(The pic is of the orphan children at the Greta Home and Academy on their new playground.)
Two weeks ago I was in Haiti with Reverend Franklin Graham and Samaritan’s Purse to open the new Greta Home and Academy. Yes, we knew it was dangerous (see below and I have traveled there many times) but we had been working on the project and we wanted to do it for the children. We also promised.
Of course we took security precautions but traveling to a country like Haiti is always a big risk. Americans traveling in many countries are at a elevated risk (I think Pakistan is the most dangerous for Americans and I am always on edge there.) Haiti has been very dangerous for Americans — it has virtually no police force or infrastructure.
You may worry about the children at the Greta Home and Academy in such a dangerous place – I do. No doubt you have seen their pics here and see how innocent they are. Yes, we all worry about the children but I just want you to know that while it is very dangerous to travel to Haiti, and around Haiti, the Greta Home and Academy is as safe as possible. It has a giant wall around the property and there is security there.
Read the story below – and see how grim it is in Haiti.
PS – it was kind of Laura to forward this story. She obviously saw it very early this morning (before coffee?) and was worried or would not have forwarded it to me. She has a big heart.
State Dept. issues revised Haiti travel warning
The Associated Press
Saturday, Dec. 29, 2012 | 1:38 a.m.
The State Department has issued an updated warning to Americans traveling to Haiti, citing murder, robbery and infectious disease.
The advisory issued Friday warns that no one traveling to Haiti is safe from kidnapping, regardless of occupation, nationality, race, gender, or age.
In recent months, the department says, travelers arriving in Port-au-Prince on flights from the U.S. have been attacked and robbed after leaving the airport. At least two Americans were shot and killed in robbery and kidnapping incidents this year.
Haitian authorities, the department says, have limited capacity to deter or investigate violent crimes.
The State Department also notes that cholera persists in many areas of Haiti. Medical facilities, including ambulance services, are particularly weak.
