Westshore Rotarians who have been supporting 2 orphanages in Haiti are suspending their spring visit due to the political unrest and violence affecting the nation.
Volunteer and retired Langford Fire Chief, Bob Beckett,has been checking in with the orphanages by phone and says the orphanage that is in the country outside of Port-Au-Prince is having challenges:
"Both orphanages have different sets of challenges. The one that's out in the country, the children are relatively safe, but food goods are hard to get. You know there's certain produce and stuff in the local area, but getting the milk, the flour, those types of things, the roads are being blocked and transports aren't getting through."
Beckett also says they have sent money to the other orphanage to repair a truck they rely on -- but it's too dangerous to pick the funds up:
" And we sent the money but he couldn't pick it up because of the risk of going to Western Union and being targeted by gangs or desperate people looking for money,"
Beckett says they are also delaying sending funds to replace mattresses:
" We had a very generous donor and some Rotarians who gave us some money to replace 25 mattresses that had springs coming out of them, and they've been repeatedly soiled. And there's no sense sending the money because the director just won't go to pick it up because of the risk."
The Caribbean nation has been rocked by violent protests and looting as demonstrators call for the resignation of their President over skyrocketing inflation, and failure to prosecute an embezzlement scandal over oil imports.