RIESTER

Young girl at Hope. Photo predates the earthquake.

The situation in Haiti is dire. Our friends Tim and Toby Banks are struggling to deal with the chaos around them. They need to care for two of their own children who live in Haiti with them and the twenty girls whose home is the orphanage. 

The orphanage, which is both school and home to the Banks and the twenty orphan girls who live there is unsafe and unusable. The Hope Center for Orphaned Girls exists to provide a stable home and an education to young Haitians without parents. It is not an orphanage that places children with adoptive families. The number of orphans in Haiti, over 200,000 before the earthquake, has led to a variety of types of orphanages to serve these children. Hope raises Haitian girls to live productive lives in Haiti. One of Haiti’s many problems is high illiteracy and lack of education. Hope is working to change that.

Because the situation is so bad and there is not currently a home or even a safe place for the girls at Hope, the Banks decided the best thing to do was to seek temporary asylum and bring the orphans to their home in Ohio until the building could be secured and the situation in Haiti stabilizes.

On Wednesday, U.S. Embassy personnel granted humanitarian visas and the group of 23 was about to begin their journey out of Port-au-Prince. Before they could leave, the paperwork was subsequently revoked. The visas granted were a new type of visa created by the Department of Homeland Security specifically to speed the process of migration for Haitian orphans being placed in American families. The orphans at Hope live in the custody of Americans who are temporarily expatriates–there is no intention to permanently relocate the orphans to the U.S. They fall into a grey area where no current visa clearly covers them.

For over two days, Toby, her two children and the twenty girls camped out inside the U.S. Embassy. Tim Banks is planning to stay behind to begin the rebuilding process. Last night officials at the embassy encouraged Toby to stay with her group inside the embassy. Current laws and rules do not allow her to take the children out of the country, however, because of the extraordinary circumstances Toby and Tim are hopeful that something will change.

This afternoon Toby and the children left the embassy and went back to Hope’s compound. They are still trying to find a way to leave the country for a temporary safe haven.

Regardless of what comes next Tim and Toby Banks need funds for the orphanage especially because of the extreme situation they are facing as a result of the earthquake.

The need in Haiti is huge. There are many good people and organizations working as hard and fast as they can for the millions of people affected by the earthquake. Because of our connection to the Banks we are doing what we can to help them. Please join us.

Your contribution will make a difference for twenty little girls aged 2-13 who need our help. Please send a check to:

RIESTER Foundation
802 North 3rd Avenue
Phoenix, AZ 85003

Write “Haiti” in the memo line of the check.

Thank you.

See all posts regarding Haiti at http://www.riester.com/haiti/

Photos can't begin to capture the extent of the ruins. Members of Fairfax County Urban Search and Rescue scale the former Montana Hotel during rescue operations in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Jan. 14, 2010. The all volunteer service partnered with U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and multi-national relief agencies to support relief efforts in the aftermath of the 7.0 magnitude earthquake. Photo by member of U.S. Navy.