Don't believe Haiti is marked by violence...

This is written by Sasha Kramer - she
is the co-founder of SOIL (www.oursoil.org) - a group based out of Cap
Haitian whose normal mission is protecting soil resources, empowering
communities and transforming wastes into resources in Haiti.
She and several staff members have
taken supplies down to Port au Prince and are trying to put their
working vehicle to good use in the devastated city.

Subject: Kouraj cherie: Update from Port au Prince

January 19, 2010

This afternoon, feeling helpless, we decided to take a van down to
Champs Mars (the area around the palace) to look for people needing
medical care to bring to Matthew 25, the guesthouse where we are
staying which has been transformed into a field hospital. Since we
arrived in Port au Prince everyone has told us that you cannot go into
the area around the palace because of violence and insecurity. I was
in awe as we walked into downtown, among the flattened buildings , in
the shadow of the fallen palace, amongst the swarms of displaced
people there was calm and solidarity. We wound our way through the
camp asking for injured people who needed to get to the hospital.
Despite everyone telling us that as soon as we did this we would be
mobbed by people, I was amazed as we approached each tent people
gently pointed us towards their neighbors, guiding us to those who
were suffering the most. We picked up 5 badly injured people and
drove towards an area where Ellie and Berto had passed a woman
earlier. When they saw her she was lying on the side of the road with
a broken leg screaming for help, as they were on foot they could not
help her at the time so we went back to try to find her. Incredibly
we found her relatively quickly at the top of a hill of shattered
houses. The sun was setting and the community helped to carry her
down the hill on a refrigerator door, tough looking guys smiled in our
direction calling out “bonswa Cherie” and “kouraj”.

When we got back to Matthew 25 it was dark and we carried the patients
back into the soccer field/tent village/hospital where the team of
doctors had been working tirelessly all day. Although they had
officially closed down for the evening, they agreed to see the
patients we had brought. Once our patients were settled in we came
back into the house to find the doctors amputating a foot on the
dining room table. The patient lay calmly, awake but far away under
the fog of ketamine. Half way through the surgery we heard a clamor
outside and ran out to see what it was. A large yellow truck was
parked in front of the gate and rapidly unloading hundreds of bags of
food over our fence, the hungry crowd had already begun to gather and
in the dark it was hard to decide how to best distribute the food.
Knowing that we could not sleep in the house with all of this food and
so many starving people in the neighborhood, our friend Amber (who is
experienced in food distribution) snapped into action and began to get
everyone in the crowd into a line that stretched down the road. We
braced ourselves for the fighting that we had heard would come but in
a miraculous display of restraint and compassion people lined up to
get the food and one by one the bags were handed out without a single
serious incident.

During the food distribution the doctors called to see if anyone could
help to bury the amputated leg in the backyard. As I have no
experience with food distribution I offered to help with the leg. I
went into the back with Ellie and Berto and we dug a hole and placed
the leg in it, covering it with soil and cement rubble. By the time
we got back into the house the food had all been distributed and the
patient Anderson was waking up. The doctors asked for a translator so
I went and sat by his stretcher explaining to him that the surgery had
gone well and he was going to live. His family had gone home so he
was alone so Ellie and I took turns sitting with him as he came out
from under the drugs. I sat and talked to Anderson for hours as he
drifted in and out of consciousness. At one point one of the Haitian
men working at the hospital came in and leaned over Anderson and said
to him in kreyol “listen man even if your family could not be here
tonight we want you to know that everyone here loves you, we are all
your brothers and sisters”. Cat and I have barely shed a tear through
all of this, the sky could fall and we would not bat an eye, but when
I told her this story this morning the tears just began rolling down
her face, as they are mine as I am writing this. Sometimes it is the
kindness and not the horror that can break the numbness that we are
all lost in right now.

So, don’t believe Anderson Cooper when he says that Haiti is a hotbed
for violence and riots, it is just not the case. In the darkest of
times, Haiti has proven to be a country of brave, resilient and kind
people and it is that behavior that is far more prevalent than the
isolated incidents of violence. Please pass this on to as many people
as you can so that they can see the light of Haiti, cutting through
the darkness, the light that will heal this nation.

We are safe. We love you all and I will write again when I can.
Thank you for your generosity and compassion.

With love from Port au Prince,
Sasha