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Volume XII, Issue 2
Lois Lane
Lois Cross
It’s funny how three of your children can have such varying opinions or thoughts on what their parents do. I called my kids each; from the Commercial Airliner we were flying to Haiti to bring medical supplies and food. I explained to them that the journey would be safe, that we were not leaving the airport in Port Au Prince and that we had military presence there anyway. One was worried but ok with my choice. One was actually happy that I was going and the third simply said, “Ohh, Mommm!!!” I knew this would be a rough trip for me because I have a very hard time sitting still for long periods of time and then when I do move again, I can hardly walk. So I was undecided whether or not to go but at the last minute I said, yes. It may sound strange but I felt that if I could be close to and somewhat involved in helping out in this whole tragedy of the earthquake, that it would help my prayers for Haiti and its people and all who were helping to become stronger. I found a good book for the trip, buried my nose in it and sat still for the duration of flight time. I hope nobody thought I was distancing myself. There is no sense in repeating all the things that happened along the way. The changes in flight plans, the changes in allowable weight of cargo, the supplies that didn’t
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* Geralyn * Little Ryan * Earnest Bowens & Family * Ed & Ruth * Rudy * Lisa * John McLean * Darren * Jan Cerrito * Rev. Patrick O’Shen * Angela Forrest & Family * Angelo * Maria Dragon * Blanch Lake * Dave Nerau * Megan * Theresa * Allen Rosenthal * Gloria Parker * Carlos
We all knew it was going to be bad
The Road to Haiti... Sean Cononie
As most of you know we have been in Haiti on and off for about seven years. Our first involvement was me writing a series of stories about Haiti after we made our first visit to a place called Cite Soleil. This is the worst poverty-stricken area of the Western world. Children play in the sewer water in Cite Soleil. The stories I wrote were about there being no excuse for a child to starve. We can place a man on the moon yet we can’t figure out how to bring a granola bar to a starving kid here on earth. When we went to Cite Soleil it was a heart wrenching experience. We brought a doctor there and loads of medication for a series of medical missions. We even found a little girl maybe two maybe three years of age who was hours to days from death. We put her in the hospital and she survived. As the years went by in a joint project we opened up several orphanages for children who have HIV. Our second major mission back then in Haiti was to remove the worms from the children’s bodies. When it comes to world hunger we sometimes look at the little bellies of starving children in reality they are not so little, the stomachs are usually protruding and the kids look like they are pregnant or severely fat. You ask yourself if they are starving why are they so fat? My friends the answer is simple. Their stomachs are filled with worms/parasites. How do you get rid of these worms? You give the medication that only costs a few cents and before you know it the worms come out when they go to the
bathroom. These same worms eat 30% of the small amounts of food they do get to eat. They already are starving and these worms just take 30% of the nutritional intake away from the human. So getting rid of worms is a way to help replace some of the food that the human does not get. We went back into Cite Soleil with the help of Aaron from a sister agency and paid to have the whole city and its population de-wormed. Over the next three years we would continue to help other orphanages as well as schools. And yes getting rid of the worms, again and again because the kids get reinfected because of no clean water. How it All Started the Day of the Earthquake I was on my AOL, and I got an IM, instant message, “Sean did you see what happened in Haiti? Put on CNN, they’re all over it.” I put the TV on, and there I saw the CNN people talking about the damage, the shaking and they started to broadcast via Skype as well as normal ways. We immediately called our Disaster Team and said to ourselves, “they have never recovered from the Hurricanes, now this.” We all knew it was going to be bad. Within a few hours we developed our response, we knew the USA and others would be sending over the SAR Teams (Search and Rescue Teams) and we knew medical supplies, Medicine, and doctors would need to get there ASAP. We also tried to find out where the US Comfort ship was and it’s ETA. We also knew
“Sean did you see what happened in Haiti? Put on CNN, they’re all over it.”
Cathy’s Prayer List To add a name please call 954-410-6275, no monetary donations needed
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Conflict on How to Stay Safe at the Time of an Earthquake
Sean Cononie
There is a lot of conflict on what to really do at the time of an Earthquake. There is a lot written on the subject and a man named Doug Copp claims that the “Triangle of Life” is what to do instead of getting under a desk or a door way. He recommends getting next to a desk or a couch and lay next to it and do not get under it. Some people say to leave your home but the US government says “no” first take cover. I would strongly get to know your house, your roof, and your building and then go back and study what Fema says. If your roof is cement there is a chance that roof will fall down on you. However still our experts say to duck and get under something for protection, just the opposite of what Doug Copp states. Me personally, I am doing what Doug Copp says, but then on the other hand if I am home, I know my roof coming down on me is not such a problem. A few two by fours falling on me may not kill me so maybe getting under my dining table may be beneficial to protect my head. Like all emails, check on the internet to see if they are credible or not. This is very confusing to me. This is why I say, “Get to know your home like it is your best friend or lover, it may just save your life.” Again always check emails for things like this to make sure it is true. In this case, there are good arguments on both sides of the fence.
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