Notes from a solo relief effort

A Haitian orphan enjoys a field trip to the ocean. Photo by Rebekah Jenkins

Editor’s note: Bryce Toney, owner of the Curious store on upper Pier Avenue, was so moved by January’s devastating earthquake in Haiti that he raised donations from friends and loved ones and flew there to put the money and his building skills to use.

He wound up about 20 miles from Port-au-Prince at an orphanage and school run by Mission of Hope Haiti in Grand Goave, where the vast majority of buildings had been destroyed.

Further email dispatches from Toney, trimmed and lightly edited, continue to tell the tale:

by Bryce Toney

 Wednesday, March 17

Yesterday a woman gave birth at the orphanage. Unfortunately the baby didn’t make it.  He got fluid in his lungs during birth, and it couldn’t be cleared.

I learned that in regard to childbirth here, the Haitians focus on the survival of the mother, they regard the life that is already on earth. Not that efforts don’t go to save a child, but that when a complication happens during birth, their focus goes to the mother. That may be kind of hard to get your arms around, but here life is uncertain.

One of the other missionaries went home yesterday with malaria. Lots of others have been very sick. I continue to do well here, and am very thankful for my strength. I guess I take after good ole Dorothy (mom), she’s a strong cookie that one.

My last highlight to share is swimming with the Haitians. They don’t seem to enjoy the ocean much, until yesterday I only saw them washing clothes or bathing at the coast.

Monday, March 22

I’ve been lucky to spend lots of time at the school and orphanage. We even got to take them on a field trip, other than up the mountain to a mango tree behind the orphanage like we usually do. We got a bus and took them to the beach where I sleep. It was awesome, they loved it.

We’ve got a large group of college kids here from Akron, Ohio, who helped wear them out. You’d think they’d never been in the water. Some hadn’t. They weren’t too big on going in the deeper water, but sure loved staying close to shore. I think this was the biggest I’ve seen them smile!

We also did clothes distribution, giving each kid three things. Many of the clothes were ones that my friend Gina gave me from Sol Baby [store in Hermosa] and others were donated and brought by volunteers. It was like Christmas morning.

It’s down to my last three weeks, and I’m not ready to come home yet!

Sunday, March 28

Last night was great, I played dominos with the Haitians. When you lose, they take a palm leaf and split it down the middle to make a necklace, then make you wear it. By the end of the evening I was wearing three, they had one.

Most of the blonds (anyone non-Haitian) have come and gone, and it’s down to me and Rebekah only. [Rebekah Jenkins is an American friend and co-volunteer Toney met in Haiti.]

It’s cool living in a tent community, mostly with Haitians. This weekend I start on building a new home for the orphans. It will house/sleep 24 boys, seven girls and about six Haitian nannies – boys in half of the building, the nannies in the middle, and girls on the far end.

The culture is very strict on separating the boys and girls, showers, toilets and so on. Even where I shower it’s very private and separated. It’s funny, they bathe themselves, wash their cars, and wash clothes naked at the river and ocean, but are very modest everywhere else. It’s just a cultural thing, it’s just the way things are.

We had a huge tremor last night, one that woke up everyone. It was probably a 4 on the quake scale. It shook as much as the Northridge quake felt in Hermosa to me. I was a bit spooked, and couldn’t sleep well afterward. The townspeople went crazy, they were up even later.

So many of you write and tell me of how you’ve always wanted to do something like this, you can, and should. It’s easy to create obstacles, things that keep you from fulfilling your personal legends. I encourage you now to start taking steps in the right direction, to recognize that the little steps, decisions along the way, will add up, making it easier to follow your heart.

Next: a tin roof, cement-block childbirth and the first warm shower in five weeks. ER

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