A second visit to Haiti gives Kalispell woman a sense of hope for country

Pat Freebury arrived home in mid-March smiling instead of crying for Haiti.

“Because one person got caught in the earthquake, so much good has come of something bad,” she said. “I saw the results of the money people here donated and the things people did.”

When the earthquake hit a little over a year ago, Freebury was visiting the Haiti Mercy Mission, a Christian charity in Pignon where she volunteers and sponsors two children. The Inter Lake followed her story as she struggled to survive and make her way home.

With the interested generated, Freebury was invited to present nearly 30 programs, during which she raised money to help the mission and refugees fleeing the hard-hit city of Port-au-Prince.  Her work, including a benefit concert, raised almost $15,000 as well as many goods and gifts to help the orphans.

“The whole community stepped up — it was unbelievable,” she said. “A lot of wonderful things have happened. Now, Kalispell is sponsoring 14 kids.”

Freebury, 72, a retired school librarian, said her sons Greg and Jeff and husband, Gary, had an understandable reaction when she planned her return to Haiti amid reports of cholera and typhoid epidemics and unending political upheaval.

“My poor family — they were beside themselves,” she said.

From the moment she returned home last year, Freebury intended to return to see her sponsored children and help the people who have claimed a special place in her heart. When the mission asked her to teach vacation Bible school, her mind was set.

“It’s just something I have to do,” she said.

Prior to her return trip, Freebury sent a bounty of goods collected for Haiti Mercy Mission’s home, schools and new hospital. Women from Pope John Paul II church in Bigfork and youth of Epworth United Methodist Church in Kalispell helped Freebury fill 500 hydration packets for people ill from epidemics.

“The Catholic women also bought supplies to make 68 hygiene kits for me to send to our medical clinic,” she said. “They also helped me make fleece blankets and quilts and collected 350 pairs of Crocs shoes. I got to see them in use.”

Soroptimists pitched in as well, collecting toys, stuffed animals and whatever else she needed from their thrift store.

“They’ve been wonderful,” she said. “They said that whatever I needed, just tell them.”

Because of violence after an election, her trip was postponed from January until two weeks before the scheduling of a second election. She left Kalispell on March 1 for a two-week stay.

When she touched down in Port-au-Prince, Freebury witnessed amazing changes taking place in Haiti. New buildings were going up in Port-au-Prince and big trucks and heavy equipment were traveling  around the country.

“They’re working on the roads in Haiti,” she said. “Hinche (a city) even has bypasses and roundabouts. Motorcycles are everywhere. It was exciting.”

Instead of flying into Pignon by small plane, Freebury and Minnesota volunteer Bob Burns drove about 50 miles from Port-au-Prince to the rural town. She was amazed to find Pignon’s small downtown area torn up with new construction.

“When the earthquake hit, it was a rough dirt road,” she said. “That stretch will be cobblestone with curbs and drainage and power poles.”

Freebury said many other roads remain rough. It was so bad that she didn’t even feel the earthquake a year ago because she was in transit over one of the Haiti’s infamous bone-jarring roads.

“It’s hard on the body,” she said with a laugh. “I don’t know how much more I can take.”

In the wake of the disaster, many new mission groups came to Haiti with manpower and money. Freebury even saw one group digging ditches in downtown Pignon.

She said that was a big factor in the changing face of the country. Donations to Haiti Mercy Mission allowed expansion of its work.

“It was a whole different trip this time — I’m going to put together a new program,” she said. “I’m pretty proud of our Haiti Mercy Mission. There’s a lot happening.”

At a new church and school opened in Labissinthe, students receive a free lunch along with learning. Local people benefit from small medical clinics brought there by the clinic.

Freebury said she took the Crocs on a visit to that extremely poor area. She had them all organized by size but the people’s enthusiasm overcame her attempts at organization.

“They mobbed us,” Freebury said. “We finally got out and let them have at it.”

For a year, the mission fed refugees that streamed into the area. Freebury said 12 people lived for months in one of the buildings separate from the orphanage.

The mission cares for 60 to 65 children at the facility where youngsters often appear unannounced. They receive food, care and go to school with no questions asked.

None are available for adoption.

“We’re trying to educate and raise the kids with a skill so they can be good citizens of Haiti,” she said.

She remains extremely proud that the Flathead Valley helped Haiti Mercy Mission open and maintain La Jeune Clinic and Hospital. In the months following the earthquake, the facility saw up to 50 patients a day.

While a lot of orphanages put up new buildings, she said Haiti Mercy Mission leased a former clinic, stocked it with donated supplies and hired staff. During her visit, Freebury saw just how much impact the medical facility has on this remote area.

“We saved the life of a mother and child,” she said. “The woman had a huge breast infection and the baby was starving.”

Freebury said the woman walked for miles with her child and grandmother to reach help. She was saved by the staff and medical supplies, which require about $5,000 a month to keep stocked.

“The people only pay what they can afford,” she said. “Even if they can’t pay, we still take care of them.”

Patients leave with hygiene kits such as those assembled in the Flathead Valley.

Unlike her last trip, which became a struggle for survival, Freebury described this as a wonderful experience. She stayed well and held vacation Bible school and a tea party, taught English, knitting and a new chicken dance.

Watching the children batting a candy-stuffed piñata became a highlight of her trip.

“They were so excited that they were just trembling,” she said with a smile.

On this trip, transportation back to the United States was easy, but the trip was emotionally difficult.

Freebury recalled how one of her sponsored children, Erickson Benjamin, 8, buried his head in her lap and began sobbing the night before she was to leave.

“It’s just heart-wrenching,” Freebury said. “You never know if you are going to get back there.”

Before her feet hit the ground, she was making a plan to teach the story of Jonah and the whale at vacation Bible school next year. Freebury also envisioned presenting a new Haiti program with a goal of raising money for solar panels, so the orphanage can run electricity more than two hours a day.

“We also hope to get a solar water pumping system to bring water to the buildings from the well,” she said. “I plan to have a rummage sale probably at the end of May.”

People interested in a scheduling a program may contact Freebury at 752-1153 or email her at gfreebury@centurytel.net.

Reporter Candace Chase may be reached at 758-4436 or by e-mail at cchase@dailyinterlake.com .