BYU alumnus and native Haitian Illens Dort knows first-hand how much the people in Haiti need help.

The country, slightly smaller than the state of Maryland, is home to roughly 8 million people, more than 1 million of those are orphans, Dort said. Nearly half of the population lives below the poverty line and are undernourished.

Since 2002, International Aid Serving Kids, an organization co-founded by Dort, has worked to improve the living conditions of orphans and abandoned children in the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere -- Haiti.

“It gives us an opportunity to give back ‘where much is given, much is required,’” Dort said.

This year IASK recruited a dentist to join other volunteers for their humanitarian trip to Haiti. Dort approached Dr. Bret Tobler, former president of the Academy of LDS Dentists, to ask if he knew anyone who could help.

Tobler volunteered himself for the June trip. He also recruited his son, Nate, a BYU graduate who just finished his first year at dental school in Cincinnati, a current BYU student to be their interpreter, and two other dental assistants.

The group set up at an orphanage in a village outside the capital city, Port-Au-Prince. Dort said the trip was not publicized in Haiti because they feared more people would show up than they could help. He said news of the volunteers spread by word-of-mouth throughout the village.

“Many patients that the team saw traveled long distances and arrived early so they could secure a spot in the long lines and receive care,” Dort said.

Tobler said there were always about 30 people waiting outside, some waiting for hours.

“We worked really, really hard while we were there,” Tobler said. “We stayed until dark; we stayed until we couldn’t see any longer."

One day, when their interpreter was gone making arrangements to get out of the country. The group was left with limited communication skills. Tobler said they knew enough to say “open,” “close” and “am I hurting you?”

Tobler and his group worked for two and a half days, during which time they were able to treat nearly 200 people -- performing around 50 cleanings, 50 fillings and 250 extractions.

“We were planning on working for five days, but Haiti is always in some amount of turmoil,” Tobler said. “While we were there the church pulled the missionaries out and the IASK group uses the church to gauge if it’s safe to be there or not.”

Tobler said the group would have liked to stay for the whole time to help more people, but he understood it would have to wait until their next trip.

The current unrest is tied to upcoming elections for a new goverment. The fall elections will be the first legislative, municipal and presidential elections since the resignation of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in February 2004.

The orphanage where the volunteers stayed was protected by security guards armed with sawed-off shotguns. Tobler said there were also several U.N. Peacekeepers in the area.

“It is difficult for a foreigner to understand what’s going on in Haiti and how the government, politics and the historical, social backdrop has brought Haiti to where it is today,” Tobler said. “Suffice it to say, there are many innocent Haitians that suffer the consequences of the unrest, violence and economic repercussions of such instability.”

The organization decided to cancel its September trip but will return to Haiti next spring. More information about the group can be found at www.iask4kids.org.



Copyright Brigham Young University 5 Aug 2005