Dear Everybody:
I’m back in the States now, and it’s good to see my
family and friends again. I still haven’t decided what I
will be doing come January. I may return to Haiti, or I may
do something else.
If I return to Haiti, I will most likely work with my
friends Tal and Adele Woolsey of Clean Water for Haiti.
Unfortunately, they and their community suffered a terrible
tragedy last week. One of their workers was driving their
truck full of children to school and flipped it over,
children and all. Three children died, and everyone is
devastated. I have included two of their e-mails at the
bottom of this one.
I am writing in the hopes that somebody on this mailing
list, perhaps someone who has sent me support money in the
past, would like to help Tal and Adele’s ministry through
this troubling time. Perhaps someone has a school bus to
donate? (see below) Until they are able to buy another work
truck their work will virtually cease. Fortunately, Tal is
taking care of my motorcycle so at least they have that.
Tal and Adele are a Canadian couple who sold all their
possessions and moved to Haiti to provide clean water with a
very effective water filter promotion program which I was
pleased to help with for a while during my time in Haiti.
They intend to stay in Haiti until either they die or all of
Haiti has clean water, whichever comes first. I was very
impressed by their ministry and they way they have become
popular figures in the community. Whenever I traveled around
with Tal, folks would call out “Red beard, how are you?”
in Creole (partly due to his distinctive facial hair).
If anybody is interested in Helping these folks out,
their information is provided at the bottom of their second
e-mail. I can also send along some of their old messages I
have that talk in greater detail about their ministry. And
their website is great: www.cleanwaterforhaiti.org.
Further description of the incident by Adele Woolsey
The nightmare continues to unfold. There are now three
dead children and a fourth in the hospital with grave
internal injuries. There are 6-7 others with serious but not
life threatening injuries. We have met twice with a
community committee represented by the fathers of the
deceased children and other community leaders. We decided
that we could best help by setting aside money for the
families and that it will be administered by this group. We
have donated the money to the church who will act as
intermediary. Our very good neighbour and friend Pastor
Herve has been wonderful, acting as interpreter, friend,
chauffeur for us. His help has been invaluable.
We also began discussions around a long term solution to
this problem. Every year an accident like this one occurs
because the children are forced to pile onto these pickup
trucks called tap-taps. We want to get a school bus for this
area. The whole group was very excited to talk about this
pro active step. Every day they worry about their kids
getting to and from school safely. The group suggested
putting together a committee to start moving forward with
this joint project. We will act as Facilitators, bringing
their letters to prospective Canadian and American sponsors.
Once a bus is located (purchased or donated) and delivered,
the community would administer the operational costs.
Everybody was excited about this idea as it is a solid
solution to a long term problem. We want to put a plaque on
the bus saying it is dedicated to the children who lost
their lives. This idea made the two fathers of the deceased
children smile for the only time during this meeting.
Our truck is demolished, a write off. The chassis is
twisted and bent and the running gear is all out of wack. We
are not sure what we are going to do. We can't fix this one
and do not have the resources to buy a new one. We did have
insurance but in Haiti you pay for Insurance but they don't
pay out when there is an accident. You can hire a lawyer and
waste your money and time if you want to but it is pretty
hopeless. If you don't have insurance though you are in big
trouble.
It is virtually impossible for us to work here without a
truck as everything we do requires transporting materials,
be it filters and media or casing and supplies for the well
drilling. Right now all our projects are on hold pending our
financial situation. Our immediate needs are for: 1. A new
truck 2. Resources to replace the money we used to create
the pool of relief funds. Please be in prayer for God to
provide for this. One of the blessings that continue to
develop out of this tragedy is the sense that we now belong
to this community. Many people have told us we are part of
"the family" now. Many people have come to pray
with us and just to sit and talk. Every time a group comes
over they pray and sing. I just cry as I feel humbled that
these people and God would care that much for us. Please
continue to pray for the children who are gravely injured,
the families who have suffered a loss, and the entire
community for healing.
In His Loving Care
Tal and Adele
Its been a week since the accident. We want to extend a
big thank you for all the prayers and notes of support. It
has sustained us through this trying time. The fourth child
is still in critical condition in hospital in Port Au
Prince. She has had one operation and is scheduled for a
second. There is quite a bit of civil unrest right now in
Haiti and that has made it more difficult for her to get the
care she needs. Some days the doctors haven't been
available. Please keep her in your prayers. We received the
judges report yesterday and there were a total of twenty two
children hurt with varying degrees of injuries.
Some are struggling with infections in their wounds and a
few are coming to our compound for dressing changes as they
can't afford to go to the clinic every day. A few of the
local missions kindly donated some first aid supplies so we
are able to provide that service. Its important to keep the
wounds as clean as possible to prevent serious
complications. It allows me to feel like we can 'do'
something since we have felt very helpless through all of
this.
The driver Ti Marc has been in contact with us and we
were able to go visit him. He is devastated. He was born and
raised here and he knows all the kids and is related to many
of them. They literally surround us here on all sides. We
knew of the death of the third child because we could hear
the cries of the family when they found out. The driver is
staying at his mothers house for the time being until he
feels able to come back to work. He is suffering from a
dislocated shoulder, swelling and bruising of his arm and
other relatively minor injuries. His injuries are more
mental then physical I think. The boy who was in the cab
with him has hardly left our side. He has assumed Ti Marc's
responsibilities and has been indispensable to us.
The community will be setting up a committee soon. This
is a large area needing several buses so we thought we would
start by working on obtaining a large school bus to
accommodate the children that attend Lekol Lysee (Lise
School) where the children were heading the day of the
accident. There are 300-350 kids attending that school. The
ages of the kids range from 12 - 26 years (it can take a
long time to finish high school in Haiti) and it covers 8
grades up to grade 12. The committee will approach the
school, and the parents through the school for support. The
committee will charge a small fee for children to ride the
bus so that the project is sustainable and they have the
money to pay operating costs. I think it is very important
that this is the community's project and that we simply aid
them in making contacts in North America to help find the
funds to purchase a bus. We will wait to hear from the
committee to see how they want to proceed.
It has been suggested to us to add information on how to
donate to our mission in our update letters. I have added
that information to the bottom of the letter.
In His Loving Care
Tal and Adele