Haiti and the True Meaning of Edeyo: "Help Them"

It's been nearly two months since the earthquake hit my homeland, Haiti, and while some of the media has shifted their focus to other events around the globe, Edeyo, which means "Help Them" in Haitian Creole, has been front and center to all the devastation left behind.

Edeyo was founded in 2007 when myself, Unik Ernest, decided to use my birthday as a platform to raise funds and launch this organization. Together with Michael Pradieu we came up with a common view to empower Haitian youth by creating educational opportunities for some of Haiti's poorest children. That year, Edeyo opened the doors to its newly-renovated school, Ecole Communautaire du Bel-Air Herve Romain Coeur Joyeux in Bel-Air, one of the poorest shantytowns of Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince, to its first group of students.

The school was providing free education and a daily meal to over 300 boys and girls...

Then devastation hit.

The earthquake left my country in tatters and the school that Edeyo opened was destroyed. Hundreds of our students are still missing and many teachers are feared dead. During the first week of February, a small group of volunteers, including doctors and nurses from around the country, traveled to Haiti via the Dominican Republic. Though small in number, they were able to quickly arrange for supplies to set up an ad-hoc clinic under large tents, donated by the Swiss Humanitarian Mission, in front of the old Edeyo school building in Bel-Air. The neighborhood quickly turned to this location as the main local point to receive medical attention and aid as the team was able to serve hundreds in the local community. The team worked with six Edeyo teachers, as they began finding and registering students, most of whom were left homeless and injured after the earthquake.

As of Monday, February 8th, 2010, the team was able to register 188 students; 112 are still missing and six have been confirmed dead. Overall, 90% of the registered children suffered from minor injuries such as cuts, bruises and symptoms of fever, diarrhea and dehydration. A large percentage suffered from scabies or severe bodily injuries.

The Edeyo foundation was the first and only organization that visited the people of Bel-Air, and will continue to do so. We will be sending a second, larger team in late February to Haiti. They will be bringing large amounts of food, water and supplies. The team is also planning on scouting new locations in order to temporarily or permanently house the school to get the students to return to regular classes as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, my own mother, Mommy Maude, has been on the ground doing an outstanding job. Edeyo has over 15 tents all over Port-au-Prince. She has managed to have a water storage set up in the slums of Bel-Air and every day to every other day a truck from Viva Rio, a Brazilian organization, delivers water through Edeyo to be distributed to the people. She has gathered a group of doctors to administer post medical care to the children and the people in the community. Edeyo's chapter in Haiti has been serving 1,500 people per day in medical care, yet this is only the beginning of a long road to recovery. On February the 26th, the Consul General of France, Philippe Lalliot, will host a charity gala at the Consulate General of France for my foundation along with our partner, Harlem Academy. The theme for the gala is "Build a School, Build a Life," celebrating Black History Month. Sotheby's will be conducting a silent auction of art from various artists, and Haitian photographer, Marc Baptiste, will be showcasing pre- and post-earthquake photographs, also set up for auction. The proceeds will be divided equally between the Harlem Academy and Edeyo.

Below, I've shared a collection of photos from the school — taken before the earthquake hit.

To learn more about Edeyo, and what you can do to help, visit the Edeyo website.

Photos courtesy Lokee Worldwide Productions.