MONDAY, 10 MAY 2010 18:49
From Haiti with love
Sisterly solidarity was the main focus of the recent visit by Kay Ryan, Noreen Heraty and Bernie Heraty to the devastated and impoverished island of Haiti, where Westport native, Gena Heraty has worked as a volunteer for over 16 years
SOME people said we were crazy, others thought us brave when we told them we were heading out to visit Gena. We didn’t feel either crazy or brave to be honest. Like all of the Heraty family, and friends of Gena’s alike, our lives had been consumed by Haiti since we first heard the awful news late that Tuesday night in January. Even though we were so lucky to know early on that Gena was alive, the unfolding story of damage and destruction made every day an anxious one as we wondered what would happen next. We lived through that earthquake in our own small way in those early days, and they were hard days for all of us. We just wanted to see her, to hug her, to hold her and to cry with her – we three felt lucky that on this occasion we were able to do just that. As the world rallied to help, Gena’s reports from Haiti touched the hearts of Irish people throughout the country and, in true Irish fashion, we dug deep and did what we could to help out. The result: the most extraordinary array of fundraising efforts you could ever hope to inspire: cake sales, raffles, quizzes, spellathons, car boot sales, sponsored walks, cycles, dances, race-nights, crazy hair days – you name it, it happened and all proceeds to the Gena Heraty Haiti fund. We cannot tell how much this means to us, the Heraty family – so proud that Gena inspires this generosity, and so grateful that she now has the means to do what she always does – provide help to those who need it. Having been to visit her, and having seen first hand the fantastic work that Gena and her colleagues are doing in Haiti, we thought you might like to share in some of our impressions so here they are.
Haiti at first glance
AS the plane circled over the island of Haiti, one could be forgiven for thinking we were about to commence a Caribbean holiday of a lifetime. Just 90 minutes out of Miami, Haiti should be a weekend hot-spot destination – a Mecca for sun-lovers and orienteers alike. The view from the plane highlighted tropical seas, rugged mountains, white sandy beaches.
Haiti is anything but a dream destination at present. Post the earthquake and the resulting structural damage to the airport complex, visitors to Port-au-Prince’s main airport essentially exit onto the main road to the capital. No kidding. And when you are each hauling two oversized bags filled with humanitarian supplies plus carry-on bags it has to be said that the experience of getting past the thronging masses of ‘helpers’ to where Gena was waiting was a pretty hectic one.
The roomful of babies
NOW Gena did tell us before we arrived that there was a roomful of babies downstairs in her Rehab centre in Tabarre. There were being cared for by another organisation but Gena was housing them temporarily until they found more permanent accommodation of their own. However, while we may have been forewarned we were just not prepared for what we found there. Yes, there was indeed a roomful of babies, and another two rooms of slightly older children, and they quite literally stole our hearts. The first room held about 20 children: ranging in ages from just 20 days old to over two years. All gorgeous, all perfectly health. All abandoned.
You would have to have a heart of stone not to be moved by the sight and sound of these little innocents – it was our first evening and we were all three bawling our eyes out: so you can imagine the poor Haitian attendants were wondering why in the world Gena had been so excited by the prospect of us coming to visit her.
The next rooms held little ones who had various special needs – some mild, and some more severe. Milly, the cutie who is probably about three years old and suffers from microcephaly. She gets the giggles from being spun around as fast as possible in her buggy; Wadley, the two- year-old with the melting eyes and the slightly lopsided smile; Jean, the little guy with cerebral palsy who was intent on following us around wherever we went. These are just three of them but they represent the group well.
Port-au-Prince
WE thought we were reasonably well prepared for our journey through Port-au-Prince. We had seen the media coverage, scoured the internet in the immediate aftermath, watched the video clips and, more telling than all, heard first-hand from Gena what was happening on the ground. Alas, the reality of Port-au-Prince is far more shocking, and far worse than any of our imaginings. For the first 20 minutes or so we reacted with shock and disbelief to the succession of flattened houses, the piles of rubble, the streetscape of tented encampments and tried to capture on camera the scale of the devastation.
However, after about 20 minutes we just fell silent in the jeep – it was beyond shocking if you can imagine that. All life is played out on the streets and the rubble appears to be part of that landscape now – people walk over it, live on it, or almost under it. There is no doubt that a lot of work is being down to try to start the process of rebuilding. We are no experts, but we can say that in our tour through the city we saw only one heavy machine at work clearing rubble, and only five sites that have been completely cleared – four of these were schools and one was the hospital in Pettionville that Gena mentioned in her early emails. There are over a million people without proper shelter in the city – many without tents and sleeping under plastic or, heaven help us, sheets: the rainy season is upon them and hurricane season is just round the corner. They need urgent help and on a large scale.
ReHab in Tabarre
There is no doubt that the children and families who are lucky enough to be part of the Gena’s rehabilitation programme at Tabarre get the most excellent care and attention you can imagine from Gena, Norma and staff. The children we met in the rehab centre on this trip were there as a result of injuries sustained from the earthquake. Each child has had the most traumatic experience prior to arriving here, and has suffered truly appalling losses – many have lost one or more parents, sisters, brothers and extended family – and now are coming to terms with life without an arm, a leg, or more severe disability as a result of their injuries. But you have to see these kids – you could not credit the life and hope that they have: nothing is impossible and they just get on with it and adapt to their new circumstances – what we could learn from them! And the parents, these are truly admirable….they sit for hours and days with their child and watch as s/he improves and develops with treatment and care. Those that are living in tents arrive full of joy that their child is getting better, and complain little about the fact that it poured rain on top of that child during the night and will likely do the same again tonight. One of our first visits was to Joanne’s bed – you’ll remember Gena’s telling of the little girl in a coma with severe brain injuries – how fantastic to see Joanne awake and able to swallow food and making daily progress. David marches the length of the corridor with his walking frame and awaiting his prosthetic leg; McKinley learns to feed himself with his new arm…… all stories of hope for a better tomorrow. All people whose stories mean that our help will be needed for a long time to come.
On behalf of Gena and all the Heraty family
Go raibh míle maith agaibh go léir,
Bernie, Kay and Noreen
May 2010
