Port-Au-Prince                 March 2010

The following is a true story witnessed and told by members of Volunteer Medics Worldwide Disaster Assistance Team. The team is a group of 100% NON-PAID medical, aviation and education professionals who travel the globe bringing aid and comfort in the name of the God whom they trust in.

In the days and weeks that followed Haiti;s worst ever earthquake , a young Haitian boy, Gabriel Frantzso searched every possible , clinic, shelter in and around Port-Au-Prince looking his Mother, Father and Sister, When we met him in refugee or displaced persons status in Santo Domingo , February he sadly reported that his family had all been killed in the disaster. He was alone , no money, no food and only one shirt and one pair of pants. He was volunteering for food in BONO CENTRO , a faith based organization that was taking donations of all types of goods to ship to Haitian victims. The center would give him food for the day and his bus fare from the shelter where he was living each day. He was clearly unable to eat much and his sorrow was evident in his every motion.

Gabriel, came to me on the second day and asked me if I needed interpreters for our work in Haiti. I speak French well and can do pretty well in Creole so that really was not a great need for our team. Having people to inventory medications, and supplies coming into the center was a real need and so Gabriel kept coming back. I also let him and other Haitians know that we would be offering basic medical training so that when he returned to Haiti he could make use of his new skills to help his countrymen. He quickly let me know that his real desire in life was to become a doctor/medic so we got along well from the start.

I would be returning often to the USA and our home station to collect and transport more of the donated supplies back to Haiti and every day without pause , Gabriel would fine a way to go to the INTERNET CAFE and e-mail me.

"Doc G , he always said , I hope that you are really coming back" We need your help with our training"  He was very enthused about his training and he seemed to be catching on well. In late March I would learn in a shocking Email from him that he had gotten a message from Port-Au-Prince and that both of his parents and his sister has been found alive in Jereme, Haiti. His sister was even expecting a child and was about three months along. I was so happy for him but at the same time I knew that this was a big shock for him and he would have much to process in the days to come.

Gabriel now has another problem of the Passport and Visa kind which he is currently trying to sort out with authorities. Imagine that you have taught yourself to believe that your enitre family is dead for more than two months then one day you suddenly learn that they are all alive!!?  No imagine that you can not go to see them as your refugee status in another country make that impossible without several hundred US dollars! 

Volunteer Medics Worldwide continues it's assistance missions in Haiti and The Dominican Republic.  "Nothing Beats Stronger Than The Heart Of The Volunteer"

Gerald Scott Flint, Founder and Director , Volunteer Medics Worldwide

www.volunteermedics.org