First of all, thank you. Thank you to everyone that has called, emailed, chatted, etc. to make sure I'm ok. Thank you for praying for my safety. I can't begin to express the full extent of my gratitude.
I just wanted to take a couple minutes to let you know what's going on. My mind is still swimming and it will take some time to process all of this, I'm sure. Thankfully, I have an amazing wife that has ridden this roller-coaster of emotion with me.
As you know by now, yesterday evening Haiti was hit by a 7.0 earthquake and has since experienced over 30 aftershocks, many of them reaching 5.0. Most of the capitol city of Port au Prince has been destroyed. My first thought was that 100s of thousands of people are dead. We'll see if that ends up being the case. The loss of life will be staggering.
We got to Jacmel on Jan 2nd and while there, we worked with Faith Orphanage. We had a great time with all 32 kids and were able to build ¾ of a new protective wall out of bricks and mortar. We left around 5:30pm on Jan 11th. Less than 24 hours later, the quake hit.
So far we have been able to confirm that our friend Chris (who stayed there and will be there for the next year) is ok and he was able to get to the orphanage yesterday. Thankfully, all 32 kids are safe and unhurt. The building itself and the wall we built have collapsed. They are currently sleeping outside and there is no gas or power available at this time.
We're not exactly sure what's next. It's incredibly frustrating. They will have to rebuild, but how that will actually happen is unknown at this time.
I must say, it has been exciting to see the global response to this disaster. The people of Haiti are going to get a lot of needed help from everywhere. To see President Obama call the Haitians “our neighbors” and tell them we are going to help swiftly and aggressively...I cried. I've cried a lot the last couple days. And will for many more, I'm sure.
What's really difficult right now is...feeling selfish. I'm so grateful to be home safely with my wife and family. But, I feel guilty for feeling that way. Like, I feel useless not being able to be there. And it's weird to be so connected to it, while those around me are not. I don't blame them and I'm not mad at them at all, it's just an odd feeling. I was sitting there at the hotel in Chicago watching the TV in the bar and crying, while the guys next to me were calling Lane Kiffin a d*** for leaving Tennessee to go to USC. I wasn't mad, just...it's just strange.
And seeing all the footage on TV is surreal. And disturbing. I just drove through Port on Monday. We went right past the Presidential Palace. It was gorgeous. Stately. Solid. And now...it's decimated. The buildings were all already in a state of disrepair, so all I could see in my mind was devastation. And then to see what was in my mind there on the screen, in real life...it's too much.
I came back with a lot of questions about Haiti as a nation and that curiosity has only been heightened. Haiti holds a special place in my heart now and always will.
Hopefully you got a sense of how I'm feeling and what's going on. I wrote over 50 pages in my journal and will post things regularly over the coming weeks. Thank you for being interested.
Please think about how you can get involved in the relief efforts. There are so many different ways to donate, but I want to encourage you to go to www.thejourneycommunity.com and donate there as all that money will go directly to the orphanage we were just at.
Pray, love, cry...not necessarily in that order,
Ryan
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