This is A Personal Touch, a chance to check in with ordinary people making an extraordinary difference in the world. I’m Rebecca Cressman and today our guest is Rebecca Maesato. We talk about making a difference in the world, and in particular Rebecca has not only been helping children here in Utah, but she has her heart also in Haiti. She runs the Foundation for Children in need, has adopted children from Haiti and extended her family.
Q: Is it true Rebecca, you went from having three daughters to eleven in your family?
A: It is. I now have eight additional sons that I adopted and now have eleven children.
Q: And all of those sons were children that you met in Haiti, is that correct?
A: They were. They were actually, we call them street kids. They were boys that were either abandoned or orphaned. And so I took them in. I had met them and they were all around the same age in their teens. We took them into our home and eventually decided to adopt them.
Q: What a blessing and yet your desire to mother and to help the needy children in Haiti went beyond your own family. You are very active; in fact leading as I mentioned, the Foundation for Children in Need. And that has you right now trying to travel back to Haiti. Tell me, Rebecca, what the foundation is going to be doing or what you personally will be doing in Haiti once you arrive?
A: Well my first objective is to get in there and locate about five different orphanages that we have recently been working with. I am concerned about those kids because they will not receive any assistance. It doesn’t matter how many big organizations go in there, these kids are forgotten. So I want to locate the orphanages and see if they are still standing, and if the kids are okay. I know they are not okay as far as food and water. So we will try to get them some food and get them taken care of in that way. Then my next objective is to find a place that is secure to bring in more volunteers. And what that entails is finding a property, which I have some in mind, that are surrounded by walls, and then we can set up a camp, a makeshift hospital, and then start getting these orphanages taken care of.
Q: You are a registered nurse, so are you traveling down with a medical team?
A: I’m not initially. I was going to; however, it is very difficult to coordinate. I am finding it a little bit better to go in. I have one escort, a male escort that is going to be my translator. And so we are going in together. We will do this initial assessment and then I’ll start bringing in teams.
Q: So you’ll be building a temporary hospital?
A: Well I wouldn’t call it a hospital. It is going to be a tent with hopefully some cots, places to put those who are sick, and when I say that, really, I am concentrating on these orphanages. I am sure it will expand beyond the five. We have already had requests from other people who have interest in orphanages to go locate theirs as well. So we are really concentrating on these children that will basically be forgotten.
Q: Well help us understand that, Rebecca. Because obviously when you first had your experience walking into Haiti, seeing the children who are forgotten, finding out how the orphanages are struggling, that is what motivated you to continue to be involved. How is it that the orphanages end up being the most forgotten in such a country filled with poverty?
A: Well one of the reasons they are is there are different kinds of orphanages. There are those orphanages that actually do have foreign assistance or are sponsored by Americans or sponsored by Canadians. And those orphanages tend to be—although they are not in great condition, they have help. And what I have done, I go in and I concentrate on orphanages that have been Haitian run. And these are people that just, most of them, just have wonderful hearts and see a need and so they open up a home. And it is just beyond their capability to take care of these kids. So many times they are starving; they really don’t have the basic necessities; this was before the earthquake. Oftentimes there will be one or two workers at the orphanage with fifty children. So we are concentrating on those. That’s why they are going to be forgotten. I don’t even know if the workers, if the caregivers are alive, and I don’t know if those kids are by themselves. So we are going to identify that and find out. But they don’t have anyone to get them to the Red Cross or the food programs. They just don’t have anyone.
Q: But they have you. Tell me a little bit, you are going to be flying out of Miami and then because the airport in the Port-au-Prince has so many problems, you will be helicoptered in, or how will you arrive in Haiti?
A: Yes, tonight we are flying into Santo Domingo and then we are renting a vehicle and making our way to a little border town. I am not sure how to pronounce it, but it is a little border town. There we are meeting a helicopter pilot who will then fly us into Port-au-Prince.
Q: And then from there have you been at each of the five homes before, these humble orphanages, before so you know where to find them?
A: Yes, in fact we were there just a week before the earthquake. And we had visited each one of these, so I am going to attempt—and when I say, “find them,” even though I have been there—it is very difficult to find them. There are no street names or addresses or anything like that and so it really actually is, without my guides that normally take me places, it will be a little bit of a challenge. So I don’t know if I am going to do that in the air and locate them and then somehow get there, or if I will be able to find a truck and then make my way there.
Q: Rebecca, the communication has been spotty throughout Haiti. You were saying that you haven’t been able to make contact with the caregivers. Once you are on the ground in Haiti, how will you then call for help? I know that your foundation will be up and active, and in just a minute we will talk about how we can support you and help you get supplies to these children, but how will you on the ground, once you are there, be able to get more resources to where you need them? Will you have cell phone service? Will you be using radios; do you know that yet?
A: Well I do; I have somewhat of a plan. Actually the internet service is improving from what I understand and so people are getting messages through Facebook and messages out as well as cell phone service is improving. So we will hopefully be able to do that; as well I had a kind person donate a satellite phone. So I will have a connection with the outside world anyway.
Q: That’s fantastic! I have actually spoken to someone who is on the top of, I think, Mount Kilimanjaro with a satellite phone. So wherever you are at, that is a very effective way for you to communicate. Let’s talk about how we can support you? We can all envision in some ways what it would be like for you as you arrive and try to get through the roads and try to find those children. And once you assess the need how can we back here help you?
A: Well of course the number one way is President Bush and…
Q: Former President Bill Clinton as well?
A: Yes. How they have just said, “Really, just send in your cash,” and that is the best way at this point. Of course physical donations will just be a burden at this point for distribution and for storing. So what we really need is cash donations and then the next priority that I have is donated airline miles. And the reason for that is to help—we have lots of people that are willing and ready at a moments notice to go down and volunteer. But coming up with the airline fees is hard for some. So if we can get teams down there on gifted or donated airline miles then that will really free up our cash for food and water.
Q: And again your main concern is getting these children immediate shelter and a safe place like you were saying, “Walls.” Find out what their needs are. You are fearful that they don’t have access to food and water; get them those basics and by our cash donations we could help you obtain those basics. With frequent flyer miles that are donated, we can help make sure that others with medical expertise can help take care of them. Now you have an active website through Foundation for Children in need, and we have a link for that on our site right now: children-in-need.us is what I have.
A: Yes.
Q: Can we donate sky miles through your website?
A: Yes you can. I think my daughter Leah has actually put up a link; she will be the specialist with that. If there are any questions, her number is on the website and she can direct each person. She has researched how to do that for each airline.
Q: And Rebecca, you have bought a one way ticket?
A: Yes [laughs] I have a one way ticket and we will see what happens when I get there.
Q: Have you also been advised about any precautions that you need to take as you are traveling down there because of the possible concerns for sanitation, etc?
A: Well I am pretty familiar with the country and the precautions are pretty standard anyway, but of course the safety precautions as far as the dangers, I am well acquainted with those as well. We are going to take every precaution so we can come back and still be effective—as well, we have filtration we are taking in just like we would on our backpacking trip. So I have all my supplies ready and we are ready to go survive there; see what we see.
Q: Well Rebecca, it has been year after year that you set an incredible example of how to take care of and actively be compassionate about those who are in need. Right now what is wonderful about seeing people like you go into action is that it inspires us. It is, “If Rebecca can drop everything and get herself into the middle of Haiti, there is something I can do on my level.” And I think you have given us wonderful examples of ways that we can support you. We will be thinking of you. We will be praying for you while you are in Haiti as well as praying for the people in Haiti. Rebecca, thank you so much for joining us today.
A: Thank you so much. I appreciate being able to get the word out and I appreciate this interview so thank you, Rebecca.
And Rebecca Maesato, again the information on how you can help with the Foundation for Children in Need is on here and the sooner we martial our resources to help Rebecca and those children, the sooner the help will get into the arms of the orphanages and the orphans in Haiti. Thank you for joining us. I’m Rebecca Cressman; we want to thank you also for being with us on this week’s edition of A Personal Touch Be sure to check your email next week to find out who else is making a difference in our world with a personal touch.
End of interview.
