Haiti has been ravaged by political instability And intensifying deadly gang violence. In the middle of one 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 the innocent people caught in the middle of the destabilization.
According to UNICEF, nearly 3 million children in Haiti need humanitarian assistance.
A mission group in South Florida says they feel compelled to continue their tradition by bringing not only aid but also Christmas gifts to children in what the World Bank says is the poorest country in Latin America and the Caribbean.
“A lot of people are on the brink of starvation… children who need some joy this time of year,” said Joe Karabensh, a pilot who has been flying to help people in Haiti for more than two decades. “I definitely think it’s worth the risk. We pray for safety, but we know the task is enormous and we’re filling a need.”
His company, Missionary Flights International, helps about 600 charities transport lifesaving supplies to Haiti. He has flown medical equipment, tires and even goats to the country in refurbished World War II aircraft.
But it is an annual flight around Christmas, packed with toys for children, that he finds particularly important. This year, one of its Douglas DC-3s will carry more than 260 shoebox-sized boxes of toys purchased and packaged by church members from the Family Church of Jensen Beach, Florida.
Years ago, the Church built a school in a rural community in the northern region of Haiti that now serves about 260 students.
A small group of Church missionaries volunteer each year to board the old metal planes at the Karabensh hangar in Fort Pierce, Florida, and fly to Haiti to personally deliver the load of Christmas cheer to the school . The boxes are filled with simple treasures, such as crayons, toy cars and Play-Doh.
It’s a tradition that has grown over the past decade, just as the need has increased significantly.
Contractor Alan Morris, a member of the group, helped build the school years ago and returns up to three times a year for mission trips. 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 fly near Haiti’s capital, but Morris said he remains confident his life is not in danger if he travels to the besieged country because they fly to areas further away from Port-au-Prince, where the the violence is the most concentrated.
This is where World War II aircraft play a crucial role. Because they have two wheels at the front – unlike modern passenger planes, which have one wheel at the front – the older planes can land safely on a remote grass runway.
The dangerous journey does not end there: after landing, Morris and his fellow church members have to drive another two hours with the boxes of gifts.
“I guarantee you’ve been on the worst roads,” Morris said.
Seeing the children’s faces light up as they open their presents is a treacherous journey that Morris lives for year after year.
When asked why it’s important to him to give these kids a real Christmas, Morris responded with tears in his eyes: “They have nothing, they have nothing, you know, but they are wonderful, wonderful people… and If we can give them a taste of what we think Christmas is, then we’ve done something.”
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