Haitian orphans

The situation for orphans in Haiti post-earthquake is pretty miserable. Here in Lincoln and around southeast Nebraska, hundreds families have come forward with interest in adopting, but are finding it essentially impossible to do so.

Here's a story I wrote about the issue:

Local families hit Haiti adoption wall

And here's another, the story of what might be the area's only adoption success story since the earthquake:

Haiti orphans come home to Nebraska

Helping Haitians

A group of Lincoln Haitians - including Junior Jacques, who I wrote about before - organized a benefit for the Red Cross's efforts in Haiti. Here's a piece I wrote on the event, as well as a few follow-up links from other things I've covered:

Gathering shows support for those still suffering after quake

Dozens of people gathered at Marz Bar, 1140 O St., for a relief benefit hosted by the Cornhusker Chapter of the American Red Cross.

Other links:

Union College team in Haiti

Ben Larson, former Lincoln seminarian who died in the earthquake

More news from Haiti

I wrote two more Haiti-related stories this weekend. One is about a group of college students with rescue and relief training who left for Haiti on Sunday. For the other, I spoke to Junior and Stanley Jacques - brothers who lost their uncle and grandmother in the earthquake - while they were on their way to Omaha to pick up their mom, who escaped.


The Jacques family, with mom Florence at top left. (Courtesy of Junior)

Union College group to leave for Haiti
Saturday, four students and a staff member from Union College were scrambling to prepare for a last-minute relief trip to Haiti. (01/17/2010)

Haitian mom returns to family in Lincoln
Danel "Junior" Jacques heard his uncle was OK Tuesday night - but the next morning, Junior found out the uncle was dead, buried in the rubble of his house in Port au Prince, Haiti. (01/18/2010)

Expect more on both of these stories, as well as the HLMS (see previous post) in the coming week.

In the nick of time

I spoke with the executive director of the Haiti Lutheran Mission Society today. The HLMS is a national organization headquartered in Lincoln, and its director, Dick Buethe, returned from Haiti the same day as the earthquake. Here's what he had to say:

Back from Haiti, Lincoln mission director's thoughts remain
Since Dick Buethe returned from Haiti on Tuesday, he's been flooded with calls. Unfortunately, none came from his friends and employees on the island, which was rocked by a 7.0 magnitude earthquake just hours after Buethe's plane departed Tuesday. (01/13/2010)



Also, check out this story by my fellow reporter Cory Matteson:
Nebraskans with ties to Haiti hold breath on news of earthquake