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Haiti still in need
WR church, MP doc among those along the North Shore responding to the call
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In the weeks following the earthquake Jan. 12 that killed over 100,000 persons in Haiti, members of the North Shore United Methodist Church in Wading River have joined forces with fellow Long Islanders to help rebuild the devastated nation.
Diane Burkhardt, who joined the Wading River congregation in 2004, said the church recently donated over $4,000 and a "huge truckload of supplies" through Lucia Anglade of West Babylon, a native of Haiti who traveled to her homeland with a 12-person medical team last month. Burkhardt, a Wading River resident since 1972, said she had previously visited Haiti three times on behalf of Life and Hope Haiti, a nonprofit organization founded by Anglade in 2001 to provide education for children in Milot, her hometown in northern Haiti.
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| | | | Dr. Patricia Nichols, a Miller Place podiatrist, is originally from Haiti. She returned to Haiti recently to help victims of the earthquake. Courtesy Patricia Nicholas. (click for larger version) | | |
On Feb. 15, four members of the North Shore congregation, including Burkhardt, will travel to Haiti with several other volunteers from Long Island and elsewhere to deliver supplies. Their focus, according to Burkhardt, will be to help those in the city of Léogāne, where a facility for disabled and orphaned residents operated by Anglade's sister was destroyed by the earthquake.
Anglade, who returned on Jan. 26 after a 10-day trip to the devastated Caribbean nation, said she will travel to Léogāne on Saturday to provide further assistance. Born and raised in Haiti, Anglade said it's "very sad" to see "people sleeping on streets" and "kids crying for food" in her native land. Even though there has been much news coverage of the situation on television, she said it's "totally different" to see it in person.
As she continues her relief efforts, Anglade, who moved to the United States in 1991, said the support from the Wading River church has been "amazing." "I feel good," she said. "Everybody cares. Everybody wants to help."
In addition to members of the North Shore congregation, Wading River podiatrist Dr. Patricia Nicholas has also provided support by traveling to Léogāne with Anglade last month. Dr. Nicholas, who moved to the United States from Haiti 28 years ago, said she cared for "a lot of open wounds and a lot of broken bones that hadn't been treated" since the earthquake.
"It was horrendous," the doctor said. "They were in desperate need."
With plans to return to Haiti in the near future, Dr. Nicholas said she experienced a "culture shock" when she returned to her impoverished homeland after many years of living in the United States. Witnessing the dire conditions after the earthquake, "your heart breaks," she said, noting that "people are very appreciative" of the outside aid they receive.
Helping the residents in her homeland was "the best thing I did in my life," she said, "but you still feel like you didn't do enough because there's so much to be done."
The doctor, who lives with her husband and three children in Miller Place, said her work in Haiti also teaches her children "what's important in life." "I think people should live by example," she said. "When it comes time for them to rise to the occasion, they'll be able to do the same
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