Sunday, Jan. 24, 2010 — To hear his 3-year-old son tell him, “Haiti fall down,” David Lloyd said it was a perfect description for the devastation left behind by the Jan. 12 earthquake.

“Samuel, age 3, says he is tired of his house shaking,” David said. “He wants me to get the house fixed so it quits shaking. He went with me yesterday to get blocks to repair the wall and he was looking at houses that fell and summed up what happened very well saying, ‘Haiti fall down.’ I said, ‘yes it did.’”

David and Alicia Lloyd and their three small children have lived in Haiti since 1998 where they care for and educate 59 children. The care for those children is at its most critical state now in light of the extreme devastation from the earthquake.

Liberty Henegar was one of a small mission group from Westside Holiness Church who survived the earthquake while serving at the children’s home and was able to make it back home to Claremore four days later.

But what that mission group left behind was the Lloyd family and the Haitian children they care for at House of Compassion and the Good Hope Boys Home at Bon Repos north of Port-au-Prince.

“On Thursday (Jan. 14), I drove into Port-au-Prince and I was shocked at what I saw,” David said. “I saw sights I wish I had never had to see and I wept for Haiti all the way back home. Haiti as we knew her is gone, all the stores we shopped at and friends who worked at the stores were gone ... our normal routine gone.”

In 2001, the Lloyds started the House of Compassion after realizing what Haiti needed most was help for its children. The couple, along with a small staff, cares for Haitian children until they are educated and ready to care for themselves. Some 400 plus students in Port-au-Prince attend the mission’s Bon Espoir school. This school is designed for children who are too far behind academically to attend public school.

Staying busy helping at the children’s home, the Lloyds also operate two other schools that educate 750 children a year, and two churches. They oversee a staff of 60 Haitians that work in the schools, churches and homes.

“Alicia and I just manage them and keep our hands in the childrens’ lives in our home,” David said. “There is never a dull moment.”

January 12 began as any other day for the Lloyds and their children. In fact, the children were in the yard or making their way to the Good Hope Church across from the house for that evening’s Kids Crusade service when the earthquake hit.

David described the immediate aftermath and the assessment of the damage to the children’s home on their Web site www.missionsinhaiti.com on Jan. 19.

“I was upstairs in our bedroom helping Samuel get dressed when I heard a sound like hundreds of kids on a playground making lots of noise. Then things began to shake violently. I grabbed Sam and ran from the bedroom into the kitchen just as the big shockwave hit. We were thrown to the ground but managed to get up, get down the stairs and into the yard, where we waited for the shaking to stop.

“As things settled down, I began to notice the devastation all around us and we could hear people screaming. I was in shock, but managed to make sure that everyone was safe.”

With water pipes bursting and water running everywhere, David said he was thankful that everyone at the children’s home was alive.

But the House of Compassion and its surroundings were worse for the wear.

The facility is constructed of concrete and concrete blocks and though it was “miraculously” still standing, there were several hairline cracks in the walls. The boy’s home also sustained damage and those boys are now sleeping in the Good Hope Church along with approximately 200 homeless Haitians.

“So far, the only thing we can offer is a place to sleep in the church and a charging station in the church for people’s cell phones,” David said. “Each evening when I turn the generator on, we have about 50 or more cell phones plugged in. The electricity is completely knocked out so this is the only means of electric in the area.

“Hopefully we can get some things in before our area runs completely out and then we can help feed some too.”

The Lloyds say there is no aid coming into the country and they have not tried to locate any.

“Our area is bad but there are other areas that are a lot worse. I figure those places need it more,” David said. “I have learned in Haiti that it is good to have a month’s worth of supplies because you never know what is going to happen. So we are in good shape for a month. After that, we will see.”

Awaiting the arrival of two containers being filled in the U.S. — one in Tulsa and one in Richmond, Ind. — the Lloyds are praying there will be enough supplies to last. On Friday morning, officials reported the principal seaport was partially reopened in an effort to get relief supplies off of the airfield and out of the port and into the hands of the Haitian people. Food banks were opened also on Friday, the first of any aid to hit the country.

With schools and churches in Port-au-Prince, the Lloyds have received some word concerning those facilities, including the Bon Espoir School.

“From what I understand, a lot of buildings in town are not usable,” David said. “I went by the (Bon Espoir) building yesterday again, but I didn’t take my key so I wasn’t able to see inside. We have confirmed deaths of two of our teachers and one student in the school, but considering that was one of the hardest hit areas, we are sure there are more deaths out of the student body.

“It will be a while before we know exactly how many and we may never know.”

With much worse devastation in nearby Port-au-Prince, the Lloyds were dealing with their own devastation.

“Our security walls, which were around 10-feet tall and constructed of stone and concrete block, are down at House of Compassion, Good Hope Church and the Good Hope Boys Home,” David said. “We need to rebuild these walls as soon as possible.”

The wall was originally built to keep looters out and protect the children. The walls have locked gates and no one is allowed inside unless known to the occupants, so rebuilding it has taken top priority. On Tuesday, David and the staff at the children’s home began rebuilding the wall. But it will take another two weeks to finish the project that protects themselves and the children.

For all of the children at the children’s home and the boys home, dealing with the devastation is not easy.

David said of his biological children:

“Davy, the oldest at age 9, takes everything very serious, wants an explanation on everything, and wants to have plans for the future in place,” David said. “He worries a lot about everyone. The first couple of nights, he brought me a whistle so if another (earthquake) happened, I could blow it and wake everybody up so they could get out of the house.

“Hannah, age 7, doesn’t seem as concerned. She wants to make sure she is close to us at night but during the day, she just goes about her normal business.

“Samuel was upset the first night because his room got messed up and some of his decorations were broken.”

The Lloyd children speak Creole and English and, despite visits to the states in July and December every year, they consider Haiti to be their home.

For the Haitian children at House of Compassion and Good Hope Boys Home, the devastation has taken its toll. These children have already survived severe poverty and sometimes no family, along with four back-to-back hurricanes in 2008. But the earthquake has been the worst so far.

“The children at the home don’t understand the devastation that is out there,” David said. “Our home is in good shape and we have supplies, so they are going about their normal business.

“The aftershocks continue to make everybody nervous, but for the most part, kids are kids. They look up to the adults for protection and provision and they go about their life.”

Some of the Haitian children have families, a parent or an aunt or uncle that keeps in contact with them, but the Lloyds and the other children are also family. Word from those families has been scarce.

“We have heard from a few, but most we know nothing about,” David said. “We do have one little girl whose uncle was taking care of her before she came here — we learned he was killed. She was upset. If she would have still been in his care, she would probably have died too. It will be a while before we learned if the children have lost families.”

For those who have been left homeless, tent cities have been setup outside of Port-au-Prince and even though some rescue teams have began to pack up and leave 11 days into the aftermath, Haitians continue to search and begin the clean up process.

“Two days after the earthquake, I saw a team digging into a three story building trying to find people,” David said. “I noticed heavy machinery loading up dump trucks with the buildings that are down and hauling that stuff out of the city. There are tent cities set up wherever there is an open field. People don’t have homes any more or they are still too scared to sleep in their homes.”

Aftershocks continue to rock the area which is elevating emotions at the children’s home as well as with the Haitians.

“We are tired and stressed and that is mainly because of the aftershocks,” David said. “We are still getting about two or three a day and with each one that begins, you wonder if it is another big one starting. I have felt enough earthquakes for the rest of my life. I believe our help and strength comes from the Lord. We are doing pretty good because we stay too busy not to.”

Despite the fact that the Lloyds consider Haiti and not the states their home, some time away has been a prominent thought.

“I did mention to Alicia that after things settle down and our routine is established, we might take a week in Florida or somewhere just to relax and rest,” David said.

Two containers are being filled to ship to Haiti for the House of Compassion. One is in Richmond, Ind., and the other is in located at Tulsa New Holland, 11919 East Pine Street. Basic hygiene items such as toilet paper, soap, shampoo, toothpaste and deodorant, and food supplies including rice, dry beans, dried eggs, powdered milk, ramen noodles, Spam and cooking oil are being collected.

Monetary donations are also being accepted to repair facilities. Those donations can be sent to Missions in Haiti, P.O. Box 2996, Claremore, OK 74018. Any questions concerning donations or assistance can be answered by the mission’s stateside secretary Wanda McCrate at 341-8911, or Mike McCrate at 438-5665.