Stillwater Gazette - StillwaterMinnesota - By Avery Cropp on November 15, 2012 - MikeStoebner of Grant wasn’t too sure about traveling to Haitiwhen his friend, Joyce Getchell, asked him to accompanyher on a recent trip with her late uncle, the Rev. BernardReiser’s relieforganization Reiser Relief.

But for Stoebner, itturned out to be the besttrip ever.

“I wasn’t sure about itat first because I didn’tknow anything aboutHaiti. I didn’t know thesafety level either. I’ve been to other third world countriesbut I was more shocked by the level of poverty in the

country,” Stoebnersaid.

“Before I got there Ithought that therewere a billion things todo there and wecouldn’t possibly makea difference. But you

L e n d i n g a h a n d i n H a i t i

do all you can do and you makea difference for one or twopeople and it’s better than doingnothing.”

The goal of Reiser Relief, anorganization started in the late1990s, is helping the people ofHaiti

“The organization is aimedtowards helping with education,clean water, food and housing,”Getchell, of Forest Lake, said.“We take care of everyone fromlittle babies to elderly individualsand abandoned women. There’sa cradle-to-grave interest because that’s really what myuncle dedicated his life to. He touched a lot of lives beforepassing away in December (27, 2011).”

Stoebner and the 11-member mission team of 11returned home Oct. 29 after being in Haiti for eight action-packed days.

Their first full day wasspent on water trucksowned by the non-profitgroup. Those trucks go toCite Soleil in Port-au-Prince, the Haitiancapital, six days a weekthroughout the year,providing the 300,000individuals in the slumwith clean and safe water.The volunteers alsovisited schools, hospitalsand other facilities thatcare for elderly people.

“One day wascompletely different from

another and it was different than the day before, andeveryone was just soappreciative,” Stoebnersaid.

“When we went tocheck on the elderly, in theVillage of Jesus, ourfoundation’s first projectthat cares for elderly andabandoned women, it was a

fantastic day,” Getchell said. “The women there are caredfor by nuns and it was fantastic. We sang with the peoplethere and danced with the people there and did their nailsand gave them a massage withlotion.”

Stoebner remembered the dayat the hospital very clearly. Hesaid the parents who come tovisit their sick kids every daywere appreciative of what ReiserRelief volunteers do because theyknow that if they can’t make ittheir kids will not go through theday without a comforting andcaring hand.

“There was one situation where I was holding a little girl,and walking around with her and feeding her. All of asudden she started crying and crying. I tried everything toget her to stop and when I turned around and looked at hercrib her mom was there smiling at me,” Stoebner said “Thelittle girl’s mom hadn’t said anything or I would’ve given

her to her right away, but she was justso happy and thankful that I was theretaking care of her kid.”

Overall, the busy schedule stayedrelatively on track although it wasinterrupted by the edge of HurricaneSandy. But the mission team didn’tknow that at the time.

“It’s kind of funny in Haiti thatyou’re so out of touchwith news and media,”It was just raining a lotthough we found outlater that it wasSandy,” Getchell said.

“We were out ofcontact with the worldand we got tons ofemails from people saying, ‘Are you okay?’ There was lotsof rain and blowing wind, but it didn’t seem like a hurricane

to us,” Stoebner said. “Butas we started driving wenoticed that floods andwashouts were huge andpeople were standing onthe road.

There were lines ofpeople standing on thehighway in the hurricanebecause they had nowhereelse to go. There was noevacuation plan, notransportation and entirevillages were wiped out. Itwas just mile after mile ofpeople standing in the

rain.”

Getchell hadsaid what theywitnessed reallyspoke to thefragility of thecountry andreinforced theimportance ofthe foundation.Haiti has little tono infrastructure, so rivers turned into torrents, and peoplewere instantly displaced from their tin shacks and tenthomes.

“As far as weather, itrained on and off for fourdays straight,” Getchell said.“But during one day whenwe had to do most of ourwork outside, it was bizarre,but the rain stopped on andoff as we started workingoutside and delivering foodlike God was closing heavenas we went about our day tolet us do what we had to do.”

Both Stoebner andGetchell said Haiti, despite

it’s poverty, is full of joyous and positive people. Getchellloves the country and Stoebneris already making plans to goback.

“I love (Haiti). I love thespirit of the country, andthey’re so rich in spirit andfaith. Many people have noone to rely on but God, andsigns of faith are displayed oneverything,” Getchell said.“You can walk down the streetand say Glory to God and theywill raise their fist and say the

same. The people of Haiti are rich in many ways and wehave a lot to learn from them.”

“They don’t lie when they say you will never be the sameafter a trip like this,” Stoebner said.

To learn more about Reiser Relief, or to get involvedcheck out their website: www.reiserrelief.org