Greetings from the other side of Hispaniola

First of all, I would like to very happily say, and with certainty now, that all of Stéphane’s family and most of his family’s friends are alive and accounted for. All unharmed miraculously. We were worried for a few days about some loved ones but on the 14th one cell phone service, unfortunately the least popular in Haiti, began working some. Internet become somewhat accessible and communication commenced.

We made it to the Dominican Republic on Friday afternoon. Sonson and his brother drove their grandmother (who was supposed to return to Munich on Wednesday after her annual four week stay in Haiti), Max, Roselyn, Stéphane, and I to the border. We were met by a friend of Stéphane’s sister at the border who loaded up his minivan with the few suitcases of stuff we were able to come with.

The drive itself was fine and we reached Pascale (Stéphane’s sister) and her husband’s home without any ordeal. It was quite sad though for the Thomases to be leaving their country under these circumstances, unaware of when they may be able to return. Sad also for me, but different.

We left since we were really only able to secure enough food for a week, gas for even less, which we needed to go anywhere, of course, but even more importantly to power our generator which we needed to charge the inverter that we were running on about 22 hours out of the day, and to power our water pump. It seemed like the safest idea; who knows if looting would have reached us? Certainly a possibility. The exterior wall of our compound had been damaged in two places, one area very close to the main road. Additionally there was and remains a question of sanitation, which under normal circumstances is bad at best. We have heard they will start to sanitize the city via airplane. Our well water was beginning to pump out with copious amounts of dirt in it, making the possibility of purifying it if needed even more difficult. For all these reasons we made the decision to come here and we are trying very, very hard to get more friends and family out as quickly as possible. We also fear the border to the DR will be closed in the future.

In the meantime we are welcoming family, friends, here on their way to the airport (there are no commercial flights leaving Port-au-Prince), some who are coming, like us, to figure out what’s next. Some men are bringing their wives and children then going back with supplies to see what they can salvage, who they can ferry back here or to search for the missing, to aid in the cleanup of their home. Some are going back to their businesses that dozens of families are supported by, looking to to be there for them, to show them not all is lost in Haiti.

So it’s a sad time, but a time to be together. And because everyone is okay, we smile, but it’s still very difficult coming to grips with all of this. I myself feel terribly displaced, as you may or may not know, I had just returned home from my seventh day of work when the earthquake hit. More on the details in the next post (excerpts from the journal), but needless to say, I was literally just starting to get truly comfortable.

But alas, here I am.

I wanted to add to my previous post about what you can do. As I explained we are doing a lot to bring our friends and family over here to safety. This comes at a great cost to Pascale and her husband Jean-Claude, money has been entirely inaccessible in Haiti since the quake, every bank was destroyed. And without surprise I tell you there’s no FDIC. Anyway, if you feel like you can donate a bit to our personal aid and rescue efforts it would be ever so appreciated. If you know my family you can give money to them and they will make sure it gets to me, if not, please feel free to use paypal

If you’re looking for an organization to donate to, one that’s deployed rescue missions to those who are in grave medical conditions or who are providing to those who are not nearly as fortunate as us, who are stuck in one of the worst disasters the western hemisphere has seen then we strongly recommend donating to Unicef.

Also if you search “FOOD AND MEDICAL SUPPLIES NEEDED ASAP” on facebook events those of you in NYC who would like to donate actual goods to be sent to Haiti can find information on that.

And may I say a thank you, a general one, to those who have already donated or found other ways to help. I know one Dave EMT who is attempting to travel to Port-au-Prince and donate his time and skills.

THANK YOU SO SO SO MUCH. Mesi Anpil Zanmi Mwen !!! (thank you tons my friends)

Last but not least, I would like to say thank you to all of you who have kept us in their thoughts, have written encouraging emails, wall posts, called my family in New York and prayed for us. We are truly lucky and blessed to be so healthy and okay.

Much more soon: photos, videos,  journal entries

LOVE.