2:00am | It was with a heavy but determined heart that Dr. Herold Noel recently returned to his native Haiti to provide food, clothing and other necessities that have been donated to his Long Beach-based Haitian American Food Bank since the devastating 7.0-magnitude earthquake that leveled the island on January 12.

Noel returned to Long Beach last Friday, February 12 after the 13-day trip that took him to five Haitian cities with a truck full of supplies.

Once there, Noel disperses the supplies that his organization collects from its 17th Street location in central Long Beach. From there, he drives to Miami and loads the goods onto a boat. After flying to the Dominican Republic and taking a bus to Léogâne in Haiti (see location in video here), Dr. Noel collects the goods once they dock and heads out to the people. The need is greater than ever. While media coverage of the disaster has begun to die down, Noel says he saw few signs of humanitarian aid. There were people in need everywhere he went.

“Once you leave Port-au-Prince, there is basically nothing,” Dr. Noel says. “I was expecting more aid. I didn’t expect the people to be left by themselves out there.”

After a January 22 staging-live.lbpost.com article about his food bank, Dr. Noel says that community response was substantial. Donations came in droves, and soon Dr. Noel had more supplies to bring to Haiti than he ever had in his previous five years of conducting aid missions; some who read the article even started volunteering their time.

But several full trucks worth of food and clothing was not enough once he reached those in need.

“We thought we brought a lot,” Dr. Noel says of his first stop in Léogâne. “Nope. In five hours, everything was gone. The line was endless.”
  
He and several local volunteers drove back to the Dominican Republic to purchase bags of flour, then returning to visit more Haitian towns.

The canned food, clothing and other goods that were donated will all help the people of Haiti, says Dr. Noel. But there are still basic needs that are being completely overlooked.

For starters, water.

Haitians, especially children, are developing gastrointestinal infections from drinking unhealthy water from rivers. Bottled water is a commodity, and as a result, so are antibiotics of any kind to treat basic ailments.

“We had diarrhea and malaria everywhere,” says Dr. Noel.

While smaller towns like Léogâne sadly seem to have been forgotten in the aftermath, even the capital city of Port-au-Prince continues to suffer – despite being the center of worldwide media coverage and aid missions.

“The UN, the Red Cross, I was expecting them to make a difference,” says Dr. Noel. “But no! In Port-au-Prince we saw their tents but nobody working there. We began distributing outside the palace.”

There were other missions to be completed, as well. Along with surviving family members, Dr. Noel laid his uncle to rest outside the collapsed four-story apartment building that he was pulled out of. The plan is to return to the site in a few years to provide a proper burial on family-owned land nearby. For the time being, a cement-capped tomb in the pavement would have to do, in the face of Dr. Noel’s fears that his uncle would be among the bodies that have been piled and burned along the side of the roads.

“I was shocked!” he says, describing the realization that rubble dumped in the countryside included the bodies of fallen Haitians. “I was driving and I saw a foot. Right on the side of the road. It was incredible.”

A grisly reminder that the devastation was simply too much for the Haitian government to handle. They have admitted as much, and their people suffer as a result. Crowds flocked to the gift-bearing truck wherever it went. The crowds have not stopped following Dr. Noel now that he’s returned to Long Beach.

In our half-hour meeting last week at the Haitian American Food Bank, our conversation is interrupted three times, with Dr. Noel excusing himself and breaking into Haitian Creole. He says he often receives calls directly from Haiti, wondering when he’ll return.

“We’re going to see if we can at least make a difference.”

Commercial flights at the Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Port-au-Prince are about to become available again, so Dr. Noel won’t have to fly into Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic and take the eight-hour bus ride to Haiti. He’s happy for that, and happy for his plans to embark on another return; possibly this Friday.

But he’s also visibly concerned about the dwindling funds that he needs to drive a fully-loaded trailer across the country, put it on a boat, fly to Haiti, meet the goods at the dock and drive around from town to town. Of course, there’s also the return trip.

He understands, he says. People want to give something that they can be assured will directly reach the hands of those in need. That means canned food, not checks. The costs are daunting, but he has received some relief. A local Girl Scouts troop raised $1,400 for the Haitian American Food Bank last week, and more volunteers are on their way as the organization will soon provide community service hours to those who’ve run afoul of the law.

“Most of them don’t want to go to CalTrans,” Dr. Noel laughs, adding that he’ll welcome anyone willing to donate their time.

It will be at least two years before Haiti begins to regain its footing, Dr. Noel estimates, and you can be assured that he’ll be making trips to assist his native countrymen until that happens.

The Haitian American Food Bank is located at 521 West 17th Street in Long Beach. Call 562.436.5500 for more information.

Photos below are courtesy of Dr. Herold Noel and were taken during his recent trip to Haiti.

Bags of corn, grain, flour and more that were purchased in the Dominican Republic after donated goods ran out quickly.

A smoldering pile of debris that contains discarded bodies – unfortunately, not an unusual sight.

In line in Léogâne

Welcome to Leogane

One of many gas stops

Destruction at the Presidential Palace

It was difficult for Dr. Noel to convince some residents to wear shoes even before the earthquake. These days, the habit is paramount.

A light moment in the day, but Dr. Noel says that Haitians will take any clothing whether male or female, “As long as it can keep them covered at night.”

Foods like dry pasta that were donated to the Haitian American Food Bank in Long Beach find those in need.

Another stop to hand out supplies.

Pouring grain into a makeshift pouch.

Heavy damage to the Toussaint Louverture airport in Port-au-Prince