Haiti tragedy: Your chance to help

[Ruth Baker is a Port Hills resident from the Heathcote Valley and makes this personal appeal in response to the unfolding tragedy of the Haitian earthquake.]

The recent earthquake in Haiti has been a very personal tragedy for me. My son Zach was born there. He lived in the CHO (Christian Haitian Ministries) orphanage for the first three years of his life before his adoption was completed. He went back to the same orphanage when he was 17 to help for a few months; the experience changed his life in many different ways.

Over the past 21 years, we have maintained close ties with the orphanage and the people connected to it. Now it is in a desperate situation. During the earthquake, the building was severely damaged but did not collapse – giving everyone time to get out safely. No-one can enter it because of its fragile state so everyone has been in the compound (about the size of 2 football fields) since then.

They have been joined by others fleeing from the gangs and their ruined homes – there are now close to 2000 people in the compound. There is no shelter (trees are rare items in Haiti), temperatures are currently averaging 32°C and they ran out of all food and water on Saturday. There is no supply of water anywhere near them and the armed gangs now roaming outside the orphanage walls (20 ft high and still standing) will kill anyone who has something they want. Manno Azor has sent this text message from inside the compound: ‘We can't leave the compound, the death cries, the bodies, the destruction is too much to see, I just can't.’

After several harrowing days of silence from loved ones there is now good contact via cell phones and we can communicate with people who are inside the compound or moving around Haiti. Trust me, the media is only able to report the tip of the iceberg from their safe positions in the vicinity of the airport and no-one we are in contact with has received any kind of aid nor expects to. We are getting only reports of absolute chaos from the people who are dealing with the reality of the situation. There is no system, no infrastructure, and no access to help for most people.

We have managed to secure the services of a privately-owned helicopter to make 3 trips from the Dominican Republic to drop some limited food and water supplies into the compound – we hope that they will make it in today. We cannot afford further trips until we raise more money; the fee for the helicopter is US$2000 per trip (a good price from the owner who said: We don’t want to make a profit with the big problems other people have, we don’t want to ashamed one day. So we try to do right.’)

Zach and I have set up a bank account here for anyone wishing to help. We will forward 100% of the money raised to Christian Haitian Ministries in Canada, a government registered charity that have for many years been supporting CHO. We are closely connected to this charity and can guarantee that the funds will be put to the best possible use and will not come close to anyone who is connected to the corruption that is so rife in Haiti.

Dr. Franco Jean Louis, who is a Canadian citizen (and the first child brought into the orphanage when it was established many years ago) is in sole charge at CHO and is absolutely to be trusted. Here’s what he said in a phone call at the end of last week: "I have about two thousand people in the walls taking refuge. I am responsible for them! Normally there are 167 children and young adults.. tomorrow I will have no more water here.. we went out to an aid truck but we couldn't get close because of the mobs. I sent one Pastor downtown... there is nothing left... no grocery store standing ... no bank that can be used or western union...We are desperate! Please beg everyone for their help without shame...what can we do..."

If you think you can help, you can deposit funds directly in the bank:

Account Name: CHO Haiti relief
Bank: SBS Ferrymead
Account Number: 03 1355 0618154 00

Cheques can be written to ‘CHO Haiti Relief’ and forwarded to myself or Zach.

We are sorry we cannot offer receipts for tax rebate purposes because the charity is not registered here in New Zealand, but we will issue personal receipts upon request. When we have met the emergency needs of CHO, we will use any remaining funds for the rebuilding effort. If you would like feedback on how your donations have been used, please send me your name and email address to ruthbaker at xtra.co.nz and we will try to send updates. At the moment we are stretched with dealing with the immediate pressures but we can promise we will get back to you when things settle a little.

Thank you so much for your support. Please take this as a personal ‘thank you’. As I’m sure you will understand, it will be difficult to be in contact with everyone personally.