Return from Haiti

This is the email received from Bill Squire early this evening.  For those of you who don’t know it, Bill is on the board of the Children’s Medical Mission of Haiti, which is the primary supporter of St Vincent’s School.  He lived at St Vincent’s and was the priest in charge for 3 years.  He speaks fluent creole and was a valuable envoy to our kids still surviving in Port au Prince.  He took much needed cash and delivered it directly to Pere Sadoni and Bishop Duracin.

Susan Nelson

     Susan, I have returned from Haiti. This will be a quick note – and then to bed. St. Vincent’s is destroyed, no matter what you hear. Yes, a portion of it looks okay, but all the walls that are still standing are cracked. I cannot imagine it ever being used again. I don’t mean to be pessimistic, but I do think that is reality. The boy’s foyer is destroyed as well. No one knows the exact number of children who died. Sadoni thinks 6-10 at the main facility and maybe 4 at the foyer. The numbers “move” all the time! To my knowledge, no adults lost their lives there. The food sent earlier was a Godsend. It was stored in the depot on the College St. Pierre campus where everyone ended up. It has been used and appreciated (Pere Sadoni wanted me to tell you that). I was pleased to see so many people from St. Vincent’s in the “tent city” at College St. Pierre (I too had a tent there for two nights). JoJo is fine, but his “arms and legs” did not survive. He is in his wheelchair and can not do much for himself. Jean Robert is fine, his family is fine, their home is gone. Madam Compas is fine. My trip was an adventure, to be sure. More on that later. I pray the airport opens soon; I will go back. I will write a more detailed trip report tomorrow.

Bill