N. Bellmore students reach out to Haiti

When Dinkelmeyer Elementary School Principal Faith Skelos first learned of the earthquake that hit Haiti on Jan. 12, leaving more than 300,000 people dead and countless injured, she wanted to give her students the opportunity to help those in need. She soon learned about the Association of Haitian Physicians Abroad, an organization that collected medical supplies to be sent down with doctors intent on helping the sick and injured.

Dinkelmeyer students began collecting masks, gloves, soap, antibiotic ointment and all types of medical supplies. Last Friday, they finally met with the people who would take the supplies to Haiti. Skelos told the students that they were about to learn "how your supplies will be used to help people get better."

Dr. George Angus thanked the students for the medical supplies they donated, but also told them a little bit about the people they would be helping. Angus, who was born in Port-au-Prince, moved to Brooklyn when he was 11 years old because his grandmother feared that he would never amount to much in his homeland. Being a successful Haitian no longer in Haiti is far from uncommon, he said. "Most people that are capable leave the country ... So what do you have left?" Angus noted.

The doctor, who is now the director of Nassau University Medical Center's trauma center, told the students about his homeland, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Despite widespread poverty in Haiti, Angus stressed the nation's proud history and culture. "Simply because you are poor does not mean you are not rich in your heart and in your mind," Angus told the students.

Angus, who had been in Haiti about a month before the earthquake occurred, showed students pictures of beautiful old homes, cruise ships and children playing. The pictures were in stark contrast to the photos that followed. On the screen behind him, Angus pointed to a picture of the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption; he then quickly flashed to a picture of the destroyed cathedral. The crowd of children seated in front of him erupted in "wows."

Students also saw pictures of make-shift hospitals where Angus and fellow Haitian doctor Dr. Jean-Bernard Poulard had performed surgeries and administered medicine.

Poulard, who was also present, answered a few questions in the end alongside Angus. "It is an ongoing effort, and we don't know when the end is going to come," Poulard told the students. He also explained how the simplest things like soap would go a long way and help the people of Haiti. "The people of Haiti who are sick and injured thank you," Angus added.

As the students filed out of the assembly and back to their classrooms, Angus and Poulard loaded the boxes of supplies into their car. Poulard, who is headed back to Haiti on May 4, will deliver them himself.

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