EDITORIAL: Ways we can help Haiti

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08-02-2025

The images flashed on TV and published in the daily papers show a grim situation in Haiti. Yet without being there, few of us will ever know the pain and hardship that Haitians now face.
Still, we can help. People in the Hutchinson area, just as across the world, are responding with an outpouring of support. The American Red Cross and Salvation Army are worthy organizations that deserve donations and will do a great deal to provide relief to those affected by this tragedy.
Other relief organizations, some based right here in Minnesota, are worthy of support, as well. On Friday we talked with two Hutchinson women, Beth Gasser and Cindy Haugland, who have been to Haiti and have high praise for three agencies tied to Rotary International that are already working there:
< Shelterbox is an immediate-response program that provides equipment and teams on the ground quickly in disaster areas. Shelterbox teams arrived in Haiti last week to provide relief. For more information, visit www.Shelterbox.org.
< Haiti Outreach is a Minnesota-based and Rotarian-led organization that has teams on the ground in Haiti with more than 20 years of experience building infrastructure such as wells and equipping schools. Visit www.haitioutreach.org.
< The Web site www.RotaryPartnershipforHaiti.com is promoting several options for Rotary Clubs and other organizations looking for ways to assist in Haiti.
Mss. Gasser and Haugland traveled to Haiti two years ago and spent two weeks there on a mission conducted by Rotary International. They saw firsthand the work being done there. If your idea of a vacation to the Caribbean is spending hours sunning yourself on a tropical beach, this trip would not have been for you.
The two women and 10 others spent almost all their time in a rural area near the village of Pignon. There they helped support efforts to drill wells and build school desks. They visited hospitals, orphanages, churches and schools to learn about Haitian culture.
The experience was an eye opener, to say the least. The group reached Pignon by airplane, landing in a field at sundown. The plane barely made it back into the air that night, as there were no landing strip lights. In fact, the village had no electricity at all. 'It's quite the feeling when you're in a Third World country and you get dropped off in the middle of nowhere,' Ms. Gasser said.
The group stayed in a deserted missionary compound outside the village. They mostly ate goat and Spam.
There were no paved roads, homes were built of mud, and tarps were used as roofs. They had brought money, but there was no place to spend it. 'There wasn't even a store,' Ms. Gasser said. A couple of days, though, someone brought soda and beer to sell in the village.
Travel to other villages was difficult at best. Roads were washed out and an entire day was needed to travel only a short distance. 'Even under the best circumstances it's terrible,' Ms. Gasser said.
Ms. Haugland said what she saw in Haiti was 'the poorest of the poor.'
'It was worse than I expected,' she said. 'It was shanties and shacks and some people had nothing to eat.'
She recalled being invited to one's family tiny home and learning that all they had to eat was an orange.
Since last week's earthquake, the two women have been facilitating efforts to bring relief to the region. Help will be needed for a long time.
'The need is going to be just as great three months from now as it is today,' said Ms. Haugland, who hopes to visit Haiti again in a few months when travel conditions improve.
Anyone who wants to donate to Shelterbox and Haiti Outreach, she said, can be assured that 'their money can be trusted to be used in the best way.'
Ms. Gasser said Haiti Outreach has very little overhead and donors 'can make sure the money goes to the people who need it.'
We checked out the group with the Charities Review Council of Minnesota and it meets all of the council's standards. Eighty-six percent of all revenues go directly to programs, far exceeding the council's 70-percent minimum standard.
The two women's humanitarian spirits also run in their families. Both have young daughters who attend New Discoveries Charter School and are collecting donations for Haitian relief efforts there.
The anguishing TV images of the Haitian people are not going unnoticed in Hutchinson. As Ms. Haugland noted, 'It's sad to see people who had nothing to now have even less.'
But thanks to these women, there's hope.
(Terry Davis is a Hutchinson Leader staff writer. E-mail him at [e-mail].)