Details from NPH Staff who are working to find volunteer bodies in Haiti.  Very sad news.... you won't recognize the names but we know most of them.  Read below what is expected of those who come to volunteer.  We got a team of Italian doctors in last night who had large suitcases with no backpacks, sleeping bags, supplies, or water.  One went to a hotel for the night because he said he preferred not to sleep in an orphanage.  Thank God they are here, but I think they're in for quite a shock.  It is really really bad, but you can read all of that below....
Love,
Kristin

Hello Friends,

After driving by night to Kennedy Airport January 12th, and flying to the Dominican Republic  January 13th, Conan and I arrived to Haiti this morning in the helicopter of the President of the Dominican Republic. This ride was due to the reputation of NPH in the Dominican Republic, NPH Italy, a reputation enhanced in the DR by Andrea Bocelli not long ago.

 

Our first tasks were the medical evacuation of one of our American volunteers, the medical evacuation of one of our Cuban doctors and the evacuation of the body if one of our American visitors. The search still continues in the rubble for another missing American volunteer, Molly.

 

We also had 18 funerals today. One for John who works at our St Luke program. We miss John very much. He often stopped to at my door to tell me the milestone of his developing baby, which delighted him no end. John ran our computerized language lab. Another was for Johanne’s mother. Joanne is one of the Directors of the St Luke program. All the others were of unknown people who were sadly rotting by the wayside.

 

Other sadnesses…the death of Immacula, our only physician assistant, who worked at our huge outpatient side of our hospital. The death of ALL but one of Joseph Ferdinand’s brothers and sisters, the death of the husband of Jacqueline Gautier as he was visiting a school which fell and all the students (all died), the death of our ex-pequeno Wilfrid Altisme who was in his 5th year of seminary for priesthood. Other stories of deaths of people who are dear to us keep coming in.

 

We spent the rest of the time managing the countless people with serious and severe wounds, coming to our hospital. We are doing our best for them, under trees and in the parking lot with ever diminishing supplies. We will work throughout the night and beyond. No stores are open, no banks are open. Diesel is running out. Will be out in two days if we don’t find a solution, which will mean no power at all. The hospital is without water since there is some broken line between the well and the water tower.

 

Structural damages to the hospital seem superficial at first glance, but about half the outer perimeter walls have fallen. The old hospital in Petionville is in ruins, and teams of workers, led by Ferel, and been digging for Molly non-stop around the clock.

 

WE HAVE NO INTERNET. OUR PHONES DO NOT WORK. IF A CALL DOES GET THROUGH WE CAN’T HEAR OR BE HEARD. Robin has internet access through a satellite. I asked her to send this message for me, and to read my emails and answer them as best she can for now.

 

Please continue to pray for us. We pray for you too.

Fr. Rick Frechette

____________________

Dear Friends and Family,

I want to thank you on behalf of Fr. Rick, NPFS, the St. Luke team and our entire family here in Haiti for all your prayers, concern and especially support during this most difficult time. Fr. Rick has asked me to send something to update everyone. I am the point of contact person here in Haiti so please try not to contact him via email because I'm answering both emails! At this time there is no regular internet, electricity for internet or for computer or phone charging. Fr. Rick is at spending most of his time at the hospital and organizing search/rescue teams with Nebez and Augusnel (of St. Luke). The phones lines are also not yet reliable. It will be easier for us to keep things with a good flow if all information goes through myself and Monica Gery.  At this time, all interviews need to go through me. Fr. Rick cannot do them.

This morning Fr. Rick, Dr. Pilar Silverman, Conan, Vern Conaway and I arrived in Haiti via special helicopter arrangements made by the First Lady of the Dominican Republic and by Vern. The state of the country is beyond words. The past few years of hurricanes were nothing compared to the scope of damage done with this earthquake. The government has advised no one stay inside as aftershocks were still hitting the country today. People are literally sleeping, well really just sitting in groups, on the streets tonight. Electricity is cut, Water is running out and so is food. We are almost out of medical supplies. 

The child patients at St. Damien Hospital in Tabarre are all outside on the grass under makeshift canopies and we are hoping to get tents soon. Two emergency centers have been set up in the driveway of the hospital - one for children and one for adults. The other hospitals are also overloaded and running out of supplies as well. We are almost out of supplies and we have many offers of donations that can be sent if people confirm it with me first. As far as we know the large donations of meds, etc., have to be sent the same as usual and pass through port authority or the airport and customs. Please do not send containers or large donations UNLESS you have arranged with prior - we don’t have the staff or time to track down things that have not been pre-arranged. If your office has arranged with me already to send containers or donations please make sure to address them as follows, and please include a donation letter and a facturation detail or we will not be able to start the process to get them out. We also would need the original bill of landing and paperwork fed-exd - but we can try with scanned copies to us to start the process:

Nos Petits Freres et Soeurs

c/o Fr. Rick Frechette or Maurice Solomon

117 Ave. Panamericaine

Petionville HAITI

West Indies

The children and staff in the orphanage are all fine. They were together outside on the basketball court during the earthquake, slept outside last night and probably will continue to do so until we know its safe for them indoors. The children who live in our rented houses in the St. John Bosco program (formally the extern program) are okay. We are not yet sure of all the ex-pequeños (hermanos mayores) and all of the children living with family. We have lost several people so far including John our know-how-to-do-anything-electronics man from St. Damien, an ex- pequeños Solita Badio and her baby,  two younger brothers and one sister of Joseph Ferdinand our Intranet Projects Manager, many extended family members and I fear the list will continue to grow as the days go on.  Fr. Rick already did 15 funerals this afternoon and I've been told there are just bodies lying in the streets in Port au Prince. Our Father Wasson Center has indeed collapsed and it’s a very sobering experience to stand next to it. Our volunteer Erin Kloos has been evacuated to the US after being pulled from the Fr. Wasson Center rubble after a 12 hour search and rescue. A visitor Rachel has been evacuated to the US with a broken arm and we are still searching for Molly Hightower. Please pray for Molly and please pray for the countless men who have been searching non-stop for almost 56 hours now. 

Hello all,
Thank you so much for your prayers, support, donations, and encouragement.  Since we have not been able to communicate much with the people in Haiti, there are still a lot of unknowns and we don't have much of an update.  Dave was very happy though to talk to his brother Tim today and they are okay and planning to cross the border tomorrow from Haiti to the DR as our sister-in-law is almost 8 months pregnant and things are really crazy there.  Last we heard they were sleeping in their car after the quake and weren't able to get through anywhere.  Our father-in-law sent a helicopter to get them but they decided to take their truck so they could load it with supplies and return as soon as possible.  They are quite dedicated.  As far as NPH goes - NPH is the organization that I am currently volunteering for - there is no new news.  As far as we know, all the volunteers, visitors and staff are still missing other than the 2 bodies that were found, one dead and one almost dead of American volunteer and visitor.  We have not heard yet if anyone else was found.  We still have not heard anything from our close friends and former roommates Fritznel and Antoine.  Our Haitian friends here - Danny, Rosalin, and Jeanvie - are leaving tomorrow in the helicopter along with 13 doctors from Italy who are flying in tonight and then taking the helicopter/trucks over.  We are very grateful for the money people have donated and continue to donate - Dave took out $300 today and bought medical supplies, food, and water, and we will continue to take out $300 as we are able as that is the limit to what you can withdraw in a day.  All the volunteers and the doctors here are in the office now organizing all the supplies that have been donated to leave at 4a.m. tomorrow morning.  NPH will continue to send trucks over with supplies and volunteers as frequently as possible.  Dave and I are not able to go and help in Haiti at this time as we are not medically trained, but are on a list to go as soon as they need us (which will probably be quite a while yet as it is very tight getting in and out of the country).  It seems as though I've been hearing new things all day but this is all I can think of for now.  In my classroom today we prayed for the people of Haiti and talked about ways we could help.  It feels silly to think about lessons and teaching with all this going on, but life does go on.... we also practiced emergency procedures as they don't do these kinds of drills here.  Other than that, just keep praying, especially that our NPH friends get across tomorrow to Haiti and are able to save the people they can, and that our family gets out of Haiti and across this way safely and are able to get the supplies they need to return.  We are attaching pictures of the supplies purchased today while Dave and other volunteers were in town so you can see where your money is going, though I'm having trouble attaching... and also please visit cnn.com for great updates on what is going on.  Check out this link here to see pictures, including picture 21 that is of the NPH center:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/01/14/haiti.relief.efforts/index.html?hpt=T1

Please keep praying, and pray tomorrow morning for our friends and family crossing the border, that everything goes safely and our friends and fellow volunteers are found alive.  Will keep you all posted and thanks again for all your prayers and support.  Also please keep in mind that we are NOT able to access facebook from here at the orphanage and probably won't be able to use facebook for a while so if anyone is trying to communicate with us via facebook we are not receiving those messages, and please email us instead.  Thanks! 

Love,
Kristin

Hello and thank you for your prayers, concerns, and support.
(For those who I haven't spoken to in a long time and don't usually receive these emails, I now live in the Dominican Republic and an earthquake hit our island so I'm writing anyone I can to help the people here - please see below to help)
Today we spent the day tuned into emails and reports from NPH Haiti, and it appears they were affected much worse than I had thought.  The 8 story NPH hospital (which was also a school and therapy center for the special needs kids) that had collapsed, housed not only patients, but also the volunteers, visitors, and staff of the NPH orphanage.  So far, they found the body of one American who was visiting his brother who is volunteering and he was dead, and the volunteer coordinator from Haiti is in very critical condition and unable to speak, but all the other volunteers, visitors, and staff are still yet to be found - including volunteers we know who had come here to visit and hang out with us, and many close friends of volunteers here, so needless to say everyone is extremely emotional here.  There are 3 Haitian staff here who have not been able to reach any of their friends and family yet, but also many of the kids here have family in that area of Haiti and pretty much everyone has friends there and no one is able to locate them.  Rosalin, our sponsorship coordinator, talked to a friend in Haiti and was informed all the friends she knew there are dead or missing.  Our former Haitian roommates and close friends, Fritznel and Antoine (from our dance videos), also lived 10 minutes from where the hospital came down and are missing.  It is predicted at least tens of thousands of people have died, and up to 3 million people have been affected.  The borders are closed and only aid planes and helicopters are being allowed in and it is very dangerous to go there as we have been told.  Our American friends who live in the capital and often visit us, pooled all the money they could to get a helicopter out tomorrow to send over our Haitian staff as well as the director of the Haiti orphanage and hospital, who had been out of the country visiting his dying mother.  But, needless to say, things there are very very bad.  Dave was trying to go to help, which he was a little nervous about knowing the streets are stacked with dead bodies everywhere and he would be helping to collect more, but space is very limited so the helicopters are only allowed to those who are missing family or are medical staff.  Some connections from NPH have asked the first lady of the DR to open the border tonight so we can start to get people over there to find bodies of the NPH volunteers that are missing and to care for those that are found in critical condition, but not sure yet if they can get across.  NPH Italy is sending helicopters with 13 doctors and Kieran is pooling money from all other budgets to go straight to Haiti, but the need is so great.  We will definitely be taking out money from the donations that were made when we were home, but please consider giving what you can to help with the extreme need to find those missing and keep those we can alive.  Every little bit counts.  Please pass this on to all the people you can to pray and give what they can.  Andrea and Dawnette please forward this to all of Owosso staff and everyone else please inform your friends, family, workplaces, and churches to start praying!  Please try to imagine this as your own close friends, roommates, loved ones.  Almost all of the volunteers here have stayed in the housing there, and that easily could have been Dave and I staying in the building that had collapsed.  Please also pray for our family Tim and Paola as I can't even imagine what they are going through there.  Please see this website for more information and pictures of the NPH building that collapsed:
http://www.friendsoftheorphans.org/s/769/inner.aspx?sid=769&gid=1&pgid=252&cid=1903&ecid=1903&crid=0&calpgid=61&calcid=719

You can donate online (on the website above), or if you would like it to go straight from our hands to the Haitian volunteers here you can contact my mom 248-705-2198 or my dad 248-408-6342 to have the money deposited directly into our checking account.  If you choose to go this route, I promise that 100% of the money will go directly to the people who can provide support and relief to those in Haiti.  We are going to have fundraisers in town to raise money, which won't be too much from the Dominicans here, but every penny counts.  If you can't give, please pray and pray and pray and pray and tell everyone else you know to do the same.  Forward this email to everyone you know please.  I will keep you posted with what we find out.

For more pictures, please see this website http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-381632 - the last 4 pictures are of the Padre Wasson Center (hospital) - notice our logo on the gate in front of the collapsed hospital. :(

Love and prayers,
Kristin

Hello all,

Just writing to let people know an update from this end as a lot of people have been writing with their concerns about us and Dave's brother and his wife in Haiti.  From this end in the DR, we didn't feel anything and have not been affected at all, but they did cancel school today because there is a red alert just in case, but we are okay.  I checked and there is not a tsunami warning for this region as some had thought.  In Haiti though, things are quite a mess.  We heard from friends that heard from Tim and Paola that they are okay.  They were staying at a friend's house during the earthquake and were not hurt, but have not been able to get to their own house yet, but most of Port-au-Prince where they live appears to be destroyed.  As far as the NPH orphanage in Haiti, it is far from Port-au-Prince and all the kids are reported to be okay.  Of the two NPH hospitals there, the new hospital was structurally sound with minimal damage and will probably be full of patients... but we are getting reports right now that the older NPH hospital, which is usually full with patients and is also where workers, volunteers and visitors stay, has completely collapsed and they think everyone in it has died so people here are really worried about the NPH staff in Haiti, and it looks like we are sending over a team of people from here to Haiti soon.  We also have 3 Haitian volunteers here at the moment who are former orphans from NPH Haiti that are very worried about friends and family there.  We are having a prayer service in the chapel in an hour and will get more details then.  In the meantime, here is an article with more info. and photos:

http://www.sphere.com/world/article/haiti-earthquake-update/19314964?icid=main|hp-laptop|dl1|link1|http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sphere.com%2Fworld%2Farticle%2Fhaiti-earthquake-update%2F19314964

 

Please keep praying and praying for the people in Haiti!

 

Love,

 

Kristin

Dear family and friends,

Just writing to each of you to say thank you SO much for coming to our fundraising party to support us in our projects at the orphanage, and also to those who were not able to make it but sent donations or donated online.  I cannot say enough how extremely touched we were by your genorousity and kindness, it was truly incredible and the donations will go a long way to help the kids in the orphanage.  I can't wait to get new materials to help the kids in the classroom and use the money for field trips, birthdays, rewards, and other fun ways to bless the kids.  You can't imagine how easily their eyes light up at simple new activities or how excited they get. 

It was so great to see and spend time with everyone, and we really appreciate all of your encouragement, support, and prayers.  Please keep in touch with us in upcoming months, and remember you are always welcome to come and visit us in the DR too!  To learn more about the orphanage, read NPH news, sponsor a child, volunteer, or get involved in other projects, visit www.nph.org  God bless each of you throughout the 2010 year and keep in touch!

Lots of love and prayers,
Kristin and Dave DeYoung

Dave's surprise bday party with the roomies

Maria and Paola at the Christmas card making station

Feliz Navidad!!
I don´t think I´ll have another chance to say that before Friday so Merry Christmas!!!  Things have been busy here with holiday parties, shows, etc. but first I´ll start with the schedule for our time at home so everyone knows and we can plan get togethers accordingly.
Dec. 26 - arrive Detroit at night
12/27 - 12/28 - Grand Rapids & Kalamazoo with Daves fam
12/29-12/30 - Lansing
12/31 - 01/02 - Detroit area
01/02 - Big Fundraising Party at my dad´s house at 6:00 p.m. - 3184 Angeles Drive, Waterford - everyone is invited to come!!
01/03 - Kalamazoo for Sandys bday party
01/04 - Owosso all day to see kiddos
01/05 - Lansing with Melissa and fly out

Sooooooooooooo let me know when we can hang out!!! We will not have phones while we are home so that is why we need to make plans now. :)

Im skipping my weekly copy ritual since there are no classes right now so nothing to copy so I have to go meet Dave in a few, so this will be a quick update.  THis past week just very busy with lots of Christmas projects and homemade presents.  Our classroom Christmas party was Wednesday where we made cottonball Santas, Christmas cards, decorated cookies, Christmas paint by numbers, read the Grinch stole Christmas in Spanish, played Christmas Bingo with red and green popcorn, played pass the lollypop with music, and had a huge feast that Maria graciously cooked for us (with money I don´t think she actually had.... but I think she is the most giving person I have ever met).  Thursday they cancelled classes and we spent all day decorating the school for Dia del Nino, day of the child, for the big orphanage-wide party on Friday where we had a clown who called me up on stage in front of 300 people for some contest in Spanish - and surprisingly I won.  This weekend just Christmas shopping and now trying to keep the kids busy with activities while there are no classes.  Also, I am the coordinator for the Christmas program for Christmas eve so running around between 12 houses and 200 kids making sure they have their programs and costumes ready and trying to motivate them to do so.  Now finishing Christmas shopping for the night.  Saw some of my little friends in the park and bought them hotdogs for dinner and they told me they were doing nothing for Christmas.  It´s so sad but the kids in this country are convinced that Santa Claus is someone who died a long long time ago and that´s why they never got presents.  If you try to tell them otherwise, they´ll argue "It´s true, it´s true, someone shot him!"  Wish I still had that Santa Claus costume I borrowed every year in Owosso....


Okay well that´s it for now cause I have to go, I already wrote a really long email and then my time ran out and the internet shut down, that´s what happens when you pay by the minute I guess.  So I can´t wait to see everyone soon - please write and let me know when I can see you if you haven´t already!!! Merry Christmas!!!!

Merry Christmas from Erika

Micheal Jackson show in Boca Chica

Dave's bday in Boca Chica

Dave's bday surprise

Hello all,

Well in less than 2 weeks from now I will be in freezing cold Michigan!!  Not excited about the freezing cold part, but am excited about seeing everyone I miss.  Am getting a little anxious about the details.... all my winter clothes, coats, and our car is in storage in Kalamazoo 3 hours from the airport and not sure yet how we´re going to get to any of it yet.  I think we will be freezing our butts off when we get off the plane... I think we might take a bus to Grand Rapids and then get a ride from there but Dave doesn´t have as much as a sweater, let alone a jacket or coat, so I think we might freeze to death before we get there.  Besides the fact that we are now used to the weather here... I think I freeze now if the temp drops below 75.

Well, not too much to write as most of my interactions in the past week have been with my bed.  It all started last Wednesday when I shot up during the night at 3a.m., in a cold sweat with a fever and the most severe body pains I have ever felt- ever.... even worse than when I had dengue fever.  It started in my shoulder and shot down my back and into my neck and arm, paralyzing my arm so I literally couldn´t move it all.  The pains continued so bad til the point I couldn´t move, Dave literally had to lift me back into the bed because I couldn´t even push my way back in.  I had Dave check my back, and he found a large red splotch on my upper shoulder.  Spider bite.  I was sure of it.  I stayed awake in severe pain til 6a.m.... I took ibuprofen and was feeling a bit better and convinced I would make it into work, yet still couldn´t lift my arm or move my shoulder in order to dress myself, and it hurt too much to let Dave help me.  Since we have no substitute system here, this meant I had to leave poor Maria by herself again.  Good thing she is the kindest and most understanding person I´ve ever met.  So I slept til around 11a.m. and went to the clinic, and the nurse said, probably slept on it funny, but come back and check with the doctor at 3:00.  I went to the clinic at 3:00 but the doctor was running late, so I went back at 3:30, 4:00, 4:30, and then around 5:00 I decided she probably wasn´t coming and went back to bed for the rest of the night.  Friday I went into work and still felt terrible and the doctor came but just handed me over an anti-allergy pill for the bite without checking anything - but by this time the mark had disappeared and there was nothing there.  Dave convinced me to go into the private clinic in San Pedro Friday night where they did x-rays and all kinds of tests.  Friday night I researched online all the possibilities the doctor had mentioned... dengue, panic attacks, spider bites, malaria, pinched nerves..... and found that the black widow spider bite is one of the only spiders that don´t necessarily leave a mark, Dave has seen them around the orphanage, and it causes the same symptoms as all the ones I had during the night.  I went back to the clinic Saturday morning ready to tell the doctor what it was.  But instead he told me the test results show I have severe kidney infection, and that is the reason for the severe pain, aches, fever, and exhaustion.  Never would´ve guessed this, and not sure what to think, but now I´m on anti-biotics, and pain pills but they give me really bad nausea so I quit those yesterday.  So yeah, not too interesting of an update, since most of the weekend I spent with my bed, and finishing my book Life of Pi (which I highly recommend if you can get past the first section), and watching old re-runs of Dawsons Creek on the laptop, because it is the only thing we have to watch... it´s terrible and cheesy but does bring me back to my teen years with Lauren which is enough to make it worth watching. :)  Today went back to teach, feeling better but still in pain and exhausted and feverish, but trying to plan for our classroom Christmas party on Wednesday, which will be much simpler than I had hoped, but I still want it to be great for the kids.  Trying to find cheap easy recipes for sugar cookies now - any ideas?

Other than that... other news.... Tuesday was our Intro to Christmas school presentation.... Dominican kids dressed up as Joseph and Mary and angels, and classes singing Christmas raps and presenting acrostic poems about Navidad.  They also had a "lighting of the park" where we have Christmas lights and manger scene lit up in our park.  Looks a little disheveled but the kids are excited. 

We got two new kids last week, not sure if I mentioned the special needs boy they found in a batey.  He was kept out in the yard on a dog leash (collar around neck) tied to a pole, and not allowed in the house.  Hard to imagine anyone doing this to a child.... the life a child with special needs here is quite different.  Before I met him, I imagined him to be wild and aggressive and out of control after the life he had and for a family to have him live his life on a leash, but when I met him he was very sweet and quiet and mild.  I thought maybe he would be in my class, but he is very severely multiply impaired, with no speech and he is barely able to move on his own.  Thankfully, he is getting lots of special positive attention now in the special needs home and from our wonderful therapists.  He also had a brother come with him who is not special needs, but will need a lot of support in the school as he is Haitian (they both are) and doesn´t speak Spanish.  Keep these little guys in your prayers as they are adjusting.

Not sure if I´ve mentioned all Dave´s new bike tools he ordered, but he is running an "orphanage bike shop" to speak of now... I think the kids drive him a little crazy sometimes with all the requests and how they beat up all the donated bikes... but it is great to see the kids getting their exercise riding around the orphanage grounds all the time. :)

Well, I think that is it for now - lucky for those reading this I am too tired to think of anything else. :)  As far as the schedule we are looking at.... tentatively.... flying in on the 26th and then hopefully somehow getting to Kalamazoo for our car and warm clothes.  Spending the 27th in Grand Rapids, and possibly the 28th, then heading to Lansing for a couple days.... then thinking Detroit area for New Year´s and a fundraiser party at my dad´s house on January 2nd.  Then back to Kalamazoo on the 3rd for mother-in-laws bday party... then to Owosso that night so I can be up early to spend all day at Central with my kiddos on the 4th.  Then the night of the 4th and day of the 5th in Lansing with Melissa then to the airport in Detroit that evening to fly out.  I think it will be a whirlwind, but please let me know if this works and where/when we can see everyone.  We won´t have a cell phone or any way of being reached so that´s why we need to make plans now.  Can´t wait to see everyone soon!!!  Merry Christmas!!!

Love and prayers,
Kristin