donation in support of HELP's relief efforts, visit our webpage at www.haitianeducation.org, or click here.
HELP: 108/108! Gade yon mirak! January 21, 2010
The following message is from Conor:
Dear Friends,
"Gade yon mirak" can loosely be translated as "Behold a miracle." Today we tracked down the 2 students who we had not yet heard from. Starting earlier this week, we had sent students out looking for Weaventz Fougette. Today they finally located his neighbourhood; however, about the same time they arrived in a remote suburb of Port-au-Prince and met his mother, Weaventz strolled into the HELP student house about 10 miles away, blissfully unaware of the manhunt launched in his name. For the final student, Jovaski Rejouis, we received an email from a friend confirming that he was fine. It is no minor miracle that all 108 students and 8 staff members are alive and well; truly cause for celebration among the HELP family, in the midst of tragedy and loss.
There was lots of activity at the student house today, broken only by students racing outside at the first hint of aftershocks. We now have 20 students staying at the house and another 7 commuting, and Garry declared HELP open for business. Students not volunteering for the Red Cross were put to work getting our temporary office up and running. Electrical engineering students wired the house to run off a small generator and inverter, while an alumni accountant worked with computer science students to retrieve the accounts from a rescued hard drive. Another student, who had worked as a carpenter for a year before applying to HELP, installed new locks on doors and a team of students cooked the traditional lunch of rice and beans. We have been able to recover all but five student folders, and two student advisors began organizing and filing them. ESL teacher Samson Charles braved the destroyed HELP Center to extricate his computer and library books; Samson will begin intensive English classes on Monday.
While we will be able to keep the students busy in the short time, getting HELP and our neighbours back on their feet, we have started to think about how we can get the students back in school. We will be meeting with the universities in the coming days to see what their plans are and then formulate ours. Our goal is to put as many students back in school as quickly as possible and to keep the other students as productive as possible in the relief efforts.
Again, I would like to thank everyone who has donated in the past 10 days. It's hard to explain the conditions I found here. All gas stations and banks were closed, drinking water was scarce, roads were blocked by debris, and the electric grid was down. Water and gas have become less scarce, but banks remain closed, and I think it will be some time before the city's electric grid is back up. In the midst of destruction, scarcity and uncertainty, it has been a tremendous relief not to have to worry about how were were going to fund our relief efforts and to have the resources at hand to do what we thought best. Everyone at HELP is truly grateful! Barely a week after the quake we have accounted for all students and staff, found medical care for those in need, retrieved everything we could from the HELP center, set up temporary headquarters and assigned students to relief work with the Red Cross. None of this would have been possible with you.
Conor
To make a donation in support of HELP's relief efforts, visit our webpage at www.haitianeducation.org, or click here.
HELP Relief Update January 19, 2010
The following message is from Conor:
Monday - I spent Monday trying to bury the father of a dear friend of mine. It was much more of a race against circumstance and time than a time for reflection and remembrance. The mason finished blocking up the tomb under the rapidly sinking sun and the roar of a steady stream of U.S. Military transport planes overhead on their approach to the nearby airport. Amidst scenes of cadavers dumped by the truckload, we were fortunate to arrange a proper burial.
At the end of the day, we were down to 2 students unaccounted for, and I hadn't been able to reach Garry for hours. However, Garry is confident that if something happened to the students we would have had news by now, and he has already turned his attention to calling the students back to Port-au-Prince to help out where we can. This morning (Tues), we sent 10 students to a Red Cross refugee camp. One week after the earthquake, we are starting to look forward not backwards.
Thanks again for your emails, prayers and support. I'm sorry I can't yet respond to everyone individually - I'm sure you understand.
Peace
Conor
To make a donation in support of HELP's relief efforts, visit our webpage at www.haitianeducation.org, or click here.
Update on HELP Students & Staff January 17, 2010
The following message is from Conor:
Out of 108 students currently enrolled in HELP, we have positively located 105, all of whom are alive and well. We had hoped to have 100% accounted for by the end of the day, but it was not to be. For the remaining three, we have sent out a general appeal on 3 Port-au-Prince radio stations.
We brought one student to an Israeli hospital which has just been set up, and our Administrator and longest standing employee, Edelyne Paul, got x-rays which revealed no break in her leg.
Additionally almost all alumni have been accounted for. So far we have been extraordinarily fortunate.
Lastly, we visited the HELP center today. I think the pictures tell the story better than I can. It is a miracle that everyone made it out alive.
My sincere thanks to everyone for your thoughts and prayers. Your generous financial support provided us with resources needed for the immediate task of locating and caring for the HELP family of students and staff. Now, we look forward to rebuilding HELP, and having HELP assist in rebuilding Haiti.
Conor
To make a donation in support of HELP's relief efforts, visit our webpage at www.haitianeducation.org, or click here.
News from Conor January 17, 2010
The following message is from Conor:
I'm writing this on Saturday night, but you likely won't read it until Sunday morning at the earliest because internet is one of the many rare commodities. Saturday and Sunday still mean something to you, but there aren't really any days of the week here. Everything is rightly referred to as before and after. At a pharmacy where I was looking for eardrops the pharmacist asked "when did your ear start hurting?" To which a customer next to me said slyly, "Tuesday, right?"
Before and after. Before, when life was normal, very difficult but predictable, and after, after those few seconds when Port-au-Prince changed forever and with it, people's lives. Most people sleep outside now, even those whose houses are still standing. "Most" means hundreds of thousands of people sleeping in parks, on peoples lawns, public squares and on the streets; from dirt alleys in neighborhoods to major city thoroughfares, the streets close at dusk as people sweep up and then lay their bedding, placing makeshift barriers and slow burning fires to warn the occasional passing vehicle. It's hard to tell how long this can last, but after only four nights, it is an accepted routine.
Rather than sleep in the streets, many more hundreds of thousands have left the capital, heading back to their hometowns in what must be the largest reverse migrations (urban to rural) in Haiti's history. In the hours following the quake, many people started walking home, including a friend who walked for 2 days to the town of Jacmel. We set up our HQ at a student house that survived virtually untouched and started contacting all the students today, via text message and phone calls, to find out where they are. Most of the HELP students who come from outside the capital have also returned to their families, where they have a bed, food and water and peace of mind. It reassures us to know that they are back with their families. It's also reassuring to look at the list of all the places they have returned to; towns and cities, small and large, all around the country. In the midst of horror and tragedy, it's a nice reminder that HELP is fulfilling its mission to find the best students, no matter where they are. We have positively located over 70 students, staff and alumni, and so far we have not had a single report of anyone who died. We are hopeful that we will locate the remaining people in the coming days.
I want to send out a special thank you to everyone who has donated in the past few days. These donations come at a critical time. Tracking down the students takes resources that are increasingly expensive; with all gas stations closed since the quake, gas is selling at $10 a gallon, and telephones which sold for $10 new last week are selling for $40 used. We still need your contributions to ensure that we track down each and every member of the HELP family. Once we do so, we will think about ways we can use our resources to help others. In the midst of overwhelming devastation, we have no choice but to push ahead.
Kenbe la
Conor
PS: Conor has asked me to convey that internet is still nearly non-existent; if you need to reach him urgently, the most reliable method of communication is text messaging to one of his two phones: 011-509-34-54-0240 or 917-355-0572.
Update from Conor January 15, 2010
The following message is from Conor:
Dear Friends - I arrived in Haiti late this morning after a 24 hour non-stop trip via the Dominican Republic. A special thanks to Rachelle Gomez, Sarah (whose last name I never got) and Jessica Heckert, all of whom helped arrange transportation and lodging on the fly in the Dominican Republic. The scene in Haiti is indescribable, or at least would take a long time to do so. However I'm sure you've seen even more of it than I have in the media. Word here is that the aftershocks, some of which reached 5.0, will subside around Saturday, so everyone's priority is avoiding further tragedy until then.
I appreciate the outpouring of concern for Haitians in general and HELP in particular. Communication and transportation are extremely challenging. We have arranged for medical care for the injured students and staff and have started accounting for students and alumni. We have yet to confirm any deaths of HELP students, alumni or staff, although many are still unaccounted for. We are working on a master list and will update everyone as best we can under the circumstances.
Thanks to those who have asked how they can help and to those who are already on their way down. There is a great need for doctors, especially orthopaedic surgeons. If any medical personnel are willing to come, they will be put to good use although conditions are primitive. Other volunteers will find it difficult to be effective in a rather chaotic relief effort, so I would recommend donations to the American Red Cross for general relief, Partners in Health and NPH for medical relief and of course HELP as we start to rebuild what has been lost.
Thanks again for your concern and support. It is heart-warming for my fellow staff and students.
Peace
Conor
Earthquake Update from HELP January 15, 2010
Dear Friends,
I just spoke with Conor, who arrived safely in Port-au-Prince this morning and has been able to arrange for medical care for our four staff members who were injured in the earthquake. Edelyne, Franz, Goretti and Dumas are currently being tended to at St. Damien's Hospital, and though we still don't know the full extent of their injuries, we are grateful that they are receiving care.
Our biggest priority at this point is determining the whereabouts and safety of the 50 students currently unaccounted for. Conor and Garry will be coordinating the students into calling teams and search parties to help locate the rest of their classmates. Again, so far none have been reported dead. We are hoping for the best and will keep you updated.
Many of you have been reaching out and asking what you can do for HELP and for Haiti in general. At this point, the best thing you can do is raise money. We are of course collecting funds to rebuild the lives of our students, staff and their families. The first response teams who we also recommend are:
Red Cross
Care
Partners In Health
MercyCorps
We would advise you to travel to Haiti ONLY if you are a trained medical professional.
Last, we'd like to thank you for the outpouring of support and well-wishes we have received over the past few days. Our hearts go out to those of you out to those of you who have lost loved ones in this tragedy. There are no words.
Kim Dilts
Director of Operations
Earthquake Update from HELP January 14, 2010
Dear Friends,
The latest news we have (Wed. At 4pm) is that Garry is unhurt and dealing with the injured. Edelyne seems to have a broken leg and can't get care, even though she is in the hospital. She is in pain, but her injury doesn't seem life threatening. Our receptionist Sophia, our IT manager Dumas and one student, Edmond Franz are also injured although we don't know how much.
We still don't have news of all the students, but so far none have been reported dead. We are counting our blessings.
Conor is traveling to Haiti via the Dominican Republic today; we will continue to update you as we have more information available. Thank you for keeping HELP in your thoughts.
Kim Dilts
Director of Operations
Some Promising News from HELP January 13, 2010
Dear Friends,
I recently received an eyewitness account from my friend Pooja Bhatia in Port-au-Prince.
HELP Country Director Garry Delice is safe. Three other staff members appear to be safe but four have been injured to various degrees although we don't know how serious the most serious case is.
No reports of any deaths among staff and students yet. Most if not all of the approximately 60 students in HELP housing are accounted for. We are praying that we can keep this winning streak going.
Unfortunately the HELP center is destroyed; however this loss is truly insignificant in the midst of the human suffering.
Phone lines to Haiti are next to impossible. Internet service is spotty. You can follow Pooja's eyewitness accounts at: https://twitter.com/bhatiap
Thank you again for your thoughts and prayers. We need them all. We will also need donations to rebuild the lives of our staff and students and our infrastructure.
Conor
News from HELP January 13, 2010
Dear Friends,
Many of you have been asking about how HELP is faring. Thus far we have been unable to reach anyone from HELP in Haiti. We will keep you posted. If anyone on this list has word from HELP staff, students or alumni please email me at this address or text to 401-439-3076.
Many have also asked where they can send donations. HELP staff and students are undoubtedly suffering from this event and we can certainly put your donation to good use to provide immediate relief to them and their families. I am traveling to Haiti on Friday.
www.haitianeducation.org
For more general relief efforts my friend Matt Marek heads the American Red Cross in Haiti who can be counted on to do all they can.
www.redcross.org
Please continue to keep HELP and Haiti in your thoughts and prayers.
Conor
To make a donation in support of HELP's relief efforts, visit our webpage at www.haitianeducation.org, or click here.
Click here to donate to the American Red Cross
