There are new, critical concerns for children who live 700 miles from South Florida’s shores. The U.S. Embassy in Haiti has issued security alerts due to gang violence that is putting innocent people at risk.
An American who has made it her life’s mission to help children in Haiti for almost 30 years is sharing her concerns.
Susie Krabacher founded HaitiChildren to care for thousands of abandoned, orphaned and disabled children in the Caribbean nation.
“Whatever is going on in and around our campus right now, it is almost demonic," Krabacher said. "I have never seen anything like it.”
At this time, it is so dangerous in the country, she feels she cannot travel there from her home in Colorado due to the threat of kidnapping and the other dangers it would likely draw to the campus.
“Just to hear in the background, the pop-pop-pop of guns, and my kids screaming today, is so unfathomable for a mom," Krabacher said. "And you know, my staff are heroic, however they’re starting to leave the campus, because they’re fearing for their life.”
Krabacher calls herself a “mom,” and believes these are her children and this is what she was put on this earth to do.
In the last months, Krabacher said the violence has escalated to a level she’s never seen. Her more than 100 vulnerable children, plus the thousands they feed in the surrounding community, have become malnourished, losing weight. The roads are barricaded by gangs.
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Two shipping containers with 700,000 meals can’t get through the insecure port.
“We’re trying to stave off the riots, while we’re waiting for our food to come into port. When it gets into port, all of those containers will be broken down and put on teeny tiny wooden fishing boats to get them to my campus, because it is impossible to go onto the road," she said. "I have seen footage of what happens when you try to pass the barricades. You’re beheaded.”
When she first started her work in Haiti, Krabacher believes there were about 20 organizations providing care to sick and disabled children. Now, hers is one of two. She reminds her healthy children every week they need to watch out for the other children.
“We have this conversation every week. What are you going to do if they come over the walls," she said. "You’re going to grab one of your disabled brothers or sisters, grab them, carry them, and then run.”
The last two years have seen a violent shift, according to the group.
“The rapes, the beheadings, the torture of insulting the gangs, it’s real," she said. "We are told when our schools can open, we are told when our clinics can open, we are told when the bank can open, we are told when we can go buy food, if there is food.”
Krabacher said she has reached out for help to lawmakers stateside, hoping one day the innocent children and people of Haiti will live in peace.
“There will be no change for Haiti until there is an intervention that wipes out the gangs," she said, "and it can be done, it can be done.”
To learn more about HaitiChildren or make a donation, visit www.haitichildren.org