Our Silent Auction Items (so far) for March 6 fundraiser

GRAND PRIZE

One week at Playa del Sol Beachfront Resorts in PUERTO VALLARTA or LOS CABOS, Mexico
Studio apartment with kitchenette, accommodates two adults and two children
$840 value (opening bid $400)

RETAIL GIFTS

$35 gift certificate to OM GALLERY, 1201 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz

$50 gift certificate to the HINDQUARTER BAR & GRILLE, donated by Bob Cornell, owner

Donated by BORDERS Book Store:
four books:
"Peter and the Shadow Thieves" by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson
"The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
"True Colors" by Kristin Hannah
"Odd Hours" by Dean Koontz
and a CD: "Warm Strangers" by Vienna Teng

Two $20 gift cards for Gayle's Bakery

$15 gift certificate to Black China Bakery

JEWELRY

Donated by Sarah Borgenson of Wild Iris Studio (wearwildiris.com)
40" hand-knotted necklace and matching long earring. Cobalt blue Czech glass beads and sterling silver. Retail price for set $80.

Handcrafted stone jewelry by Sage (Sage@JewelryBySage.com)

three handcrafted glass tile necklaces by jenny q. sandrof, jewelry designer

Black Coral necklace and bracelet from Cayman Islands, valued at $150

Handmade glass earrings by Carol Seslar

SERVICES

$150 gift certificate for any services MINORSAN SELF DEFENSE & FITNESS, 1320 Mission St., Santa Cruz, including self defense, aerobic kickboxing, Body Pump to music, Zumba, weight loss, and pilates

Four weeks of fresh, organic fruits, vegetables and herbs delivered to a location near you by TWO SMALL FARMS of Watsonville, value $88.

1-hour business consultation with Dani Beckerman, 1406 Mission St. Santa Cruz, $275 value

SANTA CRUZ YOGA, 402 Ingalls Street, Santa Cruz
www.santacruzyoga.net
Gift Certificate for 5 classes (value $45)
Gift Certificate for 10 classes (value $80)
Gift Certificate for 20 classes (value $150)

1-hour MASSAGE, Swedish or Deep Tissue, with Yslandy Torres, 9509 Soquel Dr., Aptos, value $80

1 hour of MEDIATION Services, value $300 (opening bid $50)
with Mary-Margaret Bierbaumm, Attorney at Law

6-week introductory HULA dance course with Leolani Lowry (www.hulaschool.com), $75 value

two certificates for one-hour MASSAGE with Dr. Erica Schafer, Chiropractor, 549 Frederick St., Santa Cruz

Three 1-hour SPANISH classes with Chelsea George, value $90

Three 1-hour KID'S SOCCER classes with Andre Cherer, value $90

2-hour electrical work by licensed electrician Joan Peterson of JP Electric, value $120

Three 90-minute Guinea West African Dance Classes with Mohamed Banagoura at Pacific Cultural Center, 1307 Seabright Ave., Santa Cruz

Two certificates for 45-minute LIFE COACHING sessions with Elizabeth Skolnik

1 initial nutrition consultation at NOURISH, 130 Walnut Ave. Santa Cruz, donated by Jocelyn Dubin, MS, RD

Three 1-hour RACQUETBALL coaching with Chelsea George, value $90

BABYSITTING for a weekend evening with Nicole Selman, value $50

Two hours PHOTOGRAPHY with Chelsea George, good for portraits, photoshop or scanning classes, restoration of old or damaged photographs, design greeting cards or book from your photos.

One-hour TECH SUPPORT session with Josh Brown, Computer and Network Specialist, $80 value

One 30-minute MASSAGE with Cynthia Pritchard Martinez, value $40


MERCHANDISE

DVD collection of outstanding films from THE PACIFIC RIM FILM FESTIVAL, value "priceless"

Two copies of the book "Sand Between Your Toes: A Watercolor Journey Through Santa Cruz County," signed and donated by the author Sally Bookman

Open Studios fused glass artist Pat Dellin donated a fused glass candy/nut dish/sushi tray, value $45

Gold-framed picture of hands, donated by Agnus Dei Books & Gifts, 138 Walnut Ave Santa Cruz

Two bottles of wine, donated by June Smith, former owner of Roudon-Smith Winery, valued $30 and $25

a pair of hand-knit hand warmers

electric wok

wii game (Simpsons)

picnic set

Green Indian shawl

Collector's cookie jars, valued at $200

Eco-grocery bag from Two Small Farms, Community Supported Agriculture

Liz Claiborne Leather Jacket, value $149

JoAnn Marie Designs fold-up bag

PHOTOGRAPHY & ART

from Bud Seslar Photography (www.Buddy2.Biz)
a framed landscape of snow-capped mountains
a B&W print
a large framed color photo of a heron

from Geoff Gilbert (www.SunriseSantaCruz.com)
two matted prints of our very own lighthouse photographed at sunrise

from Sally Bookman, local realtor and artist, two prints: one of flowers, one landscape

Custom framed and matted print of "Woodies, Sand & Surf" by artist Scott Westmoreland

"Blue" by Alexandra Blum, mixed media (aliblum.com)

A large handmade clay casserole dish with words saying "I think I could love you" in green and white glaze by Wendy Vandegrift, artist and teacher

HAITIAN ART

One small handmade voodoo mirror from Haiti

Haiti souvenirs: tap-tap refrigerator magnet, Topi-X necklace, Haitian flag pony tail holder, 10 Gourde note, and matted print of mother and child

Haitian painting of fruit and vegetables

3 pieces of tin work art by craftsman in Kenscoff, Haiti

FREE

Haiti Information & Activity Book for kids

Haiti buttons

Minorsan Fundraiser Huge Success

Altogether, our grand total was $2400 for the three-hour event at Minorsan Self Defense & Fitness at 1320 Mission St., Santa Cruz. A huge shout-out goes to Clara Minor, co-owner with husband Dio Santiago, for her incredible organizing ability.
As soon as she heard about the dire situation of Andre's family in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, she immediately volunteered to host a fundraiser. She sent out emails to 900 present and former members, cataloged the nearly 100 auction items, and spent all day Sunday, getting ready and running the silent auction.

I first joined Minorsan in 2006 when they were still in their old location next to Sylvan Music. I've taken Zumba, Body Pump, Kick Boxing and self defense classes with both Dio and Clara. Andre is devoted to his self defense class and just graduated to a blue belt. Even though he knows he has to go to Haiti to help his family, he's sad to miss his self defense classes.

On behalf of Andre and his family, I want to thank everyone who donated silent auction items, brought food, bid on items, and to everyone at Minorsan who pitched in and made this such a great success. The whole event was nothing but Positive Vibrations. It's this kind of support that gives us hope for Haiti and the Haitian people.

Getting the money to Haiti

Raising the money for Andre's family is only half the battle. Then we have to get it to them somehow.

When the earthquake first hit on Jan. 12, 2010, there was no electricity or communication with Haiti for three long days. Once we confirmed that his family was alive, we struggled to send them money so they could buy food and water, even though there wasn't much of either available.

The Western Union office in Port-au-Prince, where we usually send money to his family, was still without power. The closest functioning office was more than 20 miles away, but it would be impossible for Andre's family to travel. We even tried to find people who were going to Haiti, who could carry some cash for us, but the border crossing from Dominican Republic was full of desperate thieves and no one wanted to risk it.

On January 19th, a full week after the quake, Andre's family still didn't have any money and was running out of food. We heard rumors that a company called C.A.M. (Caribbean Air Mail) was able to deliver money to their Petion Ville office, a few miles from Andre's family. That sounded great, until we found out C.A.M. can only send money from six states, such as Florida, NY, and NJ where most of the Haitian immigrants live. So we had to call our friend Hubert in NJ and get him to set up an account and use his own credit card. They charged us their normal $44 fee to send $400, but at the moment we didn't care. We were so relieved and happy to know they had some money and could survive. We were the first of all our Haitian friends to succeed in getting money to our family.

A few days later, Western Union was able to open their offices in PAP. And the best news -- they weren't charging any service fee to send money to Haiti. Normally Western Union charges 11% for themselves. For the land that Andre's family wants to buy in the mountains, the cost will be about $12,500 plus another 10% to do the paperwork. At 11%, we would have spent $1500 in service fees before the quake.

But Andre's family didn't want us to send the money through Western Union for safety reasons. People had been beaten up and robbed after picking up money. And while most people were probably received $50 or $100, we needed to send thousands. According to World Vision, the average income in Haiti is $450 per year, so you can imagine that Andre's family could be targeted.

Fortunately, Andre's brother Johnny is a police officer and carries a weapon. He always accompanies his father when they pick up money. On Jan. 25 we sent another $500 for food and water via Western Union. While a friend in Florida said it took her family three days to pick up money due to the mob scene at that time, Johnny was able to step to the front of the line and get it quickly. Still, they said they preferred if we could transfer the money directly to their bank account.

When Josh Brown opened up an account for Action Santa Cruz at Bank of America, we found out that they do international wire transfers for a $45 flat fee for any amount. So, on Feb. 4 we sent $2500 from B of A to Andre's stpefather's bank account in Unibank in Haiti. Too late, I found out that it would take 2-10 working days to arrive. At least with Western Union it's there within an hour...for no charge.

Well, guess what? Today is Feb. 27 and the $2500 still hasn't arrived. After two weeks we put a tracer on it, which would take 3-5 days. The tracer said the money should be at the bank, so Andre had his stepfather and Johnny talk to the bank manager. Andre also spoke to him, through his stepfather's cell phone. They finally figured out that the main name on the account is Johnny and we had sent it to Mathieu because we were told the account was in both their names. So we had to go back to B of A and make an administrative change. We were told it would take 3-5 more days.

Meanwhile, Western Union ended their promotion on Feb. 12, the one-month anniversary of the earthquake. I wish I'd sent more before that date, but I only managed to send a few hundred more to Andre's family for food, plus some smaller amounts to aunts and uncles. At least for now Western Union is charging a reduced fee of only $15 to send $1000. But get this: it costs $125 to send $5000!?! Who does their math? And there's no chart of their rates, even when you go in person. I assumed that the more you send, the cheaper it gets proportionally, not more expensive.

I used to be able to send money online through Western Union, but I reached my limit. So I had to go borrow the money at the bank and walk the cash over to Western Union. At least it's safer here than in Haiti. Johnny and his father have been going to Western Union to pick up the money, $1000 at a time, and then walking it over to the bank.

The good news is, we finally managed to get them all the money they need to pay the 75% down payment of the $12,500 sales price for the 1/4 acre of land in the mountain village, and the 10% extra for the notary to do the title search and escrow. The bad news is, the office where the notary files the papers was destroyed in the earthquake. The Haitian government hasn't made any new provisions for real estate transactions. I can see that it isn't their highest priority right now, but it's important to us so we can get Andre's family out of the capitol and up to higher, safer ground before the rainy season floods Port-au-Prince and washes away the refugees and their flimsy tents.

Wish list for HAITI

Andre is leaving for Haiti on March 8 and I hope to follow two weeks later. If you can contribute any of these items on our wish list, or help out with some cash, that would be great. Please attend our next fundraiser on March 6 from 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. at Louden Nelson Center for a dinner, slide show, and silent auction. Suggested donation is $20 or bring some food to share, and come prepared to bid on dozens of wonderful items. If you'd like to donate any auction items, please call me at (831) 426-0154, or send an email to chelseamaya@gmail.com.

Tents
Camping air mattresses with foot pump
Portable water-filtration system
Water purification tablets
Flashlights (rechargeable, wind-up or solar)
Rechargeable AA batteries with charger
Tarps
Mosquito netting for beds
Small hand tools, such as hammers, pliers, mortar spatulas, hand trowel, screwdrivers, hacksaw Soccer balls (deflated)
Jump ropes
Big lightweight suitcases or army duffel bags
Costco-sized cashews
Costco-sized almonds
Peanuts
Powdered milk
Large cans of tuna
Instant soups (not in styrofoam)
Raisins and other dried fruits
Protein powder with whey
Trader Joe’s packaged corned beef hash
Children’s vitamins
Kotex (sanitary pads)
Conditioning shampoo
Hand or body lotion
Soap
Toothpaste and toothbrushes
Light blankets like Mexican serapes or airline blankets
Cell phones and chargers

On American Airlines international flights, each passenger can take two 50-pound suitcases, a 40-pound carry-on, and a day pack for free. We can also take up to three extra 50-pound suitcases for $100 each. The most important item that all his relatives want are tents. I found an interesting article, entitled "Homeless Haitians Want Tents, Get Tarps."

There's a company in Aptos, CA called Shelter Systems. They recently sold 3,000 dome tents to the U.N. for Haiti. I left a message and sent an email to this company today. I'd love to take some of their dome tents with us. They claim to be the strongest for wind and rain. Andre's family said they're expecting heavy rains tonight. I just don't know how the hundreds of thousands of homeless Haitians will survive the hurricane season this year.

Google Earth Images of the house, campsite, and mountains

Just for fun, I decided to look up the address of Andre's family in Delmas, Port-au-Prince, never expecting to find it.

How surprised I was not only to find their neighborhood and their house, but to realize that these satellite images were taken on Jan. 25, 2010, nearly two weeks after the earthquake.

I painted the roof of their house in red in Photoshop so you can find it easier on the map. It's pretty distinct anyway because of the way it's positioned on the lot, at an angle to the stairway that separates it from a walled-in empty lot.

It's hard to see the destruction from these photographs, but it does give us some idea. At least we can tell that the roof of Andre's family's house is intact. We heard that three houses on their street collapsed completely, killing people inside.
I was also surprised to find their campsite. The colorful tents really stand out from the concrete buildings and rubble around them. Tony Hoffman, who is working for children's rights for the American Refugee Committee in the Delmas area, estimated that about 70 families live in this campsite. Seventeen people are living in the big blue tent with Andre's family, probably extended family members.

Andre's family inherited this tent from his sister's in-laws when they went back to Jeremie where they're originally from. It was brought to Haiti by the Chinese. Andre's brother-in-law had connections with someone at the airport in order to get it.

In the third picture, again I painted the rooftop in red. You can see the tents in the middle of the picture. And I wrote the name "Route de Delmas" on the main street in the bottom of the picture. This road runs from downtown through Delmas and up to Petion Ville.

Now I have a clearer idea of how far away from the house they are camping. This makes security of their possessions a bit tricky. We hear that the men stay awake at night to guard everything. Tony said they are safe sleeping in this campsite because all the buildings around them have already fallen.

This last picture is a big overview of Port-au-Prince and the mountain villages above it. Andre's family lives about halfway between Port-au-Prince and Petion Ville. The Route de Kenscoff winds from Petion Ville through Fermath and onto Kenscoff, whose cool weather is enjoyed by the wealthy residents of Port-au-Prince on weekends and vacations.

To arrive at the village where Andre's family wants to buy land you turn off at Fermath. From there, you need a 4-wheel drive vehicle, motorcycle, or strong legs to make the four mile hike over a rough, rocky road past Fort Jacques. Duval, the village where Andre grew up with his grandparents if farther off this map, beyond Athis.

First post-earthquake photos of Andre's family

Tony Hoffman, PhD, a lecturer at UCSC and specialist on children's rights in the third world, is now in Port-au-Prince and today he visited with Andre's family. He sent us back this report and two photos.

I was really impressed to see this wonderful tent that the family inherited from Andre's sister Marjorie and her in-laws when they left Port-au-Prince for Jeremie, a 7-hour trip by boat. Somehow Marjorie's husband had connections to get this 20-person tent from the Chinese at the airport. Andre and I will stay here when we go to Haiti in March, so we're hoping someone will donate an air mattress.

I was also excited to hear that Tony thinks the house in Port-au-Prince might be salvageable in the future. Of course they will need to get a seismic engineer to look at it and decide how to make it safe. It's so sad to hear that four or five of Andre's neighbors were killed when their houses collapsed completely and their bodies are still under the rubble. I originally got in touch with Tony a few days ago, through a UCSC writer named Guy Lasnier who's doing a story on him. Here's Tony's email:



Hello chelsea and andre:

I met with your family today. They are safe, no one is hurt, and their house
has cracks in it - but I think it is repairable. It is in a crowded and
unstable area, but the house seems somewhat intact. Just up the street are
three collapsed homes in which four or five people died.

Your stepfather seems concerned and worried that little aid has come their
way. Your mother is cautious but optimistic. [Brother] Reginald is looking for a
driving job.

The family is living in a tent in a front yard about 100 meters from the house.
It is very cramped, perhaps 70 families are in the two or three "camp" yards
right there. But they do have water and are using one or two functional
toilets.

So their situation is bad, but not desperate. They are living by buying and
carrying water and food - no food or water aid has arrived, because there
are much worse situations with no money or shelter.

They DO need water filtration - so bring that when you come. I am not sure
what they should be doing to get their toilet and bathroom working - you
should plan on that. They mainly need money, because they are buying water
and food at rising prices...

I will visit them again. The biggest problem is the 70 families they are
with - no services at all, and some are in worse conditions with no home,
family or money.

Tony

Haiti Relief: PROGRESS 2/17/2010

Progress Update! This progress update is probably long due!

First, the family is still healthy and happy :-). Everyone is still camping outside of the old house in Port-Au-Prince. The relief doesn't seem to be getting to them in any kind of mass fashion, but that's OK because they are still getting what they need.

Chelsea has stepped up big time and committed over 10k of her own money to help finance the land in Athis! This will secure the land so that we can start building the new house! This is obviously another milestone, and shows Chelsea's personal dedication.

Andre is set to fly out to Port-Au-Prince on March 8th. He will be able to help orchestrate the land purchase and help his father with the building of the house. Chelsea plans to join him in late March.

With 3 events planned (see the Events page), we should be able to raise enough money to get them a formidable structure by the Summer!

Also!  A very nice man named Tony took this picture of Andre's families tent! WOW!
CAN WE PLEASE GET THEM OUT OF THIS TENT AND INTO STABLE HOUSING!!! :-)

Port-au-Prince cancels Carnival

Carnival is to Haiti what Mardi Gras is to New Orleans. I had the pleasure of experiencing it in 2008, in the capitol, in the coastal town of Les Cayes, and in Port Salut, a tiny ocean village. It was exciting everywhere. So, it's a true indication of the enormity of the earthquake's devastation that Port-au-Prince canceled "Kanaval" for 2010. This year's Kanaval was originally scheduled for Feb. 14-16.

Haitian music groups like Ram and Carimi write new songs every year just for Kanaval. I looked up the History of Haitian Carnival and got this great website with carnival music. I know how much the Haitians love their carnival so I'm sure it will be bigger than ever in 2011.

March 6 Dinner, Slideshow & Silent Auction

Our second fundraiser will be held on March 6, from 6-8 p.m. at Louden Nelson Community Center, 301 Center Street, Santa Cruz.

I've never done this kind of thing before, so I'm hoping some people will jump in and offer to help organize. We're planning a buffet dinner, slide show about Haiti, and a silent auction. The suggested donation for the event is $20.

Everyone is invited to attend. In preparation, we need more donations for the silent auction, such as merchandise, artwork, and gift certificates. We also are looking for volunteers to contribute main dishes, salads, desserts, and drinks. No alcohol please.

If anyone has ideas on future fundraisers, or could display one of our lovely posters, please contact me at (831) 426-0154. Thanks, Chelsea

TV interview and new contacts in Haiti

Erica Argueta from KION TV 46 in Salinas, California came to interview Andre about how his family's doing one month after the earthquake. The interview went well, and Andre looks great, even though I don't like how I look on camera.

Today is President's Day, so U.S. banks are closed. Andre called his stepfather, but the wire transfer I made on Feb. 4 from Bank of America to Unibank still hasn't arrived. If I had known it would take this long I would have borrowed all the money we need for the land and sent it at once. It costs $45 every time you send money, but Andre and his stepfather thought I should do a test first before sending the bulk of it.

We were thinking to send a few thousand via Western Union, but as of Friday (the one month anniversary of the quake) they no longer wire money fee free to Haiti. So now we're stuck. Tomorrow when Bank of America is open I will go there and see if we can trace the 2/4/10 transfer. We're afraid of someone else buying the land we want, or the seller raising the price.

A co-worker at UCSC sent me this great article by Guy Lasnier about UCSC grad Starry Sprenkle, She lives two hours from the capitol with her Haitian husband and their baby girl, but she was driving to Port-au-Prince on the day of the earthquake. Guy helped me get in touch with Starry, who has added some insight into the situation. We were also surprised to learn that her husband's family is from Athis, the same village where Andre's family wants to buy land. Starry agrees that it's a nice place to live, but they'll probably want a truck to get back and forth to Port-au-Prince in the future.

Guy also put us in touch with Dr. Tony Hoffman, a lecturer at UCSC, who will be working in Haiti on children's rights. Andre and I spoke with him today via Skype in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. He was on his laptop at the same hotel where I would use the wi-fi. Unless his sore throat gets worse, Tony is scheduled to fly in a UN plane to Port-au-Prince tomorrow. He speaks Spanish and an African language, but no French or Creole. He encouraged Andre to come to Haiti sooner as an interpreter for him. The interpreter he was assigned speaks French, but the average Haitian speaks only Creole and a little French.

Tony will be working in the Delmas area of Port-au-Prince, which is where Andre's family is. He'll try to look them up and get photos for us. That would be so great. We're very anxious to see everything now, how the family is holding up, what kind of tent they have, the damage to the house and the neighborhood. It's tempting to go sooner, but we're busy trying to raise funds, and Andre doesn't want to fly into the D.R. and cross the border, especially with 300 pounds of luggage. It's not practical and could be unsafe. Many people have been attacked because everyone is so desperate.

One month after the quake

Today marks the one-month anniversary of the earthquake in Haiti. When Andre called his family in the morning they were unable to talk to him because of the National Day of Mourning and Prayer in Haiti. When he called in the evening they were still praying. Now they say they'll be praying for five days, then on Wednesday they will have a Celebration of Life, with music and dancing.

That also means the banks will be closed for five days. We been waiting more than a week already for the $2,500 I transferred from Bank of America to arrive in Andre's stepfather's account in Unibank. He won't even be able to check again until Wednesday or Thursday. I'm afraid we could lose the land that he picked out because they need 75% of the sales price to do the contract, another 10% for escrow and closing costs, and then the final 25% during construction. It's not like here where you put 10-20% down and have 30 years to pay the rest.

We also found out that the price of the land went up from $10,000 to $12,500. Actually, the price difference was probably a misunderstanding. Haiti has three different currencies: Gourde (the official money which is printed on the bills), Haitian dollars (1/5 of a Gourde, which is the price most Haitians talk about even though they don't exist in reality), and U.S. dollars (which are used for big prices, like houses, cars, computers). The U.S. Dept. of State -- see "Special Circumstances" has a great explanation of the three currencies in Haiti. They also warn you that ATM machines are incompatible with U.S. credit cards and generally out-of-order anyway.

I think Andre must have heard his stepfather say the price was $10,000 per centieme and the seller has 10 centieme that he won't subdivide. So Andre told me the price was $10,000 U.S., but the real price is $100,000 Haitian dollars. You have to multiple that by 5 to get the price in Gourde. Then you divide by 42 or whatever the current exchange rate is to the U.S. dollar. If the rate doesn't fluctuate too much, we'll be paying about $12,000 for the land, plus $1,200 for escrow and closing costs. The seller pays the same for closing costs.

I had a very pleasant surprise today. I got an email from Ronnie, the EMT from New Jersey who was on vacation in Port-au-Prince when the earthquake happened. The small hotel in Delmas (very near Andre's family) where he was staying was mostly destroyed in the earthquake, but they had a generator and some gasoline so he was able to get on the internet a little, even right after the earthquake. He was the first person in Haiti who I made contact with. I had hoped he could put us in touch with Andre's family. But he warned me he had to go back to Santo Domingo since he had no money or food, and the banks and stores were destroyed or closed.

Here's an amazing video that Ronnie shot on January 17, just five days after the earthquake, as he and some friends drove around the ruins of downtown Port-au-Prince:

youtube.com/watch?v=erZ2xShZaJo&feature=email

I'm Available to Talk to Schools, Churchs, Service Groups

Today I spoke to Ms. Bridi's 6th grade class at New Brighton Middle School. I was invited by my friend Juli Rivera, who made hundreds of cool buttons to help raise funds for Andre's family in Haiti. Juli has already raised $28.

I brought in lots of photos of Haiti and Andre's family to show the kids and passed around some Haitian art. I told them a little about the history of Haiti, how Andre and I met, and what's happened to his family since the earthquake. I was surprised when one girl raised her hand and said it was the same for her family, because as far as we know, Andre is the only Haitian in Santa Cruz.

Turns out, the girl's aunt married a Haitian man and lives in Petionville, a fancy suburb outside Port-au-Prince. They came to California for the winter break and had just gone back to Haiti a week before the earthquake hit. This girl's family couldn't get in touch with her aunt for three days, just like us. And like Andre's family, their relatives fortunately survived, but their house is so badly damaged that they're camping outside too.

Another girl asked if there are stores where the people can buy food and water or are they just living off relief aid. I was really glad she asked that because from what I've heard, very little relief is getting to the people. Andre's family is able to buy food from vendors who are coming in from the countryside, but they're charging two to three times the normal price for rice, beans and vegetables. One time Andre's family lined up at a relief station a half mile from their house. But it took all day, and they had to fight just to get a bottle of water and some cookies. They're lucky that we can send them money (fee free through Western Union right now) so they can buy food.

I passed out the fliers about Action Santa Cruz and how to donate to Andre's family. One boy said his dad could probably donate an oil change to our silent auction. Now there's something that EVERYBODY needs. Soon I will post the enormous list of wonderful auction items we have for our first fundraiser on Feb. 21 from 4:00-7:00 at Minorsan Martial Arts studio. It's a potluck dinner, silent auction, music and dancing.

The funniest comment I got from the kids was when one of them said he'd heard that only half of the donations to the tsunami victims ever got to the people. I asked the class where they thought the rest of the money went. One guy said, "Space Aliens."

You never know....