300 Haitians in Your Hands!

T-Shirts

2010-03-26T22:10:00.002-06:00

Click on the individual shirts for a larger view of each.

These two t-shirts will soon be available. Proceeds from the sales will go to the non-profit group 300 Haitianos en tus manos to house, clothe, and feed earthquake victims as they work to rebuild their lives. They are available in the original Spanish or English and feature the beautiful "Hands of Love" photo provided by photographer Triciamary. The graphic design is by Azalea Zapata.

Please leave a comment if you would like to reserve a t-shirt. Prices will be announced soon (approx. $25).

incredible answers . . .

2010-03-01T23:01:00.001-06:00

From Marilou:

I am so proud of all of you who are supporting this effort!!!! I am seeing incredible answers!! Now various NGOs have contacted me, wanting me to be their local agent…They say that if I have been able to do all that I have done in an “independent” manner, they know that their foundation will be in good hands…but none of this would have been possible without each one of you!! I am very thankful, and I know that the Haitian people are too. I will always let you know about where and how the help I bring them is arriving.

Good News!!! The group of 500 of Cercle Bellvue now has camping tents. An NGO visited them and chose to supply them. But they still need our help regarding food.

I have two new incredible groups. I will send details and photos soon.

Bringing Happiness

2010-02-28T21:28:00.001-06:00

Thanks to the support of all of you and the Mexican government, we have put the operation of bringing supplies in motion.

After knocking on many doors, for a long time, with the help of the Mexican government, we have finally achieved bringing the help that ALL OF YOU sent.

My mother, Marilou Roy, was taken directly to the ship PAPALOAPAN in order to receive the help directly, and thanks to your support, it was possible to receive a great quantity of supplies for the cause.

A few days ago, Astryd Roy, Marilou Roy’s sister, was finally able to come to the country to see the cause for herself, “get her hands dirty,” and bring a ray of hope and happiness to our Haitian brothers who need is so much and continue needing it.

I want you to know that we are in PHASE 2 of the movement. Our new mission is to get CAMPING TENTS for people who still have no shelter. If you take a look at the group’s wall, you can find different ways to help us help.

Finally, I want to thank ALL of you for your support and unconditional trust in the movement, and I invite you to see the new PHOTOS added to the group, where you can be sure that the help you sent is being delivered into the right hands.

May God bless you very much, and we hope to continue counting on your support, because YOU ARE THE MOVEMENT!

Greetings,

Pierre Gómez R

Tents Needed and How to Donate Tents

2010-02-12T09:51:00.002-06:00

Tents are desperately needed!

A hospital in Petion Ville, outside Port-au-Prince, needs at least 200 4-6 person tents for patients leaving the hospital. There are many wounded who have been treated, but they cannot leave the hospital unless they have a place to go that will keep them clean and warm.

Tents are also needed for the 500 people living in the parking lot of a collapsed club in Petion Ville.

Rich Meers of Crossworld Missions is accepting donations of tents for people to sleep in and keep warm. There are sites online selling tents at a discount. If people would like to send tents, they can have them delivered to:

Rich Mears for Marilou Roy
Unit 2109 UEBH
3170 Airmans Dr
Fort Pierce, FL 34946

They also need to send funds to cover $1.50 per pound for the plane trip by missionary aviation from Florida to Haiti.

The funds can be sent to:

Rich Mears c/o CrossWorld
Account Number 37660
10000 N. Oak Trafficway,
Kansas City, MO 64155

When sending funds to CrossWorld, include a note saying that they are for the hospital in Petion Ville in care of Marilou Roy.

If customs becomes functional again, they will start charging something. There's no way to predict what customs would charge

Food Delivery for a group in Petion Ville

2010-02-12T09:50:00.000-06:00

Good News: Not only has food sent from Mexico been distributed to the people at Marilou's house, but she has been able to help a group of 500 living in the parking lot of a nearby club that collapsed during the quake. Here are some photos.

From Marilou: TESTIMONIES

2010-02-08T13:33:00.001-06:00

JEAN DUKENS PERCY (13 Dec. 1975) AND HIS WIFE CLAIRMINA (21 JULY 1980) They were in their small apartment on the second floor when the earthquake happened. They ran out and saved their lives. Even though the two-story building didn’t fall, they slept outside on the patio. The stress and psychosis that they are experiencing is striking. They have to take sedatives and medicine to sleep…

MYRLINE PAUL (5 Sep. 1986) and her daughter Lyne-Amedji Cenat (16 Nov. 2009) Myrline, a 24-year-old single mother, was working when the tragedy happened. Her two-month-old baby was at home, under the care of Myrline’s mother. She quickly set out toward her house on foot. On the way, she saw piles of fallen houses and her anguish grew as she thought of her mother and baby. When she arrived at her house, she found her mother outside with some neighbors, wailing and crying… The house fell on the baby… They thought she was dead… Together, they removed the rubble until they exposed the metal crib where Lyne was. Not one bar was standing upright. But to their great surprise and joy, Lyne-Amedji was white with dust but intact and smiling!!!

ELSIE and her daughter BAHINA, 11 years old. (they’re not on the patio at the moment, they went to a doctor’s appointment) In one of my many journeys bringing wounded to the hospital, while returning to the house I saw that a crowd was running and carrying something. It was Wednesday, the 20th of January. At first, I thought they were carrying a cadaver, but I immediately heard what they were saying and stopped the car to lean toward the people. Bahina was alive!!! She wasn’t talking as she was in a state of shock. She just turned her enormous eyes, and I saw the hint of a little smile. They emptied a public bus (“tap-tap”) and put the girl in the back to take her to a nearby hospital. A few days later, I wanted to follow up, and I went to see if she had survived. I found her con Elsie, her mother. The neighbors told her that Bahina had been taken to the hospital and she looked until she found her. She told us that Bahina had been under the rubble for 9 days, drinking her own urine. Alone, she cried to Jesus to take her to eat at a restaurant, to eat ice cream, buy candy, go for a walk… Obviously what every child at her age wants. Bahina had received good care, but on the day of my visit, January 23, she still couldn’t walk… I left my telephone with her mother so that she could communicate with me if necessary. She called me on the 26th to tell me that Bahina was now walking!!! Fantastic!! But when they found that she was well, the doctors said they needed the space and that she had to go home…but WHAT home??!! I went for her and brought her to the camp at my house. (I have video and, I believe, photos of this story. But due to the urgency, I don’t believe I was able to get them as the one who was acting as my “cameraman,” JEAN DUKENS PERCY, to be precise, went to the Mexican embassy to see if he could leave the country…)

Food Has Arrived!

2010-02-04T17:34:00.004-06:00

As of yesterday, about a week's supply of food finally arrived. Marilou has been able to direct groups who have finally arrived to offer help to other people who still need food. More to come . . .

Testimony (2nd part)

2010-02-02T19:12:00.001-06:00

Today marks 20 days since our lives were shaken…
In my quest for help for the group of 145 people now in my house, I have traversed most of the streets of Port-au-Prince. Disorder, dirtiness, destruction, misery, pain and desolation.. this is all that can be seen!! Kilometer-long lines of people trying to obtain a mouthful of help; the only thing distributed until the last three days was WATER… But the people are hungry!!! And there is a general cry… “IS IT POSSIBLE TO SURVIVE WITH ONLY WATER? WHERE IS ALL THE HELP THEY TALK ABOUT IN THE MEDIA?”

Our “organization” continues to work well--this calms me down. I managed to bring a brigade of medical doctors and they gave care and medicine to “my” people.

Because of the tragedy that happened in Haiti, many people have mobilized around the world, particularly in Mexico, to send help. But sadly, 20 days after this huge catastrophe, the help hasn’t reached where it is most needed! My personal struggle has been an exhausting battle of iron will that has still been futile… Having 150 people on our patio, I have the opportunity to see up close what the Haitian people are living. And this here, as they say themselves, feels like PARADISE compared with what they thousands of people are living in the plazas and public camps… This moved me to want to help. After a thousand journeys, coming and going to the Red Cross and various supposed “distribution” centers, my frustration kept growing as I returned home with empty hands and saw “my people’s” expectant faces fall on simply seeing my own… I secured the support of my embassy, the Mexican Embassy in Haiti, from which I received unconditional support. The consul and the ambassador brought me to the very runway of the international airport (protected, not to say “taken” by American soldiers). They gave me the address of a warehouse where all the help coming from Mexico is stored. I happily found my way there, as I already had a truck and driver on loan to me. I saw tons of stored provisions!! I explained to them that I needed to bring help to the group at my house, as well as a group of 500 people staying in the parking lot of a club in Petion Ville. They asked me for names… I hadn’t any referral. Finally, I told them that I came from the Mexican Embassy and that these provisions were sent by MEXICANS to arrive for the Haitian PEOPLE!! They informed me that we couldn’t take ANYTHING if we hadn’t received authorization from the Haitian government, they had now received instructions to bring this merchandise to the Haitian GOVERNMENT… I argued with the warehouse manager, pleading that the help was not for the GOVERNMENT but for the PEOPLE!!! Even when he admitted I was right (…), I had to go back again with empty hands… I have been “bothering” him by telephone and telling him that, as a Mexican citizen, I WILL NOT STAY QUIET, and that I have dedicated myself to “lay hands” on these goods… Finally, yesterday, Monday, he informed me that I was now authorized to pick it up. Alas, I couldn’t get a truck today, but I trust that tomorrow, we will make a BIG DELIVERY!!! Thanks to God!

MARIE LOUISE ROY
PERSONAL TESTIMONY

Again we Spoke to Marilou through Skype . . . 2/1/2010

2010-02-01T21:16:00.001-06:00

Tonight I heard good news from Haiti concerning Marilou Roy's quadriplegic brother. Dr. Barth Green, the famous neurosurgeon from Miami, will be performing surgery on her brother in a few weeks free of charge! Dr. Green and his associates have set up a field hospital with a fully equipped neurosurgery unit to help the victims in Haiti. This is especially wonderful news since Marilou had to spend the money she had saved for her brother's surgery in order to feed the people staying at her family's home. Here's an article about Dr. Green.

Also today, Selecciones, the Spanish version of Reader's Digest, sent people today for an interview and took pictures. The story will be in an upcoming issue. I hope they put it into the English version, too. We don't want people to forget Haiti. The hard part of getting to the isolated smaller groups of people outside the main city is just beginning. Reconstruction is just beginning.

Mrs. Roy wants people to recognize the good work people at the American Hospital in Port-au-Prince are doing. Almost every day, she drives injured people from her home to the hospital, picking up injured people along the way. The people at the hospital know her now and let her in as the "ambulance driver."

A nearby restaurant has reopened to give out meals and is serving about 1000 per day. People line up starting at 5:30 am to get a colored bracelet showing that they were in line, and then between 2 and 4 pm, they can pick up a meal. The name of this restaurant is Muncheez in Petionville.

Marilou has been encouraged by seeing people set up help in their own way, like this small restaurant, and a nearby club is housing 500 displaced people. Private citizens with initiative to set up their own "obras ormigas" or ant works, are the key to helping Haiti recover, according to Marilou, since the Government is holding back help. She asks the international community to put pressure on the Haitian government to release help that is stacked up on piers and in storehouses at various locations.

Please keep Haiti in your prayers and consider helping out as time goes by and the media moves on to new news. A community of thousands of amputees is emerging that will need special help. Orphans will need new homes, and survivors will need counseling, jobs, and places to live.

From Pierre on 2/1/10

2010-02-01T21:10:00.003-06:00

From Pierre, 2/1/10

A Mexican woman, who has 145 refugees on the patio of her house, has been knocking on all the doors there are in Haiti, trying to find help up to today, and even today, the help has not arrived in the hands of the people who need it.

She drove herself to the Red Cross, and they didn’t help her because she didn’t have a direct contact with someone important in the Red Cross warehouse that they had there, she says that they have it hidden as if it were a state secret so that the people won’t find it.

Not seeing results through this method, she went to the Mexican embassy in Haiti. The counsel came to the house to visit the house and she commented on the situation. The next day, the consul and the Mexican ambassadors personally took her in an embassy truck to the airport where she could see with her own eyes the warehouses filled with help that had arrived by various planes of international origin that continue arriving with provisions and medical supplies. All of this is left in the warehouses. She met her ex-brother-in-law there, who is in charge of Mexican Foreign Relations for Central America and the Carribean. They tried to help her get provisions, but without results.

The reason… the Haitian government doesn’t allow anything to be taken out of the airport. They have it all controlled because they want to charge taxes on the help that keeps coming…In spite of being there with ambassadors, consuls, and more, she could not resolve anything because the government gave orders to not distribute help if they had not signed and authorized each item from the storehouses before they went out, no matter where they came from. That’s how once more my mother returned to the house with empty hands and a heart full of frustration, anger and sadness.

What is happening can’t be possible!!!! We must make a call to all humanity, to all the people who have put their grain of sand into this cause and protest! How can help continue if we know that at the end of the day, the Haitian government is the only beneficiary? How can he impose taxes on something that costs nothing? This can’t possibly even be legal. Through means of 300 Haitians in Your Hands, with the help of the Morelos campus of the Technological University of Monterrey, and the Donation Collection Centers in Nicaragua and Mexico, we have sent more than 10 tons of help that has been brought to a standstill in the airport and cannot be taken out by anyone. LET US LIFT OUR VOICES!!! THERE MUST BE AN INTERNATIONAL CLAMOR FOR JUSTICE!!!

On another note, a Mexican woman has tried to change her return ticket to Mexico. She traveled by MEXICANA and despite all her efforts, they denied helping her in this matter. In many countries, AA raised their fares to Haiti and the people rose up and complained. We can do this here too! How lovely it is to stand side by side with the same people who are suffering and give a million dollars!

LET’S CRY OUT FOR JUSTICE!

Greetings and blessings,

Pierre Gomez Roy

HAITIANS NOT GETTING THE FOOD THAT WAS SENT FOR THEM . . .

2010-02-01T10:09:00.002-06:00

I know Marilou. We met her when we lived in Mexico. The newest development is as follows:

1/31/2010

Michael just spoke with Marilou about the situation in her community that is now steady at 145 people. The last time they had meat was 15 days ago, and they ran out of rice and corn a few days ago.

They still have received no food from the donations made through the Mexican Red Cross or from the tons of food sent from Mexico by ship because the Haitian government is holding up distribution.

Yesterday, the Mexican military ship Papaloapan docked and unloaded 1700 tons of supplies. 11.5 tons were donated by people who heard about Marilou and the people she is taking care of in her father's home. Despite having an ambassador, a consul, and a foreign minister to vouch for her, the person in charge of the storehouse said that she could not take even a truckload because she had to get governmental approval.

Thousands are dying while the Haitian government is holding up the help that has been sent to save his people.

Read About Marilou's Previous Days (mostly she writes to her son):

Testimony (Part 1)

Haiti’s “Dark” Time January 12, 2010, 4:52 pm…I’m chatting online with my children when I suddenly become dizzy. I turn around to my surroundings and begin to understand what’s happening. I leave the computer and run toward my father and brother who are on a little porch watching television. But because of the intensity of the earthquake, I couldn’t move well, and I had to hold onto the doorframe. There was a frightening noise, people screaming, and a lot of things falling and breaking inside the house. My father remained seated in his armchair, petrified, and my brother, a quadriplegic, had his eyes bulging out and was unable to move as he watched an enormous television coming toward him. Fortunately, it only grazed his feet and fell to the floor. This lasted a minute, but it seemed an eternity to us…I know that people who have lived through an earthquake, like the one in Mexico in 1985, for example, know what I’m referring to. When it calmed down, I was able to get my brother outside on his wheeled bed down a ramp that we had made in the house, and I told my father to go out on the patio. I hugged my brother to calm him down, now I had tears in my eyes...In this moment everyone was out on the patio, crying and yelling JESUS, JESUS, THANK YOU JESUS!!! In reality, we weren’t aware of the magnitude of the tragedy, but in a few minutes, we began to see people running in the street, passing in front of our house, carrying wounded and asking for help. At this moment, I understood that it had been something very serious. Turning on the radio, we began to listen to the only station that was on the air (SIGNAL FM), and from there were given more and more accounts, each one more dramatic. We heard of well-known buildings that had collapsed and our astonishment progressively grew. That’s how we spent the rest of the afternoon, and night began to fall on our anguish and our fear. A parade of survivors, many of them family members or friends of my father’s tenants. Fortunately, the “geography” of the house prevented him from finding out what was happening because he would have panicked. I had to take action immediately and put something in order. When we were able to close the barred gate, nearly 300 people had already entered, begging us to let them sleep on the floor… Honestly, I was very frightened, not knowing what we were going to do. As they could, they made themselves comfortable and stayed the night. I didn’t sleep a wink all night, thinking all about this situation. Many others couldn’t sleep either. That same night, around 12 there was a terrible rumor…thousands of people came up from the center of the city toward Petion Ville because supposedly the sea was going to swallow them…there was going to be a Tsunami…fortunately, that didn’t happen on top of all that. The next morning, I went to see the victims, and they asked me for water. I told them that we didn’t have a way to supply the needs of so many people and that they would have to go out to look for help. They did this, and the following night, Wednesday the 13th, there were now about 200. On Thursday, I went out to see about getting water to the tenants because with no electricity, the pump didn’t work. Immediately, I sensed that one of the guests had the makings of a leader, and I asked her for help. She happily agreed and suggested forming a small committee, which we did with four people we know. Things began to get in order, the people accepted being “directed” by us, for their own good since by then the news was devastating. Many were finding out about family members dead from the incident, and there was a continual sobbing. They organized themselves by families and by groups of friends. We took a census of the people: 197. We began to share water in buckets, taking it out of the cistern. Next came the question of food. We bought rice, ground corn, beans, vegetables, plantains, some fruit, coffee, sugar bread…and we began to share by family or group. The fundamental was potable water. Fortunately, one tenant is the owner of a water treatment plant and offered to bring us bags of water (the cheap potable water for the town here comes sold in sealed bags, not in bottles.) That’s how we carried on, learning day by day ways to organize the needs of all. The most worrisome thing was LACK OF SAFETY. Rumors were heard all around of bandits and robbers who were hitting houses, businesses, and assaulting (and even killing) people everywhere. Apart from the stress of the situation itself, this fear of these bandits reigned. This is how Wednesday the 20th arrived…6 AM, an aftershock of 6.1…Chaos was still ruling in the whole country, in the government, in the authorities, and no specific measures had been taken in many areas. This day, many decided to undertake walking toward other cities, and as there was no transportation, they set out on foot… Thursday the 21st, a new census. The population had reduced itself to 110, including my family. On the one hand, I felt relief, even though I felt worried about the fate of the “deserters.” We continued with our “organization,” sharing water in buckets and supplying food that people cooked on little kerosene stoves or charcoal grills. We continued in darkness and without a supply of non-drinkable water. In the streets, the black market began, and everything went up in price…There were interminable lines to buy gasoline at exorbitant prices ($10-$12 USD per gallon). Fortunately, now, at least gasoline is under control. The price returned to 250 Gourdes per gallon, even before the disaster, this was equivalent to $5.95 USD and now it’s equal to approximately $8 USD. (Before, the exchange was 42 Gourdes per dollar, and now it’s between 30 and 32 Gourdes per dollar). Today, Friday the 22nd, the situation continues being sad, distressing... but there appears to be a certain calm, which appears to me more like resignation, in the Haitian people. The people sort things out themselves as they can. Today, we saw a robber who, for lack of police, was killed by the people themselves with machete blows… This is what is currently happening. A massive exodus has begun towards other countries that have generously opened their borders. The majority of people have shown us their frustration and anger because help has not come to them. The work has been more focused on well-known areas, big hotels, government buildings, huge neighborhoods, anyway…But within all of this we continue alive, and we continue onward, with the grace of God. MARIE LOUISE ROY Personal Testimony Help us to help! traducido por Michael Beale January 23 at 12:32am

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An account of today driving around looking for help in Port au Prince.
Monday, January 25, 2010 at 1:59am
From Marilou to her son Pierre:

Subject: URGENT!!!
Date: Sun, 24 Jan 2010 23:11:16 +0000

Thanks love, I’ll wait for you to call me. I went by the hotel where they were staying, and I also left a message. Another URGENT thing!!! Today I spent the entire day going around and around, until we got to the supply center of the Red Cross. Keep in mind that they’ve been keeping it a state secret so that people won’t show up there…After so much effort and spending of gasoline, they wouldn’t let me in because I didn’t have a reference name. I went in a truck and took a sheet with me to cover up things in case they gave us something, but nothing…It is a general scream: the people ARE NOT receiving the help!!! Only today did I see anyone giving sacks of food, in the huge camps with thousands of refugees, until yesterday, they were only giving out water…The NGOs are monopolizing ALL the humanitarian aid and have not organized until now how to distribute it. Only “ant operations” like the one I’m doing here have worked to bring real and direct help where it’s needed. Friday, in my “reporter” excursions, I went to visit a camp that was lodged in the parking lot of a private club, where my father usually went to meet friends, that had collapsed completely (nine employees died there.) There are 500 people, among them are children, elderly, eight pregnant women, and 20 wounded, and they have NOT YET RECEIVED HELP of any kind, not even medical attention…As God gives them to understand, they are tending their wounds…I would also like to support here, if God gives me the strength and the means…Anyway, I need you to get me the name of someone from the Mexican Red Cross (if that is who you sent things in my name through) in order to go directly to this person. But it has to be the name of someone who is HERE, in the [location], which is where the representation of all the countries is. Please, love, this is URGENT, we need help now!!! I have run out of the cash I had. The banks have opened since yesterday, but I didn’t want to get near because the line was so long (six blocks!!!), with disorder, pushing, and fights. Tomorrow, I will try to go and see what I can do.

Well then, I await your quick response.
Kisses,
Mom

Erick, I sent you a copy of this so that you are aware and see what you can do on your end. I haven’t received news from you since I sent the testimony you asked me for. Did you receive it? What do you think?
Greetings,
Marie Louise

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Email update by Marilou on Thursday night
Fri at 11:41pm
I understand your great concern, and believe me that I am thankful for this support in the midst of our desperation. Things seem to be going in a good way. Indeed, they told me that a shipment for “Caritas” [little faces--a charity network] was arriving, and yes, everything from the Mexican Red Cross comes repackaged…The situation is this, there is a warehouse where they keep everything that arrives from Mexico. Today at 6 am, I was with the consul and the ambassador of Mexico on the runway of the airport where a military plane was landing, but it didn’t bring supplies…It turns out that everything was arriving by ship, the PAPALOAPAN, that was docking at Port-au-Prince in an hour. Fortunately, while on the runway, I found my ex-brother-in-law (also ex ambassador of Mexico in Haiti and now in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Carribean and Central America) accompanied by the current Mexican ambassador to Haiti. I explained the situation to them, and they sent me to the warehouse. When I arrived, already with a truck ready to load, I waited two hours until the person in charge arrived. I spoke with him and I told him that I had come recommended by these ambassadors. I don’t want to put myself into politics, but what is happening is sad. The Haitian government is holding everything up…I was told that I needed authorization from the government to pick up these things…that difficult! Anyway, fortunately I had been well recommended and it seems that the authorization already exists. They confirmed today in the afternoon that I can go to load the truck tomorrow. I will keep you informed.

God help us!

Big hugs to you!

300 Haitianos en tus manos!!