Tyrone's Operation Mobilization helps bring aid to devastated island

As development director for Tyrone’s Operation Mobilization, Henry Couser visited Haiti shortly after the massive earthquake that killed tens of thousands of people.

Couser was charged with conducting a needs assessment and also with providing immediate help in the form of food and water for three Haitian orphanages.

While the orphanages he assisted are a short trip from the Haitian capitol of Port-au-Prince, the orphanages themselves were spared from significant damage despite “tremendous devastation” in Carrefour and Petionville, Couser said.

Catherine Flon, a five-story school near one of the orphanages, collapsed during the quake, leaving 2,000 children buried inside, Couser said.

“To see it was just so sobering, to go and know what’s buried under all the concrete rubble. To look in some pockets and see actually scores of bodies that are dead.”

The reason the orphanages survived the earthquake was because they used tin roofs to save on construction costs, Couser said. Many other buildings in Haiti used concrete roofs, placing a large weight
load on walls.

The orphanages suffered only superficial cracks on exterior walls, he said.
One of the orphanages Couser visited swelled from having 200 orphans before the
earthquake to 350 children after the disaster. And with many homes destroyed in that community, there was close to 1,000 people living on the orphanage grounds, he said.

The disaster was inescapable no matter where you went, Couser said. While assessing one village, Couser met a man in his early 70s from Canada who was mourning his wife. They had been married 58
years.

“He was just devastated,” Couser said.
On another street, a house collapse had killed 15 members of one family, and workers sorting through debris had at that point only been able to recover four of the bodies, Couser said.

Though Haiti is known for its “unique” smells, the smell in the air following the quake is one of death, Couser said.

“It’s decaying bodies. ... You know where the bodies are because you can smell them.”

Couser had learned before his flight to Haiti that the orphanage he was going to
in Carrefour was projected to run out of food a day or two before his arrival. But at the last minute he secured a more
direct flight that sped up his travels, enabling him to be on the ground helping sooner than planned.

Divine intervention perhaps?

“It truly was,” Couser said.

His car trip from the airport in Port-au-Prince to Carrefour was similarly graced. The small pickup truck he rode in ran out
of gas ... just as it pulled in front of the orphanage.

Other relief workers had to fly into other nearby areas such as the Dominican Republic
and then drive to Haiti, Couser said.
OM, combined with partner churches like New Hope, has been working with these orphanages in the past, Couser said.

The three orphanages are part of a network of 40 such orphanages in Haiti, and Couser was able to meet with locals who helped him identify food stores and warehouses
that were not totally destroyed in the earthquake.

Those property owners were then contacted to arrange the purchase of the food, which
was then delivered to the orphanage, Couser said.

The most critical need in Haiti overall is for shelter, particularly as the country
prepares to enter its rainy season, he said.

“Everyone, and I mean everyone, is living outside in the street or in fields because they can’t go back to their houses, if their houses are even standing,” Couser said.

Instead, Haitian citizens are using makeshift shelters from tarps, blankets and sheets strung up to provide protection
from the sun.

Because the rain can be so fierce in Haiti, there is a need for “lots and lots” of tents to be shipped in, Couser said.

Couser said the biggest problem is coordinating the delivery of food and supplies from the various relief agencies
that descended upon Haiti to help in the earthquake’s aftermath.

“What’s critical now is that supplies get where they are needed the most,” Couser
said.

While many people want to help, Couser said there will be plenty of opportunities to pitch in and so-called “disaster tourists” should avoid the area.

Anyone going to do relief work there should be prepared to go at least three to five days without relying on anyone for food or shelter.

“You need to be able to work and help, not be a burden on an already taxed community,”
Couser said.

The first stage of the recovery is search and rescue, and there is an ongoing need for specialized teams of engineers who can determine if structures are safe to occupy or should be torn down, Couser said.

Another large need Couser witnessed was a simple one: for footwear, primarily flip flops.

“A lot of people were able to get out of their houses with pretty much what is on their back and nothing on their feet,” Couser said. “Trying to provide flip flops, especially for kids, is something we’re really trying to work on.”

OM is a worldwide nondenominational Christian missions group headquartered in Tyrone. For more information on Operation Mobilization’s work in Haiti, visit http://omusa.org/haiti-earthquake-relief.

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