haiti

i've been speaking with rebecca from Foundation for Children in Need- about how I can help with their rebuilding in Haiti moving forward. She landed in the DR yesterday and spent today finding the children and assessing the damage.

Please help if you can..
Here are there accounts.

The Miracles Continue

Rebecca and Carl are now on the ground in Haiti. When they were on the flight into the Dominican Republic, a flight attendant got on the PA system and announced that there was someone on that flight that was offering to help anyone there that was giving aid to Haiti. Rebecca sought her out after the flight and learned that this is a very prominent (and very weathly and well connected) woman in the country of the DR. Rebecca boldly asked if her help included a place to stay for the night. So off Rebecca and Carl went to this woman's very lavish home where they were fed well and given a bed to sleep in for the night. This woman has offered to use her connections in helping our Foundation's mission of getting the orphanages we're helping back on their feet. This morning, instead of driving to the border and flying by helicopter into Haiti, they were able to fly in by a private jet (also provided by the same generous donor who was offering his helicopter). The Port-au-Prince airport is now allowing private jets to land so they felt this was much safer than driving to the border and flying in by helicopter.

Emails
Instead of giving a synopsis of Carl's and Rebecca's emails, I have copied their messages below since they say it so well:

"We got a flight in to PAP this morning with a few other randoms that were looking for a way also. Some journalists from South Africa and Denmark. we met up with some folks from our church that were actually at the airport treating some people. We then went around to the different spots looking for Gertrude and all the guys. We saw the guesthouse...I lack words to describe the sight. It was haunting. The neighbors to the left, 5 died of which 4 bodies were still in there, and the one across the street had about as many. I will avoid too much of the bad, but needless to say i'm speechless. We ran in to Michelet at that little food stop near the airport. Just randomly saw him there. He took us to the others who are all fine. Will update you when we can. Oh and we also found the orphanage that had all the donald duck paintings...all of the kids lived and are ok. Amazing because houses right around that orphanage are destroyed." --Carl Dempsey

"Carl and I are safe here in PAP. It has been a long trip. We stood on the tarmac for a long time trying to figure what to do. Patients all around. Wounded being evacuated, UN and military all around. We were just dropped off with a "good luck". Spent all day looking for everyone. I had to rent a driver and tap-tap and spent a fortune. Everyone is out for a buck now. Anyway, gas has risen to about $13/gallon. At the end of the day I finally found Michelet. He cried and hugged me. Then we went and found Jimmy and Bony. They were so happy to see us. They took me down in some of the neighborhoods. It was so sad. So many homes destroyed. It was hard to see the guesthouse destroyed. I still can't find Frentz, Gertrude or Patrick, but I left messages for them. We will try to get in touch with Lesly tomorrow. We went to Delma 19 orphanage today. All the kids are in a tent city. They need food and water. Wall's guest house is also gone. I will try to find another tap-tap tomorrow." --Rebecca Maesato

More Support People on Their Way

Chad, Chad's friend (sorry, we haven't learned his name yet), and Ryan are on their way to the DR right now. Chad and his friend will be purchasing the truck (with help from our new friend in the DR) and Ryan, who filmed our last trip to Haiti in December, will again be filming the events as they unfold. We truly are blessed by all those who are coming forward to offer their help--THANK YOU! And we thank every one of you who have stepped up to the challenge of helping in any way you can!

Again, Our Immediate Needs

The needs of these children are many. But what we need most RIGHT NOW, are the following (in order of priority):

• Money to purchase food, water & temporary shelter for each of the seven orphanages (please go to our website at ffcin.org or contact Leah Hullinger at leahhullinger@gmail.com)
• Airline Tickets (please email leahhullinger@gmail.com)
• Travel agents to donate their services to book travel for volunteers (please email leahhullinger@gmail.com)
• Volunteers with the following skills willing to go to Haiti:
• Medical
• Construction (as soon as we have assessed the orphanages' needs)

Our foundation will be putting together relief volunteer trips once the needs are assessed at the seven orphanages. If you are interested in volunteering in a future trip, please email your information to: rmaesato@yahoo.com.

Please forward this email to your many friends and family so we can reach as many people as we can. Sometimes people want to help but don't know how they can truly make a difference.

You can directly impact these children's lives

with your donation, large or small.

100% of your donations will go directly to these orphanages, so please click on the above website link ffcin.org.