Haiti

If you've been following me on Facebook, you probably know most of this already...

My cousin has been trying to adopt two children from Haiti for years now. The process was nearly done, they were only waiting on some final paperwork, when the earthquake hit. It was several days before we knew that their Haitian son had survived and was safe, and it was longer before we heard about their Haitian daughter. But both children are alive and currently, as of this writing, still in Haiti. The orphanage that I mentioned on the 13th is intact, pretty much everyone made it through.

My cousin-in-law went down to Haiti with a group of folks working to help out the orphanage a few days ago. He's managed to get their son, and he's in their custody, more or less, at the moment. The daughter is unreachable, but at least we know she's alive.

As of this writing, my cousin-in-law is waiting on a tarmac to be allowed to load his son and a number of other children onto a plane, one that they chartered and paid the fuel costs for during a frantic fundraiser. The pilot has told the folks at the airport that the plane isn't moving until the children are on board. The paperwork is done. It just needs to be signed off.

These kids have been through a lot. They are mostly toddlers, they've lived through a terrible earthquake, and extreme poverty and starvation before that. People here in the States have been doing everything possible to keep the kids at the orphanage alive and healthy (my cousin even got an experimental water purifier for the orphanage so they could have clean water). And now some of them, not all, can get away from the aftershocks and broken buildings.

Before the earthquake Haiti was a disaster. Now it's even worse. If you can, spare a thought for the folks still in Haiti. They are going to need everything they have to remake their country. As for my family, we are now forever tied to Haiti through my cousin, and will do what we can to help.

If you have a buck or two to spare, Hope For Little Angels of Haiti is the foundation for the orphanage. It was originally founded to make sure the kids had food, the new goal is to rebuild the orphanage (with rebar and proper support). Even a few dollars will help.