A group of Canadian nurses are back in Canada after escaping growing civil unrest and violence in Haiti.
The nurse’s humanitarian efforts in Grand Goave, with Ontario-based charity Hope Grows, was cut short this week as the anti-government protests swelled.
A fundraising effort created by a friend helped raise the thousands of dollars needed to hire a helicopter to fly them from their compound to an international airport in Port-au-Prince.
All eight nurses arrived in Montreal on Monday night. The six nurses from Ontario flew into Toronto early Tuesday.
The women were greeted by overjoyed loved ones, but for some, the arrival was bittersweet.
“It’s been a long, long week,” Katherine Fitz O’Neil said after arriving back in Toronto.
“We were very happy being where we were… Taking care of the people we were with. I think that all eight of us nurses have left a little piece of our hearts back in Haiti.”
The violent street protests are part of a growing demand to see Haitian President Jovenel Moise resign. The anger was spurred by climbing inflation and the government’s failure to prosecute embezzlement from a multi-billion dollar Venezuelan program that sent discounted oil to Haiti.
“We definitely saw some stuff and it affected the community of Grand Goave, which was huge for us,” Lauren Davey said from the airport Monday night. “It was definitely hard, seeing everything.”
Another nurse, Kristen Nieminen, recalled the most difficult part of the evacuation -- saying goodbye to a young boy she was taking care of.
“Having to walk away from him when he was watching us get into the helicopter was probably the worst part for me,” she said.
“It was an eerie feeling … knowing it was happening just within arm’s reach of you.”
The chaos and danger in the streets prevented the nurses from using roadways to get to the airport.
While the community tried to help them escape, getting out of the Caribbean country proved difficult.
One of the nurse’s friends in Canada created a GoFundMe account to help fund a helicopter to get them out. The fundraiser “grew and grew,” they said, and ultimately paid for the ride and medical expenses in full.
The nurses set up a Canadian flag and rock formation in the field outside the compound to help guide the helicopter’s landing.
However, the pilot failed to find the compound the first time, so the nurses got creative.
“We took out our bedsheets, pillowcases,” Fitz O’Neil said. “Some of the nurses stood on the roof of the compound house with bright pink garments, waving them.”
More than 100 Quebec tourists and numerous Alberta missionaries have been pulled from the country in evacuations since the unrest worsened.
Global Affairs Canada has also issued an “avoid all travel” advisory for Haiti.
Tracey Hotta said she is thankful to be home but is already thinking of her return.
“The Haitian people need us down there,” she said.
“They don’t have a lot of food, a lot of them are malnourished, they’re dehydrated… a lot of [health issues] that could be prevented if someone was there to take care of them.”
