Blog - BRESMA children to GLA

February 20, 2010

Posted by Tom Vanderwell. No Comments

I was going to take the day off today. But ended up working 8 AM to 5 PM!

I wanted to write a mini newsletter to my update group. There are now 2300 people signed up for my email updates and I am so busy that it is hard for me to blog and write updates and do a newsletter! Yikes! But I really wanted to send out the email update because not everyone reads blogs1 I know…hard to believe, huh?

Margarette St. Fleur, director of BRESMA orphanage, brought 4 more children to us. While she was here, UNICEF called her. They were coming to see her and did not understand that she has sent her children to me. So I got on the phone and talked to them and told them that Margarette had brought the children to GLA because her orphanage needed repairs. They told me that they were coming to see Margarette because they had received word that it was said that UNICEF had not helped her in any way. It is true that they did not help her nor did IBESR. Even the French Embassy knew BRESMA needed help and should have seen that she got food, supplies, and shelter since the majority of the children are being adopted by French families! My only regret is that I did not find out that her babies were all sleeping outside sooner. A couple of the younger babies were malnourished and sick, but most of the children are in okay condition. All children in Haiti should be protected, even those waiting for adoption!

This morning a Haitian doctor that I have known for a couple of years, Thony PREVAL, stopped by to talk to me. He was headed for the Dominican to buy medication and supplies. He has been bringing supplies back into Haiti because you cannot buy some things here. He has especially been bringing medicines because it is difficult to find some of the antibiotics that we need. He told me that his office downtown was destroyed and showed me photos. You could see people that had been killed lying under the rubble. It was very sad. He also said that a Swiss organization had sent him 4000 tents to hand out. This is great news and he has offered some to GLA. I told him that I would take 50 of them to give out at Kenscoff next week. He will bring us some antibiotics for the children and the tents at the end of next week. It is so nice to sit and talk to Haitians who are working hard to help those around them and find out what THEY think is needed done here!

The Cross of Glory work team that is at GLA right now put together 75 more bags of supplies for families in Kenscoff. They will deliver them next week. We have received quite a few boxes of clothing and they have been sorting this into women, men, and children boxes. This will also go to Kenscoff families and some will go to a school down in Port au Prince. The team has worked so hard since their arrival. I bet they will be happy to take a day of rest tomorrow!

Laurie went to the Dominican with her best friends to take one of them to the airport. This is the first time that she has been out of Haiti since the earthquake. It will do her good to spend a couple of days away from Haiti and the orphanage. I know for those of us that went to Miami in January. It was nice to be out of Haiti for a couple of days even if I did work most of the time I was in Miami! LOL

And life in Haiti goes on…

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