May 2010: Visiting VM Groups in Haiti

Just got back from Haiti yesterday! Whew! Sweating steadily for a week. It is really hot and muggy there and it is only May. Visited with about sixty of our close to 300 groups there and I can tell you that there is a lot of enthusiasm and activity in helping to rebuild the country and to rebuild the shattered lives of the Haitian people.  The physical infrastructure is still in a shambles and the rubble seems to be largely still where it was when I was last there in February. But many many people are pitching in and the work is going forward. It is just such a big job that it is hard to see the effects yet.

Barrett/USA: "By the end of our stay there we had that place in ship shape."

I arrived in Haiti on the second charter flight from Los Angeles on the 21 January 2010. For the first day we were just establishing the camp, putting up tents, sorting supplies etc. We then went on a project at University of Miami Hospital in Port-au-Prince at the request of one the head doctors. This ended up being the project I would work on for the next two weeks.

When we first arrived at University of Miami Hospital we didn’t get the warmest welcome. They didn’t allow us to bring any more than four volunteers and we were stopped by the not-too-friendly Special Forces security when we arrived. We explained that we were there upon request but they didn’t let us go until we had them talk to the head doctor. Once in, we asked what was needed and they had us organize one corner of the hospital supply tent. We then moved on to the food section of the tent and this is where the hospital staff could see what we could do for them.

Ellen, Mexico - Is this really reality what we live in?

Is this really reality what we live in? The roads, the buses, cars, perfumes, restaurants... As I was walking through the duty free shops at the airport today I realized how fake the modern world seems to me now. Hunger is now real to me, thirst is more real, but not what new bag i'm going to buy, that doesn't seem to matter anymore. Its almost as if what my old reality was, is no longer existent in my mind.

This short time I've been back from Haiti, I still have my thoughts over there and I keep comparing life here, to life there. Frankly, there's nothing to compare. They have nothing and we have everything.  The cold hard truth that i got snapped into me is that my life here in the "real world" is so simple, easy and comfortable, i have running hot water, food in a refrigerator and clothes hung up in a closet, its almost shocking to me that I never really noticed those details before and it makes me sad to think i didn't appreciate them either. I feel so gratified to know i will have food tomorrow and a place to stay, and a mother to hug.

Erika, USA - "A motto to the VM Camp was 'Do anything and everything needed to get help to the people of Haiti'."

I went to Haiti with one of the Church of Scientology’s charter flights that came from Los Angeles via Miami and arrived in Haiti on 21 January 2010. Cindy was with us who just has recently done the VM courses recently and did a terrific job out there, mainly in the Future Orphanage. Paris drove us on his car, so when we got to Miami, Olaguer and I helped him to get all the communications equipment tested and wrapped up some set ups that had to be done before we could take the equipment with us.

So when I was in Haiti I helped with some aspects of communications and doing some things for Paris, typing and relaying communication. Computers were spare in the beginning so we had people hand write their messages when there was no computer available and I was typing it up later. I also helped to make ID badges for the VMs as we were required by the US Army as they were controlling the traffic in and out the Airport were our camp was.

Ayal, USA - Reporting on Video about his experiences!

Second part:

Elena, Switzerland/USA - Night shift at the HUEH

“There was an old lady who was so thin you could count her bones. She had probably not been doing well before the earthquake, and although there was really nothing wrong with her medically, the doctor decided to keep her in the hospital, concerned she would die if he discharged her.  She was lying in bed, eyes shut, not eating or reacting to anything at all.  I held her and fed her—tiny pieces of food, piece by piece, hoping it would make a difference.

When I came back the next day, the first thing I saw was this woman, sitting up in her bed, eyes wide open.  I smiled at her, she smiled back.  Well on the road to recovery.”

“One night as we waited at the hospital for the bus to bring us back to our camp, two men drove up on a motorcycle balancing an unconscious boy between them.  They let him down at our feet saying  ‘do what you can for him,’ and drove off.  He appeared to be about 10 years old.  He was barely breathing.  We raced off to get the help of a doctor, who set the child up with an IV.  I was holding the boy when he suddenly opened his eyes and gave me a big smile—very much alive. Another casualty who made it.”

Elena recently returned home to the United States from Haiti and only two days later she went off again to Haiti, on her next project: help building an orphanage. 

Working with the Volunteer Ministers: Haiti 2010

Shortly after the devastating earthquake in Haiti, my attention was drawn to Haiti and their people. I knew I was going to Haiti! I just did not know how? I visited my neighbors who are actively involved in the Church of Scientology in Clearwater, Florida. We discussed the earthquake disaster and I shared with them that I would really love to go help the people of Haiti. My neighbors picked up the phone, called someone they knew that was organizing the volunteers for the Haiti relief program out of Tampa. Judy Fagerman, who worked in Tampa called me immediately, and before I knew it I was enrolled in a couple of courses required by Scientology to participate as a Volunteer Minister.