The Garden City Telegram
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Group recounts quake, days following
Published 1/23/2010 in Local News
By RACHAEL GRAY
Amid uncertainty, terror, death and destruction, several southwest Kansas volunteers found hope and purpose immediately following an earthquake that hit the Caribbean nation of Haiti last week.
Six southwest Kansans were part of a 10-member team that went to Haiti to assist in construction projects on churches around the country through the Independent Christian Alliance Ministries based in Carrefour, Haiti, a coastal district of the capital of Port-au-Prince.
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Contributed Photo A building in Carrefour, a coastal district in the capital of Port-au-Prince, lost its first floor after the 7.0-magnitude earthquake hit Haiti. Several southwest Kansans were in Haiti during the earthquake and for several days after as apart of a 10-member team of volunteers from around the country who planned to do work through the Independent Christian Alliance Ministries.
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Contributed Photo Terry Major comforts a young child in Haiti last week after a 7.0-magnitude earthquake wrecked much of Port-au-Prince and Carrefour, a coastal district of the capital.
All six Kansans were confirmed safe two days after the earthquake and all returned home to their southwest Kansas homes late Tuesday night.
Two men from Montezuma, John Maples and Greg Love, and Clayton Stolzfus from Meade all arrived home late Tuesday, family members confirmed.
The men and Terry and Martha Major, Pierceville Federated Church leaders, and Doug McGraw, also a member of the church congregation, returned from Haiti late Tuesday after flying from Port-au-Prince to Orlando, then to Wichita.
New mission
The Americans arrived home, but not before completely undertaking a different kind of mission, Martha Major said.
"It was very apparent after the earthquake hit that God had a whole different purpose for our being there," Martha said.
Martha and her husband, Terry, went to Haiti a week earlier than the others because Terry spoke at a bible conference. The other team members joined them Tuesday, just hours before the earthquake hit.
The original mission was to complete a construction project for a new church, including putting on a roof and constructing benches.
Martha was to work with some widows to teach them how to make crafts they could sell on the street to earn money to buy food.
Many of the team members, including Terry, had just walked in to an uncompleted church when the earthquake hit.
He said the team members congregated in the open area, felt the ground shake and watched the beams of the structure "just kind of sway back and forth."
After the earthquake hit, the Majors said, they saw many buildings and homes fall, especially during the aftershocks and tremors following the quake.
Luckily, the church structure did not fall and neither did the home of Dr. Andre Louis, the president of the Independent Christian Alliance Church in Haiti.
The foundation of his home suffered some damage, and team members worked to stabilize the structure after the earthquake.
Doug McGraw, Garden City, another team member who went to help with construction, said timing was everything.
His plane landed in Haiti three hours before the earthquake hit.
"I feel like we were supposed to be there then because Andre, our missionary who we went for, needed us to be there to help him. And I don't think it was an accident that we arrived at that time," McGraw said.
He, Terry and other team members worked to stabilize Andre's house.
Right after the earthquake, McGraw said, he and a few team members helped break up concrete on a house where three people were stuck. He said two of the three were able to get out.
He said volunteers jumped into a lower part of the house to help free the remaining girl, but an aftershock forced them out of the structure.
McGraw said he didn't think the girl survived, and a day or two later saw a body in front of the house.
"It was probably that girl we tried to rescue," he said.
Amidst the death and devastation, Martha said the Haitian people continued to have hope.
She said she played with the children, taught some widows projects like how to make yo-yo quilts and provided comfort to people who were in pain or had lost loved ones.
Martha said an amazing part following the earthquake that continued during the aftershocks was the praying and singing in the streets.
"One thing that blew me away about the whole experience was the way those Haitians sang and praised God," she said.
Martha said that during the nights, a group of people from one direction would start singing and a another group would join from another direction.
"It was absolutely incredible that these people had such joy and they had hope," she said.
No regrets
The Majors and McGraw said leaving Haiti was bittersweet. They wanted to stay and help to complete their new mission, but also knew it was important to get back to loved ones in the United States who needed to see that they were all OK.
Terry said his goal for the group was to stay until Friday and see how much help they could offer.
But they knew they were using valuable resources.
"We knew that we were drinking water and eating food. We felt like we needed to not drink anymore water," McGraw said.
"It was time to evacuate," Terry said.
McGraw said it was hard to leave.
He said on the way to the airport, the taxi was going down the busy street and stopped at a stoplight.
A little boy came out asking for something, he said. He thought the boy may have been asking for money.
"It was very dangerous for him to be out there because the cars were so close together, and I didn't know when the light was going to change, " he said.
McGraw said he had seen beggars and desperation before.
"But when I saw him, I thought of my grandsons and what it would be like if he were one of my grandsons. I couldn't get that image out of my mind. It's one thing that really haunts me. I had seen that happen over and over before, but at that point it really touched me," he said.
McGraw, who is 67, said he would like to return.
"I'm getting a little old for construction projects, but I'd like to," he said.
He said the best part of being home was being around family and seeing their relief that he's OK. McGraw said it's hard for him to relax after his time in Haiti, and people walking above him in a building back home startled him.
But McGraw and Terry and Martha Major have no regrets.
"I wouldn't have missed it for the world," he said.
The Majors said the question of returning to Haiti is when they would return, not if.
"I can't speak for everyone else, but I know I will go back," Terry said.
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