Dunedin, Florida, City Commissioner
Jack St. Arnold (now a Pinellas County
Judge), City Manager John Lawrence,
and this reporter, Patricia Lieb,
crossed over South Florida, Alantic
waters, and miles and miles of lands of
the Bahama Islands before arriving in
Cap Haitien, Haiti, on a hot November
day. We were welcomed by anxious
hands willing to unload food, medical
supplies and Christmas gifts we had
brought. (Story & photos by Patricia
Lieb)
Jack St. Arnold (now a Pinellas County
Judge), City Manager John Lawrence,
and this reporter, Patricia Lieb,
crossed over South Florida, Alantic
waters, and miles and miles of lands of
the Bahama Islands before arriving in
Cap Haitien, Haiti, on a hot November
day. We were welcomed by anxious
hands willing to unload food, medical
supplies and Christmas gifts we had
brought. (Story & photos by Patricia
Lieb)
It was before dawn in late November
that Don DeHart and I sat at a patio
table on the varandah and talked
about the For Haiti With Love Mission
and the work he was doing for the
people.
"I feel I'm on the hot bed of need.
Nobody picks Haiti. Haiti picks you,"
he said soberly.
Don, who has been involved in
helping the very poor people of Haiti
for 30 years, is the founder and
chairman of For Haiti With Love.
The Palm Harbor, Florida, resident
spends most of his time at the
mission, a former part of a pink hotel
on a picturesque mountain side
scattered with tiny huts and poor and
sick people. Don leases the facility
from the hotel owner.
"God said, feed the hungry, clothe
the naked, provide healing for the
sick and shelter for those who have
nowhere to stay," said Don.
And Don does just that for as
many people as his funds will allow.
that Don DeHart and I sat at a patio
table on the varandah and talked
about the For Haiti With Love Mission
and the work he was doing for the
people.
"I feel I'm on the hot bed of need.
Nobody picks Haiti. Haiti picks you,"
he said soberly.
Don, who has been involved in
helping the very poor people of Haiti
for 30 years, is the founder and
chairman of For Haiti With Love.
The Palm Harbor, Florida, resident
spends most of his time at the
mission, a former part of a pink hotel
on a picturesque mountain side
scattered with tiny huts and poor and
sick people. Don leases the facility
from the hotel owner.
"God said, feed the hungry, clothe
the naked, provide healing for the
sick and shelter for those who have
nowhere to stay," said Don.
And Don does just that for as
many people as his funds will allow.
Inside the mission there is a long room
just off the tiny kitchen, used as a
family or gathering room and a dining
room, depending on whether guests
are elbow to elbow at a
kitchenette-sytled table over an
evening meal prepared from left-over
spaghetti sauce (as we were), or, just
sitting around gabbing about the
deplorable situation in this backward
country or listening to the chants of a
voodoo ceremony spiraling up the
mountain from the primitive, filthy city
below (as we did on Saturday
evening).
just off the tiny kitchen, used as a
family or gathering room and a dining
room, depending on whether guests
are elbow to elbow at a
kitchenette-sytled table over an
evening meal prepared from left-over
spaghetti sauce (as we were), or, just
sitting around gabbing about the
deplorable situation in this backward
country or listening to the chants of a
voodoo ceremony spiraling up the
mountain from the primitive, filthy city
below (as we did on Saturday
evening).
Walking, just the natives and me
Early one morning I slipped from the mission to walk along
a couple roads on the mountain where houses Don DeHart
built several years prior are occupied by proud
homeowners. I found the people so friendly. I met one
young man who spoke excellent English. He had a
beautiful crystal-looking rock and traded it to me for my
tennis shoes. Said the rock was quite rare in Haiti and that
the shoes would fit his sister. When I returned barefoot to
the mission (we will not even mention the lecture I got for
venturing off alone without telling anyone where I was
going) and showed the jewel I had obtained from the
Haitian, Don laughed and noted that the mountains were
made of such.
Early one morning I slipped from the mission to walk along
a couple roads on the mountain where houses Don DeHart
built several years prior are occupied by proud
homeowners. I found the people so friendly. I met one
young man who spoke excellent English. He had a
beautiful crystal-looking rock and traded it to me for my
tennis shoes. Said the rock was quite rare in Haiti and that
the shoes would fit his sister. When I returned barefoot to
the mission (we will not even mention the lecture I got for
venturing off alone without telling anyone where I was
going) and showed the jewel I had obtained from the
Haitian, Don laughed and noted that the mountains were
made of such.
I met this woman while on
a walk along the
mountain side. She
couldn't speak English,
but she knew what I
wanted when I showed
her my camera. She
laughed and posed.
a walk along the
mountain side. She
couldn't speak English,
but she knew what I
wanted when I showed
her my camera. She
laughed and posed.
"When I go back home, I get very
distrubed. I get very hostile with people
crying and complaining," Don said of
his returns to Palm Harbor where his
wife, Eva, collects funds and supplies
to support the mission.
"The real problems are in Haiti," he
said. "A mother doesn't have breast
milk. If I put a new baby on formula I
have to take another baby off."
With some 80 infants obtaining
formula provided by the For Haiti With
Love, there just isn't enough to serve
all the infants brought to the mission
for help.
"It's like I have to decide which baby
lives or dies. That's a horrible situation.
It's a trying and emotional life when you
have to say no."
"Just a few weeks ago, a mother
brought in a two-week-old baby who
had never been fed," Don said. He
used a spoon to put formula in the
infant's mouth. A short time later, the
child "died in my arms."
Don, along with two Haitians, Joe
and Linda, whom Don has taught to
treat burned victims, do what they can
to help people. Volunteer doctors also
come periodically to treat more serious
illnesses. Each team of doctors usually
stays for about a week at a time. None
receive payment.
Recently on Sunday, two young
women came to the clinic with a
two-year-old patient Don had been
treating for a couple of weeks. The little
girl had received serious
second-degree burns on her side and
hip. Don removed the old dressing,
pulled off dead skin, treated the burn
with medication and then dressed it
with a fresh bandage. The wound
would heal up without leaving a scar,
Don said.
distrubed. I get very hostile with people
crying and complaining," Don said of
his returns to Palm Harbor where his
wife, Eva, collects funds and supplies
to support the mission.
"The real problems are in Haiti," he
said. "A mother doesn't have breast
milk. If I put a new baby on formula I
have to take another baby off."
With some 80 infants obtaining
formula provided by the For Haiti With
Love, there just isn't enough to serve
all the infants brought to the mission
for help.
"It's like I have to decide which baby
lives or dies. That's a horrible situation.
It's a trying and emotional life when you
have to say no."
"Just a few weeks ago, a mother
brought in a two-week-old baby who
had never been fed," Don said. He
used a spoon to put formula in the
infant's mouth. A short time later, the
child "died in my arms."
Don, along with two Haitians, Joe
and Linda, whom Don has taught to
treat burned victims, do what they can
to help people. Volunteer doctors also
come periodically to treat more serious
illnesses. Each team of doctors usually
stays for about a week at a time. None
receive payment.
Recently on Sunday, two young
women came to the clinic with a
two-year-old patient Don had been
treating for a couple of weeks. The little
girl had received serious
second-degree burns on her side and
hip. Don removed the old dressing,
pulled off dead skin, treated the burn
with medication and then dressed it
with a fresh bandage. The wound
would heal up without leaving a scar,
Don said.
Cap Haitien, Haiti
A Mid-November
Day
In the City
A Mid-November
Day
In the City
The gift of a house
is more than most of
us would ever
expect... but Don
DeHart built one for
this woman. Now, he
promises her a door
for the facility's
opening.
is more than most of
us would ever
expect... but Don
DeHart built one for
this woman. Now, he
promises her a door
for the facility's
opening.
Helping the Children
There is never a charge for anybody who comes to the
clinic. They are never asked questions. They are treated for
whatever the problem is ~ the best they can be treated with
the staff and supplies there ~ then they are sent on their way.
The medical part of Don's work began a few years ago
during the Haiti embargo when the little amount of industry in
the country left and went to other islands in the Caribbean.
At the time, Don, a construction engineer, was in Haiti to help
teach the native people to build concrete-block homes. Don
discovered so many people were sick and in need of medical
attention that the former Korean War medic decided to help
restore heath to the people.
Don devotes a lot of time to patching up burns. Still a
builder at heart, he has built oodles of block houses on the
mountain sides in Cap Haitien and given them to poor people.
"I get more joy out of building a home for somebody who
never had a home. To build it and say, 'here, this is yours for
as long as you live.'"
"Our people got appreciation for Mister Don. I got lots of
appreciation for Mister Don. He's president of poor people,
works by the side of poor people," said Joe.
Joe, who has taught himself to speak English, is Don's
right-hand man. When Don is away, Joe is in charge of the
clinic. He treats and wraps burns and can stitch abrasions.
There is never a charge for anybody who comes to the
clinic. They are never asked questions. They are treated for
whatever the problem is ~ the best they can be treated with
the staff and supplies there ~ then they are sent on their way.
The medical part of Don's work began a few years ago
during the Haiti embargo when the little amount of industry in
the country left and went to other islands in the Caribbean.
At the time, Don, a construction engineer, was in Haiti to help
teach the native people to build concrete-block homes. Don
discovered so many people were sick and in need of medical
attention that the former Korean War medic decided to help
restore heath to the people.
Don devotes a lot of time to patching up burns. Still a
builder at heart, he has built oodles of block houses on the
mountain sides in Cap Haitien and given them to poor people.
"I get more joy out of building a home for somebody who
never had a home. To build it and say, 'here, this is yours for
as long as you live.'"
"Our people got appreciation for Mister Don. I got lots of
appreciation for Mister Don. He's president of poor people,
works by the side of poor people," said Joe.
Joe, who has taught himself to speak English, is Don's
right-hand man. When Don is away, Joe is in charge of the
clinic. He treats and wraps burns and can stitch abrasions.
The sole person in his family with a job, Joe supports his wife
and children, his mother, his wife's parents and all his many
aunts, uncles and cousins.
For Haiti With Love couldn't operater without the support it
gets from "people who love God and want to help," noted Don.
"There's a lot of hope there," Don said with a smile. "It's not
all hopeless. I get a lot of satisfaction to see success."
It is the many contributors from the United States, Canada,
England and Germany, many sending as little as $10 a month.
That supports the clinic and provides food for the hungry, said
Don.
The address of For Haiti With Love is P.O. Box 1017, Palm
Harbor, Florida, 34682-1017. Or you can e-mail the mission
from the For Haiti With Love Website.
and children, his mother, his wife's parents and all his many
aunts, uncles and cousins.
For Haiti With Love couldn't operater without the support it
gets from "people who love God and want to help," noted Don.
"There's a lot of hope there," Don said with a smile. "It's not
all hopeless. I get a lot of satisfaction to see success."
It is the many contributors from the United States, Canada,
England and Germany, many sending as little as $10 a month.
That supports the clinic and provides food for the hungry, said
Don.
The address of For Haiti With Love is P.O. Box 1017, Palm
Harbor, Florida, 34682-1017. Or you can e-mail the mission
from the For Haiti With Love Website.
A child Don has been treating
for a serious burn is somewhat
better, he determines during
her visit to the mission clinic.
for a serious burn is somewhat
better, he determines during
her visit to the mission clinic.
| Visiting Haiti --Patricia Lieb |