Haiti: then and now

Jan 21, 2010

The effects of the tragic earthquake that hit the country of Haiti on January 12 could be felt pretty close to home, especially by one Verona resident who has a strong connection to the people of that country.

Linda Bates, an educational assistant at Sydenham High school, also works as the international project coordinator for the International Scout Guide Fellowship (ISGF).

Last February she spent 10 days in Haiti in the village of Grison Garde as the ISGF coordinator, helping to reconstruct the schools there and delivering $37,000 worth of school supplies that was raised locally here. She and her team also set up a wood working shop, a sewing room and an agricultural centre for local residents.

Bates was greatly affected by the work she did in Haiti and developed a strong emotional connection to the country and its people.

So on Tuesday when she was driving to work in Kingston and heard news of the earthquake she immediately turned around and headed back home.

“It was my job to email the ISGF world committee and let all of the council members know about the earthquake and to keep them updated.”

Since Tuesday Linda has been frantically trying to get in touch with friends and colleagues in Haiti whom she had met and worked alongside with last year. She said, “Not knowing what was going on in those first few days was very hard and emotionally draining. I had no idea how the earthquake affected Grison Garde and its residents.”

On Friday Linda finally got through and spoke to Mr. Gerard, the director of Ste. Therese school in Grison Garde. Linda recalled, “Our conversation was short and very broken up. It didn’t last more than a minute but what I gathered was that the residents were experiencing strong aftershocks - but the school was okay and no one in the community had been hurt.”

Linda has also been urgently trying to contact another colleague, ISGF secretary Mrs. Micheline Casimir, who lives and works in Port-au-Prince. “I’ve been calling her cell phone every day since Tuesday but still with no luck.“ She continued, "I feel absolutely devastated and empty. I really wish that I could be there to help. But I understand that we have to let the larger organizations in there first to do what they need to do before we can offer our own assistance.”

Linda says that she and the other ISGF committee members are currently deciding how best to respond to the situation in Haiti. She said, “The world committee of the ISGF will be meeting in Como, Italy in March and Haiti will be the #1 topic of discussion, you can be sure. … I figure that we will know by February earliest what the Haitians will need in the longer term.”

Before the earthquake struck, Linda had planned to return to Grison Garde in 2011 to finish her work at the school and to carry on her “Chairs for Children in Haiti”, a recent project she began this September, whose goal is to provide enough classroom chairs for every student in the four schools in Grison Garde. However, she says, “Everything has been stepped up.“ She now sees returning as soon as June or July of this year and anticipates heading directly to Port-au-Prince to assist there.

One thing is certain. She knows that her work in Haiti is long from over. “We saw the great need for assistance before the earthquake occurred and there will continue to be assistance needed long after.”

Linda agrees that cash donations to reputable charities is the best way to assist at this time. After a brief pause Linda makes another suggestion. “If everyone regardless of whether or not they believe in prayer can say a few words for all of those victims who have not yet been found, that would be something too.”