Arriving in Haiti

[Lorettajo Kapinos]

Our plane was small. But so was the runway in Cap Haiten, Haiti. We were informed upon the start of our descent that we did indeed have enough room to stop (unlike the rumors that had been circulating prior to departure) but it would be a rapid stop. We needed to hold onto all of our belongings. And, by the way, someone was welcome to sit in the "jump seat" between the pilots for landing. Yeah, no thanks. I chose to sit in my seat and hold on for dear life, because this is the picture of our landing strip- the small straight line in the background. YIKES!

Once on the ground, we unloaded supplies and anticipated the next big step: loading up the 8 Haitian children eligible for live saving treatment in the US. Meanwhile, in the Haitian sun, we noted we were surrounded (or rather protected) by the United Nations. It was a surreal realization to see men holding big guns. It wasn't like they were obvious, but still, they were there as a stark reminder of where we were and why.

Finally, the ambulance arrived. But it had been a long morning of travel- nearly an hour an a bumpy road from Milot to the airport.

And with great care and a lot of teamwork, we loaded up the kids, many of whom were either in pain, scared or both. But they were troopers, inspiring all of us on the team to work even harder to help those left behind.

[Lisa and Laura Roecker]

Wow, Loretta. It's just incredible that you experienced all of this first hand. Can't wait to read more.