Habitat director recounts relief trip
When a devastating earthquake rocked Haiti on Jan. 12, there was no doubt in Jim Killoran’s mind that he was going down there to help. The executive director of Habitat for Humanity of Westchester prepared for 12 days before departing to the Caribbean with Pastor Rigaud Pierre of French Speaking Baptist Church and Emanuel Ceneus, a former Port-au-Prince policeman living in New Rochelle.

“When I was in Haiti I saw people acting like they were going to work,” Killoran explained. “Then I saw a knocked down building, then several knocked down buildings and two bodies on the side of the road. There were thousands of tents and mattresses on the side of the road and relief lines with hundreds of people in them.”

Killoran, Ceneus and Pierre arrived on Jan. 24 and departed on Jan. 28. What Killoran saw changed the way he looks at the world.

“It’s like everything you ever experienced in life has been totally changed,” Killoran explained. “At home you’re seeing a vibrant New Rochelle and you’re not smelling death. Having never done that before, it shows me that every second in life is a gift for everyone.”

Before departing to the island country, Killoran picked up malaria pills and received shots for immunization towards diseases found in Haiti but not common in the United States. He estimated that in his time in Haiti he received approximately 75 mosquito bites on his arms, legs and face. Pat Patel, owner of the New Rochelle Prescription Center, provided Killoran and his crew with supplies including gauze pads, wraps and Band-Aids.

“Jim is a gentle man who went there to make things better,” Patel said. “Since it was Jim asking me for the supplies I didn’t question him. I know him and know that he wouldn’t ask me to do anything wrong.”

The trio flew into Santa Domingo, Dominican Republic via American Airlines. From there they drove to the border of the two countries with Haitian policemen and news reporters from London, England. Even when they reached the border, the group had initial trouble getting across it. Killoran gave the border patrol $140 just to cross the border. He called this act by the border patrol “frustrating.”

“We were wondering if we were going to be able to get over the border,” Killoran said. “Here’s an apocalyptic crisis and these guys are trying to make money off of it.”

Killoran and crew crossed the border at 4 a.m. and followed 14 relief trucks for eight hours to get to Port-au-Prince.

Though he had trouble crossing the Dominican/Haitian border, Killoran stated that the guard he gave the money to was an “anomaly.” He credited the Dominican Republic for being very good to Haiti, even sending their relief trucks across the border.

Killoran met with the national director of Habitat for Humanity, Claude Jeudy, whose offices had been flattened. None of the 50 staff members of Habitat for Humanity died.

“We think that God watched over them,” Killoran said. “Even so they are suffering because everybody down there has lost somebody they knew.”

During the meeting with Jeudy which included members of Habitat’s international staff, they discussed a number of people who want to sponsor new homes to be built. One man, who chose to remain anonymous, offered to sponsor a charter airline. According to Killoran, the volunteers include high school students, West Point cadets, professional builders and members of Rotary clubs. The trio then went to Pierre’s relatives’ house which had cracks throughout the floors and walls. Realizing that they couldn’t stay there, they went to a hotel which had no electricity and no water. They crammed into the room with one person sleeping on the floor.

“At night you would hear people praying and singing in the streets,” Killoran observed. “One guy who lost his father and daughter said ‘Jim. Even the voodoo doctors are praying to Jesus now.’”

The next morning, Killoran awoke and went to go see homes that Habitat built in Haiti over the last 20 years. Fortunately none of the houses were knocked down though there were slight cracks that were easily fixed. U.S. military was everywhere as well as troops from Argentina helping out in the relief effort. Also helping was a Korean disaster team. After venturing to the town of Cabaret, approximately 90 miles from Port-au-Prince, they returned to the capital city where they helped distribute medicine, bandages, antibiotics, creams and gauze.

Killoran saw people migrating out of Port-au-Prince to avoid overcrowding; he believes that this earthquake will decentralize Haiti. He added that one reason for the migration was due to fear of another earthquake.

“People are moving back to the towns outside of the city,” Killoran said. “That is where Habitat is hoping to build thousands of houses. There are hundreds of pockets of people in neighborhoods that have not been touched yet.”

Sleeping came hard to Killoran and his mates. From mosquitoes buzzing to loud moans from people in the streets who were deathly sick, sleep wasn’t in their vocabulary.

The next day, Killoran returned to the Habitat office in Port-au-Prince where he met an engineer who is designing multi-hazard homes. From there he went to visit the injured in the hospital where he prayed with them.

“You’re just praying that they will live,” Killoran said. “I kept thinking, what would it be like for me not to have a limb? Was there anesthesia used?”

That night, the trio went to meet with some families where they ate dinner in a house which had every wall crumbling. While there, Killoran created a network for Habitat of Westchester in Haiti which would allow him to return with volunteers between February and March. The logistics are being worked out currently with the national office of Habitat for Humanity to see when the volunteers would be allowed there.

The group woke up early the next morning to visit one neighbor’s house near Pierre’s home.

“We saw 50 people in the neighborhood all sleeping like sardines on mattresses on a small, dirty street where their houses had crumbled around them,” Killoran said. “I had $500 in my pocket which I distributed to the people. It was not only to give them money but to show them our support.”

The group crossed the border into the Dominican Republic for free this time but was stopped by patrol guards four times in the first two miles. When they arrived in Santa Domingo they boarded the plane. Killoran dropped something and a girl on the plane handed it back to him; he noticed that her arm was cut. She told him how she is from Brooklyn and was visiting her father in Haiti. When the earthquake hit, she was in the shower and the house collapsed on her. It took her three hours to be found.

“Her teeth are ruined, her leg is quasi-paralyzed at times and she had gravel in her ears,” Killoran explained.

Habitat for Humanity is planning on launching a program to build 100 homes in Haiti. Killoran stated that five years from now, his organization will still be in Haiti.

“This is a long-term partnership to change Haiti which is the poorest country in the hemisphere,” Killoran said. “The Sound Shore can be wiped out in a minute and there would be Haitians coming to help us.”