Toby Munson Banks explains the decision to leave the U.S. Embasssy in Port-au-Prince.
The RIESTER Foundation is raising money in support of Haiti’s Hope Center for Orphaned Girls. Below is an update from Toby Banks in Haiti. Toby and her husband Tim are currently working to temporarily evacuate the orphans that they are responsible for because of the desperate conditions they face in Haiti. The goal of the orphanage is to raise girls to become productive citizens in Haiti. The orphanage gives parentless girls a family, an education and sisters–creating a lifelong support system.
From Toby Banks:
After 60 hours of camping on the floor of the embassy, Sterline became ill with a stomach illness. A doctor came to check on her and gave us some things to help her, but caring for her in the environment we were in was impossible. There were literally thousands of people going through the area we were in with 2 toilets. Diapers, wipes, baby food, water and MREs were provided. The embassy personnel, DHS folks, DOS folks, Consular General folks, everyone in the embassy was gracious and accommodating. In spite of this, the girls were becoming increasingly uncomfortable and upset as time was passing. We were unable to sleep, sharing 2-3 spoons and water bottles, could not bathe or even properly clean the girls and I knew that once Sterline became ill, it was just a matter of time until the illness was passed to others because of the conditions. It was a difficult decision to make, and even looking at our goal of evacuating the girls as the high priority, I had to decide to move from the embassy to our temporary shelter at the clinic so the girls could be cared for. This does not mean that we have ceased our attempts to evacuate the girls or even that our attempts have lessened. It just means that we had to change our address to work from.
>>>>>>END DISPATCH FROM HAITI<<<<<<
To support the Hope Center for Orphaned Girls please send a check to:
RIESTER Foundation
802 North 3rd Avenue
Phoenix, AZ 85003
Please write “Haiti” in the memo line of the check.
All contributions are welcome and will be used for the orphanage.
To see all updates from RIESTER regarding Haiti visit: http://www.riester.com/haiti
Tags: Haiti, Hope Center for Orphaned Girls, Tim Banks, Toby Banks, Toby Munson Banks
