So near, yet so far...

As soon as we drive over the border, it is very evident we are stepping on foreign soil. Forget clean, sterile, and orderly, say hello to dirt, disorganization and poverty. The road that parallels the city provides instant saddening views of run-down shacks strewn down mountain sides along with their garbage. As we drive father down the coast to Ensenada, still in view is the ever present poverty, but the ocean views are spectacular.

We have been conducting missions here for over two years. These missions provide food and needed supplies to two different orphanages. The orphanages have approximately 40-50 children at any given time, some with special needs. Some of the children have been dropped off at the orphanages doors by parents too poor to feed them and more than likely have experienced some physical or sexual abuse. But they are the fortunate ones, at least they do not survive by living off the garbage dumps.

The downturn of the economy and violence between the warring drug cartels have all but dried up any support these orphanages used to receive. Too many times we have come down to find they were out of propane or the electricity was going to be cut off. Airline Ambassadors has set up a fund called the Mexican Orphans Fund through which we have been able to help out one of the orphanages, Casa de Paz, for the last 20 months with their electricity and propane. They have been trying to be more self-sufficient, but they still desperately need our help.

The other orphanage is called Pequenos Hermanos and we were saddened to find out on our last mission in July that their needs well exceeded what we originally thought. They had been cooking up rice, adding water to it and serving it as "rice soup" to the children. Our goal now is to be able to provide help and needed supplies to both orphanages through our fund.

Most of the volunteers that go on these missions are repeat volunteers. It is easy to bond with the children and each other. Once they see the needs of these children it is easy to get hooked. Besides providing the help, we are also fortunate to stay in a gated beach front privately owned home. We make the time to enjoy the local cuisine and spectacular ocean views. The needs presented to us are overwhelming and never-ending but we do what we can a little bit at a time. After the missions are done, we are exhausted and filled with mixed emotions of fulfillment and sadness.

As we drive back over the border again it is hard to believe such a foreign land is only two hours away.

Becky Gahman
AAI Mexico Mission Coordinator

A Trip to Mirebalais

The prevailing poverty continues to overwhelm me each time I return to Haiti, and the last trip was no exception despite the few slight improvements made to the country's infrastructure.

There really is no way to prepare those traveling with me what to expect, as full realization of the chaos caused by the earthquake has to be encountered first hand. The poverty is too enormous, too widespread. New groups often get the feeling of: "Where do we begin?" It would be hard not to feel moved, frustrated, even futile.

The difficult journey north to Mirebalais gave everyone time to reflect on the severity of the situation. By the time we arrived at the Orphanage for God's Children the members of the group were naturally disposed to be captivated by the warmth of the children, demonstrating the effects of what a little kindness can do.

We set to work with purpose creating a virtual classroom. You can imagine the buzz of excitement and the collective curiosity generated by the forty individual laptops various AAI groups had donated. One of the older children commented that "Airline Ambassadors is taking us out of the stone age".

We spent the next day training Haitian teachers on the use of the computers, and suggesting ideas for a curriculum as well as setting up educational seminars for the children. Sue Hanna gave a stimulating biology lesson to kick off proceedings. The children were like little sponges, soaking in every detail. One child mentioned that he "didn't think my body was like animal bodies".

Education is clearly a crucial agenda for the development and future of Haiti.

Corey Aungst
AAI Mission Coordinator

All Creatures - Great and Small...

A passionate advocate for animals, Airline Ambassadors volunteer Kathy Casper has five dogs of her own. When she went to Haiti on an AAI humanitarian mission she met "Spy", a young Rottweiller owned by Gael Antoine, AAI's Haiti Logistics Director. Spy had been hit by a car, which had shattered the bone in his hind leg. Fearing the leg would have to be amputated, Kathy took the dog back to the US for treatment, paying the $150 in airline charges...This is her report back:

Just got home. Spy met with two doctors and one of the best orthopedic surgeons and had x-rays. Surprisingly, the advice was that the leg is healing nicely, and that surgery was unnecessary. He will walk with a limp because a pin is not an option as his bone was shattered, but new cartilage and bone is growing back. However, the dog is in no pain at all. They had him on an IV with antibiotics and a list of other things for two days and he is ready to go home to Haiti.

We also did all the vaccines, so he is good to go. He has been a good patient and everyone loves him. Now I have to work on getting him back home. Ideally, it would have been great to have an x-ray machine in Haiti, but we certainly would not have gotten an expert orthopedic dog surgeon to work on Spy, so at the end of the day, Spy is a healthier dog.

Kathy Casper
AAI Volunteer