A DAY IN HAITI » Caring House Project Foundation

Caring House Project Foundation Villages Map

admin — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 21:14:46 +0000

These are the Villages built by Frank McKinney & the Caring House Project Foundation

Click on link for the Google Map

http://www.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=113872538410978519368.0004857967221e79eadad&t=h&z=9

Doug Doebler visits Gonaives Haiti

admin — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 22:11:28 +0000

Click Here to Visit Caring House Project Foundation

Frank McKinney’s Haiti Earthquake Experience

admin — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 15:13:48 +0000

By the time we departed Haiti on Sunday evening, 52 search-and-rescue operations with 2,200 operatives had set up camp at the end of the runway at PAP, the Port-au-Prince airport. Thirty-nine countries had mobilized to bring out survivors of the devastating earthquake.

The “dream team” I assembled had arrived three days earlier, anxious to get to work because the survival window for victims still trapped under the rubble was closing. We were the tenth group to sign in with the United Nations, and for the next three days we were embedded deep into the epicenter of the disaster. Our extremely well-qualified team of medical and search-and-rescue personnel (three from Colorado and six from South Florida) not only cut through concrete and steel but also through the red tape and bureaucracy associated with such a massive effort.

We saved four lives and worked with teams from Peru, Nicaragua, Jordan and Spain. Two of the survivors we rescued had been trapped behind crumbled walls and a cadaver in a collapsed building, one had spent 90 hours under the debris, and another had been in surgery when the quake shook the hospital’s foundations and crushed him under its ruins.

While we were there, a total of 43 people were freed, alive, from the wreckage. That means our ragtag team was involved in nearly 10 percent of the total number of rescues during those two days!

I’d like to briefly share with you what happened: who went, who worked with us there, what we did, what we saw, the real truth from the inside. But first I want to tell you what’s next.

Already, support has been tremendous. From financial donations to contributions of time to critical supplies and equipment that were obtained for use in this special mission, we’ve received aid from hundreds of generous individuals and organizations since the quake hit. Anyone who took action, who didn’t just sit and watch and say, “How sad,” has made a meaningful, measurable difference for the Haitian people.

You know who you are, and I want to say thank you.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Please visit our donate page: http://www.frank-mckinney.com/donate.aspx, call Anne at 561.722.3950 to make your donation over the phone, or mail to P.O. Box 388 Boynton Beach, FL 33425. Also remember, if you purchase any of my bestselling books, all proceeds go to Caring House Project Foundation: http://www.frank-mckinney.com/books.asp

For more about the Frank McKinney and the Rescue Team click on Frank’s Blog

http://www.frank-mckinney.com/blog.asp?article=168

We’re committed to continuing to draw attention to Haiti in the coming weeks, months and years. When the hype dies down, the people there will still need our help. Now that the world’s eyes have turned to this country, which even before this disaster was the poorest in the western hemisphere, we want to hold that focus for as long as we can. So many people’s lives, and the next generation of Haitians, depend upon it.

As a charity with an ongoing interest in improving living conditions in Haiti, the Caring House Project Foundation will be there for the duration, just as we have been for the past six years, master planning communities, building self-sufficient villages and providing emergency relief.

Frank McKinney’s Haiti Earthquake Relief

admin — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 00:01:53 +0000

Frank’s Dream Team

Compassion Without Action Is A Waste of Emotion

Update from Frank, Saturday ”We just returned from Port au Prince, Haiti with Caring House Project Foundation’s own world-class search and rescue team. We were one of the first U.S. lead relief teams to arrive in Port au Prince after the earthquake:”

Click on link to see update from Frank McKinney. http://www.frank-mckinney.com/blog.asp?article=168

Donate Here: http://www.frank-mckinney.com/donate.aspx

Haiti Earthquake Aid Effort

admin — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 22:59:37 +0000

Haiti Earthquake Aid Effort Request From Frank Mckinney – Caring House Project Foundation

To those who make things happen,

Our Caring House Project Foundation is in the process of planning an immediate and efficient response to the earthquake disaster in Haiti. CHPF’s villages and many more are devastated. Our plan will likely include securing a plane or planes to travel either direct to Haiti or to the Dominican Republic then drive to Haiti. If we are able to secure a large enough plane and proper ground transportation once we arrive, we will look to immediately gather the following in anticipation of an initial departure within the next 24-48 hours. Others to follow. The critical search and rescue window of opportunity is upon us:

1) Search, rescue and extraction equipment

2) Medical and triage supplies

3) Food, water and blankets

4) Communications (phone/video)

5) Manpower

6) Donations, http://www.frank-mckinney.com/donate.aspx. We will need to dip into CHPF’s reserves, or use monies set aside for new villages, in order to undertake this initiative. It will be costly, with the first response wave running in excess of $100,000.

Hope for Haiti 2009

admin — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 20:39:38 +0000

I recently returned from my 3rd trip to Haiti with Frank McKinney. Many thanks to fellow Maverick Business Adventure members for their support of the Caring House Project Foundation mission in Haiti.

I urge you to spend “A Day In Haiti” so that you to can see, hear, smell, touch and taste what true poverty is. You will find yourself in a place of Subliminal Euphoria as your senses take over and cause your inner core to do something to help those in need.

It is so hard to believe that this is only 2 hours (by plane) from Miami Beach, Florida. Every time I return back from Haiti, makes me ever more grateful for what I have and thankful for what I can do to help other people.

Please watch the video from my 3rd trip that I put together for you.

To see my Photo Journal from my 3rd trip – Click Here

My Haiti Visits

admin — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 14:26:57 +0000

When Frank McKinney told me about his project in Haiti, I really didn’t know what to expect. My 1st visit to Haiti in February 2007 gave me a better understanding. I had never seen poverty in person and I was in complete awe.

I knew what to expect on my 2nd visit to Haiti but I was still in awe of the sights, sounds and smells all around me.

You can see what I witnessed by clicking on the links and taking a visual tour of Haiti:

My first visit to Haiti in February 2007

My second visit to Haiti in June 2008

Hope for Haiti My 2008 Visit

admin — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 16:06:24 +0000

This is my picture essay of my 2nd trip to Haiti with Frank McKinney and The Caring House Project Foundation.

We visited Port-au-Prince June 2008

Doug Doebler awake and ready to go at 5 am June 21, 2008. Ft.Lauderdale, Florida, Airport – waiting for our flight to Port Au Prince, Haiti. Our group consisted of donors to the Caring House Project Foundation directed by Frank McKinney. We were to meet the directors of Food for The Poor in Haiti.

Did you know that in Haiti:

80% Unemployment
85% Illiterate
20% Infant mortality rate before age 5
Adult mortality – in the 50’s
Population around 8.5 million
Cite Soleil population 400,000+
Haiti is considered the 3rd hungriest country in the world (after Somalia and Afghanistan)
80% of the people live on less than $2 per day of these 40% live on less than $1 per day
The island is 90% Roman Catholic

Our comfortable Tour Bus at the Food for the Poor headquarters in Port Au Prince Haiti. Food for the Poor feeds 15,000 people per day from their feeding centers in Port Au Prince Haiti.

At the Food for the Poor Headquarters – Frank and Nilsa McKinney to the left. Angel Aloma, Executive Director of Food for the Poor (based in Florida) and Madame Pun, Director of the Haiti Operation, to the right. We were treated to a nice breakfast at this location.

Doug’s thumbs up for the start of the Day in Haiti.

The Caring House group walking to the Food for the Poor Feeding Center to assist in the morning rice distribution.

Large bowls of cooked rice waiting to be distributed to the long lines of people waiting with buckets and what ever they could carry their scoops of rice in. The feeding center was a huge steamy hot room.

Kimberley, Executive Director of The Caring House Project
Foundation, stirring the pots of soup to be distributed.

Patient recipients, waiting for their scoop of rice. What you cannot see is that the court yard where these people are waiting is surrounded by high walls. Outside the gate and walls are lines of people in the streets waiting and hoping to get in today for some rice. We were told some of the women had walked 2 hours to the feeding center and will walk 2 hours back to feed their children. They do this daily. Each recipient has a ticket book. They handed in a ticket that told the number of people in their family. They got one scoop of rice and one serving of soup for each member in their family.

Lissy from Chicago talks to a little girl. Here’s the shocker – Lissy asked the little girl what her name was. With an interpreter the little girl answered “My name is Sammy”. Lissy almost fell to the ground and said “my little daughter back home is named Sammy” WOW!

Photo from the Bus on our ride to Cite Soleil. Cite Soleil is considered one of the worst ghettos in the world. In years past the ghetto thugs and gangs made life there very unsafe. The UN and US guards could not even enter the area due to all the violence. We drove right into the middle of the slum with our guides. Movies and documentaries have been written about the area.

Kids lining up at the Cite Soleil feeding center operated by Food For The Poor. As you view these photos note that most of the children have a smile on their face even though they live in extreme poverty.

As we arrived at the Cite Soleil Feeding center we were greeted by a band and a Happy Birthday Banner hung between buildings. People were dancing in the streets for the arrival of the Americans that helped fund some of these operations.

The children we met in the street all had big smiles and moved in close. Some were a bit shy in front of us strangers from the USA. Most of them would shake hands, receive a “high five” or even accept a hug when offered. They loved to have their photos taken and then shown the photo on digital cameras. We suspect some of them have never seen their own face (didn’t see any mirrors). Some kids would tell others as they looked at the photos “that’s you!”

One of our group members wrote “Everywhere there were children – so many of them! They were wearing old scraps of clothing, some were barefoot. Their faces were smiling, some looked skeptical, but they didn’t hesitate to come close to us. They were gently tapping my arms and grasping my hands. They smiled broadly if I stroked their head or hugged them. It was a rare experience to receive so much affection from so many little ones”.

Huge bowls of rice for distribution to those in line in Cite Soleil.

Our walking tour of Cite Soleil – never at anytime did we feel unsafe. (click here for Wikipedia description of Cite Soleil) An unsafe feeling would be expected based on what you read there.

A woman doing laundry in front of what would be considered a nicer home in Cite Soleil.

This photo reminds me of a photo that was taken of me in February of 2007 on my 1st visit to Haiti. Kind of a dazed look during a 100 degree temp walk through the ghetto in Cite Soleil. Yes – those are homes in the background behind me…

Another picture during our walk through Cite Soleil.

Inside one of the ghetto homes.

We were told 8 people lived in this one room home.
Not sure where they all sleep?

I’m told they are lucky to have a roof over their heads.

Another street scene from our walk.

Heading out of Cite Soleil – open sewer ditches are seen all over. I assume when there are heavy rains, the trash is washed away – to the sea??

Haitian people sell everything along the roadside.

A village outside of Cite Soleil that Food For the Poor
had built years prior.

Seaside Shanty town – you can barely see the ocean in the background. These are the types of villages that The Caring House Foundation Project and Food For the Poor try to replace one village at a time.

Our next stop was a Retirement Center. The minute we got out
of the bus we could tell we were standing in an oasis of peace
and well being. It was like night and day from where we just came from in Cite Soleil.

We were treated to a celebration from the residents. This is hard to write but we were told: “if this center didn’t exist, these older residents would someday be found dead on a trash heap or starving and neglected”. Now they have a place of safety and respect.

I’m hesitant to add this photo and it still chokes me up to tell the story of this experience. We were told the older boys from the orphanage next to the SR’s residence wanted to give us a gift. We wondered what it could be. We were told they had nothing but they asked if they could give us a blessing. They filed in and stood in front of us, then laid their hands on our heads and softly sang over us. Wasn’t a dry eye in our group.

My good friend Jim Whelan (with the Cowboy hat), an Advertising Agency Guru, made some new friends with the children who were there to entertain us.

The senior residents having a meal under the shade of the trees. This was so much better than what we saw just a few miles away in Cite Soleil.

One of the senior resident’s simple homes.

The simple interior of one of the homes. Just a cot and a chair in most cases. There was a central bathroom and washing area across the sidewalk for the residences. You may think it looks like a garden shed but it is paradise compared to where these Seniors had come from.

Orphan boys from the orphanage adjacent to the Senior Center. We had brought 700 beanie baby toys to give to the kids. These boys were very polite and well behaved. I suspect via the lessons they learned at the orphanage.

Our next stop was the 1st Village Caring House had built in Haiti. Frank McKinney was thrilled to see the condition of the these homes. We walked the streets and viewed them all.

The residents had made these homes their own and the little village was maturing. Most had planted trees and plants. Some had dog pens and gardens. Some even had small additions.

Some of the residents had repainted their homes in anticipation of our visit.

We handed out more Beanie Babies. We almost started a small riot with the kids from all the excitement.

This little girl was holding her friends gifts. They would get a Beanie Baby from us, run to her to hold it, and then run back to us for another Beanie Baby.

On the way to our hotel we drove by the US Embassy
in Port Au Prince.

More street scenes on our bus ride.
This was one of many local markets on a typical Saturday afternoon.

A short video of my bus ride through one of the Haitian neighborhoods.

View from my hotel room of the mountain side filled with housing. I was told that was the better part of the city.

A shower, fresh clothes and reflecting on our day in Haiti.
A beautiful sunset behind my back over the city of
Port Au Prince.

Presentation of the “Hope For Haiti” T-shirt I had designed for Frank McKinney. This was my birthday gift to Frank. The design came from my photo taken of a little boy in Cap Haitian on my 1st trip to Haiti in February 2007.

The day becomes night after a long day in Haiti.

Jim Whelan thanking Doug for inviting him to this memorable experience.

Doug and Frank McKinney preparing to celebrate Frank’s Birthday with our tour group at our hotel in Haiti.

As we were leaving the hotel the next morning, I noticed that the local Rotary Club holds their meetings at the Hotel Montana where we had stayed. (I am a Paul Harris Fellow Rotary Club Member in my hometown of Newark, NY). Hotel Montana is a beautiful hotel that sits on a mountain top with great views of the distant city and valley.

Beautiful Haitian artwork on sale along side the road.

As I recall from my 1st trip to Haiti,
“There Is Much Hope For Haiti”
I look forward to my next visit.

To see my Photo Journal from my 1st Visit to Haiti
Click Here

For More Information on

The Caring House Project Foundation

Click here to visit Frank McKinney’s CHPF website

February 2007 – My 1st visit to Haiti

admin — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 15:57:20 +0000

WITH FRANK MCKINNEY, THE CARING HOUSE PROJECT FOUNDATION DONORS AND FOOD FOR THE POOR LEADERS

On this day in the countryside of Cap Haitian, Haiti the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere life was given to a whole community of people. Ange Village (Village of Angels) was dedicated. The generosity of donors to The Caring House Project Foundation brought education, shelter, sanitation, clean water and the possibility of self-sustainability to a large number of children and adults.

Hope was given to many who may have been at the brink of despair; shelter to many who may have been sleeping under cardboard and plastic; clean water and toilets to many who have lived with the illnesses that come from their absence, dignity to many who have never been able to earn themselves a living; and, most importantly, education to as many as 500 children who would surely have been condemned by ignorance to repeat the horrible cycle of poverty that has ensnared their families for many generations.

On this day we were able to witness the possibility of Hope where so much despair exists.

Frank Mckinney, Caring House Project Foundation – 6 am Flight From Fort Lauderdale

Doug Doebler along with other donors off the plane in Cap Haitian, Haiti

Cap Haitian, Haiti Airport and Customs Check in

Food For The Poor Executive Director – Angel Aloma – our guide for the day

Cap Haitian Street Scene

Cap Haitian Street Scene – notice the Bank

Cap Haitian Street Scene – open Trash/Sewage Channel – a common site

Cap Haitian Dump/Swamp – People live there

Doug in the Dump – Notice the blank look – overwhelmed and only in the country for about 1 hour

A Morning Church Service in the Dump – notice our armed guards for the day

Raised trail into the Dump/Swamp and the squatter homes in the area

Homes in the Dump/Swamp (we were told these were the nice ones)

Other Homes in the Dump – these people are lucky to have a roof we were told

Typical Home Sitting on Trash & mud pile to stay dry

Mud & Stick House in the Swamp

Is there Hope for Haiti – There is – see more photos below

Girl selling Charcoal to survive – most of Haiti is Deforested due to the production and sale of Charcoal by the homeless

We were treated to a wonderful breakfast with Frank Mckinney and Catholic Arch Bishop Hubert Constant

Ange Village (Village of Angels) built by Donations from the Caring House Project Foundation & Frank Mckinney’s visiting donors. A complete self sustaining village like this for 500 people only costs $400,000 +/- to build & supply.

United Nations armed guards at the village for the day

Franks first look at the Completed Ange Village. 500 Orphans & families from the Swamp/Dump now occupy this self sustaining village

Ange Village Children singing for us

Frank is overwhelmed at the Crowd there to meet us and to formally dedicate the village – over 600 in attendance on this 90+ degree day. The girl in the hat behind Frank is Kelli Kennedy with the Associated Press. She was with us for the day. Her story about our trip is being published in newspapers around the country.

Arch Bishop Hubert Constant leading the dedication service. The church helped choose the children & families to live in the new village and is part of the support system for the village.

The Lady that donated her families land to build the village – she will continue to live at the village and oversee it’s operation

Frank Mckinney and Caring House Project donors receive a gift from the village residents – a beautiful painting of the village

Frank Mckinney and two children cut the ribbon to dedicate Ange Village

Children very happy to greet us. Many are orphans and lived in the dump prior. Now they have homes, education, food & medical care in Ange Village.

Children lined up to shake our hands & say Mese (like Merci) thank you in Creole

Author & Real Estate Investor Mark Evans posing with two village girls. Mark said they reminded him of his nieces back in Columbus Ohio

Egg laying Chickens – Ange Villages goal is to be self sustaining. Eggs from these chickens will be used for food and will be sold.

Chicken area. Eating Chickens are being delivered soon. Goats and other animals as well as a tilapia fish farm are also planned. Food for the village and to be sold to create funds to purchase other needs for the village.

Village meal center to the right & typical home to the left

Ange Village typical home built by Frank McKinney and The Caring House Project Foundation

What Fun – we handed out 800 Beanie Babies – the kids went nuts as you can see

Doug with a big smile after seeing the completed Ange Village

Happy Children – lucky occupants of Ange Village

MY FAVORITE & FINAL PHOTO – THERE IS GREAT HOPE FOR HAITI AND ITS CHILDREN – JUST LOOK AT THIS SMILE

FOR MORE INFORMATION OR TO DONATE TO THIS CAUSE GO TO:

Frank McKinneys’ Caring House Project Foundation