Haitian helpers emanate Christlike beauty, love

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — OK, so I'm at this orphanage, Creche Enfant Jesus (the upper Creche), in Haiti, high in the mountains.

Its sister orphanage is located in La Mardelle down in the valley. The mountain orphanage houses mostly babies and children with HIV and can be reached by a 15 minute helicopter ride from its sister orphanage, or by a two-hour car ride, which actually goes into Port-au-Prince and then to La Mardelle or vice-versa.

I heard that of the 400 children adopted in Haiti each year, 139 are adopted from Creche Enfant Jesus. The Cr?he, as it's called for short, is undoubtedly one of the premier orphanages here. Fortunately, it only sustained a little damage in the earthquake, but it was initially in dire need of formula for the babies and food for the children.

I stayed in the orphanage's guest house. It has two bedrooms and a shared bathroom. It's for prospective parents to stay in while in the process of adopting a child. And, in my case, I was accompanying Tonya Mae Wilson, of St. George, who was in the other room with her 5-month-old Haitian son, Geraldo, who now goes by Tyler, who she may not be able to bring home for nine more months.

We've come here compliments of St. George cyber entrepreneur and businessman Jeremy Johnson, who literally gives the shirt off his back to those in need, most recently those in Haiti.

This place is gorgeous. The view from my balcony was amazing. Continuous green mountains speckled with homes — many of them with tin roofs — and trees with fog and cloud coverage seeping in between.

We actually needed blankets at night as it gets cool, sometimes even cold, and in the morning, too. And one night, it rained pretty hard. Electricity comes on for roughly two hours around 6:30 p.m. So if you need to charge something, you need to do it then.

I met so many amazing people in Haiti, but two who stand out in particular are a woman named Rose and a man named Vella.

They both work for the orphanage directors, Lucien and Gina Duncan, at their mountain home. Rose is the Duncans' cook and housekeeper — and even lives in their home — and Vella is their handyman and landscaper.

Rose made us five-star lunches and dinners. One in particular was duck, rice, bean sauce and a cranberry-like salad. Rose often says, "d'accord," which, I was told, in Haitian Creole, means OK.