And on a more serious note….

You guys should check out my friend’s blog . He recently returned from Haiti and has a pretty interesting story to tell. He’s one of those rare individuals that manages to have both intelligence AND common sense.

From what I understand he was originally supposed to be going down there with an aid group, but once he arrived he disagreed with their methods so he decided to just strike out on his own. He teamed up with another guy from that group, and the two of them struck out into Haiti, helping where they could, sleeping at stranger’s houses, and only returning to the airport to gather supplies before heading out again.

If you’ll pardon my bluntness, that takes a PAIR.

He’s perfectly suited for the helping out down there— he’s a contractor/part-time photographer that used to be an EMT, and he grew up in the wilds of all different kinds of countries (his parents were missionaries.)

I’ve got a big fat crush on his wife— in my next life I’m going to be her. She’s that woman who has 3 kids who are so intelligent, mature, and well-behaved that the whole family looks like it just crawled out of a 1950s tv show. She’s intelligent, beautiful, has a killer set of legs, always has a clean house, and can whip out a desert for 10 at a moment’s notice.

I’d hate her, but she’s the kind of person who got up early this year on Valentine’s Day to hand out Valentine’s Day cards to widows that she knew.

At any rate, check out his story. He has some pretty interesting insights on what Haiti REALLY needs. In addition, he’s a pretty killer photographer so he has a lot of neat footage.

By the way, if you live in the SoCal area, you can help Haiti out in a pretty serious way by donating blood at St. Joseph’s hospital. His wife would like to go with him on this next trip (she’s a registered nurse), but they can’t afford to do it unless it’s on paid time off. If you donate blood to the hospital in her name, they’ll credit it to her for paid time off. Email me for details if you’re interested.

And as for another plug for Haiti…

There’s an orphanage down in Haiti that’s pretty well-known and does GREAT work. If you live in the Colorado Springs area they are begging for volunteers to come by and help box up a shipment of donations that they’d like to get out by March 1st so it can hopefully arrive before the rainy season sets in.

If you have time, read some of the rest of her blog— although I would like to warn you, reading her accounts on the inept handling of the displaced kids gets me so mad that I see red. Did you know that not only are they stopping all adoptions out of Haiti (I can understand that part), but they aren’t allowing the existing orphanages to house any of the orphans?! It’s not like they’re going to secretly adopt them out… They’ve stopped all adoptions in the entire country! So, instead of having them in places that are set up to take care of infants and young children, they’ve got all of those children sitting out there in tent cities while places like that orphanage are laying off staff because there’s not enough work for them.

WTH.

The government approved and rushed through about 500 adoptions that were already in the works when the earthquake hit in order to make room for the new orphans… and now beauracracy and red tape has come to a stand still. You’ve got kids crammed into tents in the worst-hit area of Port Au Prince, and places like God’s Littlest Angels (who has mtrained medical staff, beds, supplies, workers, etc.) BEGGING to take some in to get them out of the tent city… and red tape is getting in the way.

Okay, I’ve got myself all worked up into a lather again. I think it’s time I jumped off my soapbox.