Clifton Park group aids Haiti orphanage
CLIFTON PARK (Jan. 29) — For 4 days, every time the telephone rang Cindy Schmehl worried. She hoped for the best but prepared for the worst. Ever since the Haiti earthquake, Schmehl worried about the 29 children at the Orphanage of Good Faith in Port au Prince.
“It’s one of those situations where every time the phone rings you hope it’s good news,” said Schmehl, executive director of To Love a Child, a Clifton Park-based charity that supports the Orphanage of Good Faith. “We were so concerned for the children and their caretaker.”
To Love a Child executive director Cindy Schmehl with a girl from the Orphanage of Good Faith in Port au Prince, Haiti.
“We had a few minor injuries, mainly cuts from cinderblocks,” Schmehl said. But not all of the news was good. To Love a Child worked with a Haitian businesswomen’s group in Haiti to help the orphanage, and 3 of its members died in the earthquake.
After hearing the children survived, Schmehl knew she had to see them as soon as possible. But there were no flights available to Haiti. So she gathered 3 other volunteers and flew to the Dominican Republic. From there, they drove 7½ hours to Port au Prince. Once there, they found the children under a tent in a large soccer field the caretaker had taken them to. There was 1 bag of rice for all of the children.
“We found them there with about 7,000 other people. The day we arrived was the first aid that anyone in that camp had received,” Schmehl said. “The next day we’ve moved them out of the camp to the countryside.”
There the children had grass fields to play in and mango and banana trees to provide them with snacks.
Now Schmehl is already thinking about her next trip back once the Port au Prince has reopened. To help make sure she has plenty of supplies to take with her, Clifton Park parks and recreation director Myla Platt Kramer and the folks in her department organized a benefit concert from 3-9 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 30 at Northern Lights.
Four bands will perform — Captain Squeeze and the Zydeco Moshers at 3, Garland Nelson (of Soul Session) and Friends at 4:30, Vivid at 6 and Cryin Out Loud at 7:30. There will also be a bounce house from 3-5, face painting, raffles, food and a bake sale. The cost is $10 per person with children under 10 free, and 100% of the proceeds go to To Love a Child.
Kramer and her coworkers decided to hold a benefit because they work one office down from deputy town clerk Teresa Brobston, who is president of To Love a Child’s board of directors.
“It’s very easy for people to think someone else is going to do it,” Kramer said. “There’s so much more that needs to be done — food, first-aid supplies, the need to rebuild.”
One thing that might need rebuilding is the orphanage. The building has cracks in it, and Schmehl isn’t sure if it’s still safe. That’s why she is hoping to find an engineer or a building expert to volunteer for the group’s next trip to Haiti. There are other professions she would like to see represented on the trip.
“We would love it if we could get a nurse or a doctor to go with us,” she said. “A dental hygienist would be great.”
But, Schmehl said, there is no training necessary to make the trip.
“Basically just anyone with a big heart who wants to help and comfort a child,” she said. “These children want to be held. They’re really scared.”
For more infomation:
- More photos from Cindy Schmehl’s post-earthquake trip to Haiti
- To Love a Child, P.O. Box 165, Clifton Park, 859.4424
- Northern Lights, 1208 Route 146, Clifton Park, 371.0012
