Haiti has been devastated political instability i escalating and deadly gang violence. In the middle of The Federal Aviation Administration bans flights from the US. in Haiti, some volunteers remain steadfast in their determination to travel to the Caribbean country to help innocent people caught in the midst of destabilization.
Nearly 3 million children are in need of humanitarian aid in Haiti, according to UNICEF.
A missionary group in South Florida says they feel compelled to continue their tradition of bringing not just aid, but Christmas gifts to children in what the World Bank says is the poorest nation in Latin America and the Caribbean.
“A lot of people on the brink of starvation … kids who need a little cheer at this time of year,” said Joe Karabensh, a pilot who has been flying to help people for more than 20 years. ‘Haiti. “I definitely think it’s worth the risk. We pray for safety, but we know the task is huge and we’re meeting a need.”
His company, Missionary Flights International, helps about 600 charities fly life-saving supplies into Haiti. It has flown medical equipment, tires and even goats into the country in refurbished World War II-era planes.
But it’s an annual Christmas flight, filled with toys for the kids, that feels especially important to him. This year, one of their Douglas DC-3s will deliver more than 260 shoebox-sized boxes of toys purchased and packed by church members at Jensen Beach Family Church in Florida.
Years ago, the church built a school in a rural community in the northern region of Haiti, which now serves about 260 students.
A small group of church missionaries volunteer each year to board the old metal airplanes at the Karabensh hangar in Fort Pierce, Florida, and fly to Haiti to personally deliver their cargo of Christmas cheer to the school The boxes are filled with simple treasures like crayons, toy cars and Play-Doh.
It’s a tradition that has grown over the past decade, just as the need has also grown remarkably.
Contractor Alan Morris, a member of the group, helped build the school years ago and returns on mission trips up to three times a year. He keeps coming back, he said, because he feels called to do so.
“There’s a sense of peace, if you will,” he said.
last month, three passenger planes were shot down flying near Haiti’s capital, but Morris said he remains confident that his life is not in danger when he travels to the besieged country, because they fly to areas further from Port-au-Prince, where the violence is the most concentrated.
This is where World War II aircraft play a critical role. Because they have two wheels in front, unlike modern passenger aircraft, which have one wheel in front, older aircraft can safely land on a remote airstrip.
The perilous journey doesn’t end there: after landing, Morris and his fellow churchgoers have to drive another two hours with the gift boxes.
“I guarantee you, the worst roads you’ve ever been on,” Morris said.
It’s a treacherous journey that Morris experiences, year after year, watching the children’s faces light up as they open their presents.
Asked why it’s important to him to help give these kids a proper Christmas, Morris replied with tears in his eyes: “They’ve got nothing, they’ve got nothing, you know, but they’re wonderful, wonderful people… and if we can. Give them a little taste of what we think Christmas is, then we’ve made something.”