Hi all,
Where to start.... I am at the internet cafe where none of the punctuation marks work.... except the period.  Well, I will start by saying thank you thank you thank you so much for all of your encouragement, kind words, prayers, and donations.  Please forgive me to those who have not received personal thanks and emails, as I have been very limited to email access, but know you are appreciated.

As you know, we have been praying like crazy around the clock for our close friends and former roommates, Fritznel and Antoine, and the kids have been worrying like crazy, trying to make plans to drive there themselves and brainstorming nonstop on what they could do to help, especially the older boys from their house.  Well, I can say now, that we got word that our dear friend Antoine was found and is okay, injured from jumping out the window of a building that was collapsing... like superman, as the kids describe.  The kids told me that Fritznel too is okay, which I sobbed and sobbed with joy, but now sitting by a friend Anna at the internet cafe says she heard they are still looking for him, so that may have just been something they told the kids to settle them.  Rumors fly when you live in a enclosed compound with 200 children, especially in times of this kind of panic and anxiety.

Well, with the good news of Antoine comes loads of devastating news as well.  On Saturday, while driving to go meet our brother and sister in law Tim and Paola, I got the phone call from Jeanvie, our close friend and volunteer who is a former orphan from Haiti that Antoine was okay.  They had just gotten phone service back in Haiti and he was trying to reach the orphanage to coordiante the truck coming back.  I was so overjoyed to hear about Antoine.  I asked him then, and how are you, did you find your family.  Yes, I found all my neices and nephews, he answered, and they were all dead.  My heart sunk like I cannot explain, and I couldn´t find words, but I´m so sorry over and over, until he interrupted with it´s okay, it´s nothing, and preceded to make plans for the trucks and continuing to help Haiti.  Jeanvie, since most of you don´t know him, has volunteered at the orphanage for the past year or two and is as dedicated as anyone I have ever met.  Having been an orphan himself, he understands more than anyone else ever could.  While the rest of us complain about our 65 dollar a month stipend, and spend it on coca cola and pizza and weekends at the beach, he has always sent every penny to what family he had left in Haiti.  I don´t deserve a single word of kindness in comparison to this person who NEVER indulges, never leaves the orphanage for fun, never does anything for himself, and gives every last penny to his family.... and now they are gone.  He has a brother that is still missing.  No parents, no one else.  In the moment, I forgot everything else, to ask about Danny, Roselin, their families, the people at the hospital.  Up until this point, I have been in work mode non stop, trying to teach, comfort the kids, move houses, raise money, not taking the time to really cry, and when I got out of the car at Paola´s house, I started to cry, especially when I saw her.  This crying continued to sobbing to weeping that has not yet stopped through the weekend, and I can´t remember the last time I have felt anything so heavy or cried so hard or so much.  Though it was great to see Paola safe and healthy, the stories they had were devastating.  Paola came with Anna, an American teacher I stayed with two years ago when I was in Haiti.  She was nine months pregnant, and due next week.  She left her husband behind and teared up if I mentioned him, or anything about Haiti.  I saw many more friends of Tim and Paolas and heard of their tradgedies throughout the weekend.  My brother in law, Tim, we didn´t even get to see, because as soon as he got to the DR he was back to pick up friends at the border who had a 2 week baby who was sick, and then brought a doctor into Haiti and has been staying at a clinic there.  He has sacrificed days of sleep and goes with hesitation to do anything he can to help the people in Haiti.  Paola spoke in church on Sunday and showed a slideshow of photos she personally took and I sobbed uncontrollably through the whole thing while Dave hid his head in his knees as I am never allowed to see him hurting they way I know he was.  I can´t put into words the honor I feel to have married into such incredibly compassionate family as the DeYoungs.  Two of Daves cousins are also en route to Haiti, since they are medically trained and fluent in Creole.

Not sure what other news I have not yet shared.... it has been a few days and I hear so much I can´t remember what to share.  The NPH doctors we sent to Haiti continue to work round the clock.  In the hospital that was still standing, they are housing 700 people in a location built for 200 and treating people all over the grounds outside as well.  They are doing surgeries and amputations like crazy.   There are deaths, and also births.  They mentioned a young girl whose skull was crushed and was missing most of her face.  There are many, many, many stories like this.  There are not the proper supplies to respond but people are doing everything they can.  We sent out two large trucks to Port au Prince, full of supplies and it came back today full of tired volunteers, less one, Jacob, that decided to stay in Haiti and keep helping.  Please pray for these volunteers, doctors, workers who literally have been working day and night without stop and seeing things beyond your wildest nightmares.  Death counts are still unconfirmed, and will probably remain that way.  I have heard estimations from 100,000 to 1 million but no one really knows.  In the local papers here, there are photos of mountains of bodies, stacked 10 bodies high, while  both children and adults climb through them searching for their loved ones.  People have stopped trying to count and identify them, and are bulldozing them instead.  I can´t explain the sickness I get to think about people we know and love possibly being bulldozed into those piles, I don´t even want to think about it. 

Well, not sure what else to say other than please please please continue to help and send these messages to everyone you know.  Now on the nph.org website you can donate directly to our office here in the DR and it will go to packing the trucks that we are taking back and forth every other day.  Dave is planning to forgo his maintenance work for a while to drive these trucks in and out, so please keep him in your prayers.  I told my pre teen girls that I may be sleeping over when I can´t go home to him and they were happy to have me.  Please also pray for our house director Danny.  He went out in the truck last Friday to look for his wife and kids and didn´t come back.  The rumor from the kids is that they lost him, but this is from the kids and I will keep praying that is not true.  Please keep praying.  Please keep donating.  Please keep telling everyone you know to do the same.  I made an event on facebook too so forward it to all of your friends.  I feel like I had a million other things to share in this email but I can´t think of anything else and have to get to shopping so will end here.  Thank you again and keep spreading the word.

Love and prayers,
Kristin

The following is an update on the Haiti volunteers that have been found.  Molly, below, was a good friend of my roommate Ingrid, and came to visit us here in the DR for a few days back in October.  I didn't get to know her well, but we did spend time visiting and chatting lots about working with the special needs kids and sharing ideas.  She was very sweet and dedicated to her work for NPH.  Please pray for her family, and for all those lost in the disaster.

Love,
Kristin

May today there be peace within. May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be. May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith. May you use those gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you....May you be content knowing you are a child of God.... Let this presence settle into our bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love. It is there for each and every one of you.

---

Date: Fri, 15 Jan 2010 15:57:10 -0400
Subject: HAITI Volunteer Update!

Dear NPH Family,

It is with deep anguish that NPH is confirming the deaths in Haiti of international volunteer Molly Hightower, 22, of Port Orchard, Washington, and Ryan Kloos, 24, of Phoenix, Arizona, who is the brother of NPFS volunteer Erin Kloos, 26, also of Phoenix. 

Ryan Kloos, a 2008 graduate of the University of California-San Diego, was recovered from the Fr. Wasson Center in Petionville on the afternoon of January 13. Erin Kloos was rescued from the Fr. Wasson Center on January 13 and is currently in stable condition in a south Florida hospital’s intensive care unit. Her prognosis is good.  

After an extensive search, Molly’s body was recovered from the same location at approximately 4:30am ET Friday, January 15.

A friend of Molly’s visiting Haiti, 22-year old Rachel Prusynski, a University of Portland graduate and resident of Boise, Idaho, was also rescued from the Fr. Wasson Center on January 13. After medical treatment for a broken arm and severe cuts,  she has been reunited with her family in the U.S. 

Both Erin, a University of Washington graduate, and Molly, who graduated from the University of Portland, worked as international volunteers for Nos Petit Freres et Soeurs in Haiti. Molly assisted in the physical therapy program, and had begun her service in June 2009. 

Erin’s initial volunteer service spanned September 2007 to October 2008. She had recently returned to NPFS and served in many capacities. While at NPFS, she helped in the lab at the hospital, assisted with visitors and volunteers, translated for visiting doctors and was the Home Correspondent.

Both volunteers spent their evenings and weekends caring for and playing with the children in the hospital and those with special needs.

The Fr. Wasson Center in Petionville served as a guest house, volunteer residence, administrative offices and a day school for children with disabilities, and completely collapsed during the 7.0 magnitude Haitian earthquake. 

Our NPH Family extends our prayers and deepest condolences to the Hightower and Kloos families during this extremely difficult time. 

There will be a prayer service TONIGHT for victims and their families of the Haitian earthquake, including 22-year-old Molly Hightower of Port Washington who died during the disaster, and University of Washington graduate Erin Kloos, 26, who was rescued and is in stable condition in the ICU of a south Florida hospital.

When: Friday, January 15, 7:00pm Pacific Time

Where: St. Louise Church

141 156th Avenue, NW 

Bellevue, Wash.

Directions can be found at www.stlouise.org

Additional Information:

Please RSVP to Katie Hultquist at 425-646-3935 or khultquist@friendsus.org and join friends and supporters in offering prayers to those affected by the Haitian earthquake tragedy. 

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