M.D. of Bonnyville Reeve “safe, but trapped” in Haiti as country descends into chaos

Barry Kalinski as part of his mission work with the Bonnyville Pentacostal Church and Mission of Grace. Images submitted. 

One person from the Lakeland area is currently “safe, but trapped” in Haiti. 

Municipal District of Bonnyville Reeve Barry Kalinski has been in Haiti for two weeks as part of the Mission of Grace, but with the chaos and gang control that has run rampant in recent days, there is no indication of when Kalinski will be able to return. 

“I’m really safe, but it doesn’t change the fact that I’m trapped here. Safe but trapped. That’s how a guy feels,” Kalinski told Lakeland Connect on Wednesday afternoon. 

“I miss my family.” 

Kalinski is currently in Plaisance-du-Sud, a village about 200 kilometres west of Port-au-Prince, the centre of trouble at the moment.  

He is joined by Natalie Cross and Miriam Cinotti from Jacksonville, Florida, who started their mission trip three days prior on Feb. 23, and Linotte Joseph the founder of Mission of Grace. 

Over the years, through the Bonnyville Pentecostal Church, Kalinski has served the Mission to help build an orphanage, a senior’s home, hospital, and school in Carice, another village. 

However, with the escalation of violence, 85 girls needed to be transported from Carice to Plaisance-du-Sud, where they were moved into a new wing of the orphanage that was recently completed. 

“The gangs were fighting right outside the gates and the kids were barely sleeping under their beds crying,” said Kalinski.

With the resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry on Monday, the country has continued to descend into chaos, as gangs have taken over the streets and the airport. 

Just days before that, gangs had released thousands of prisoners. 

“If we can get the word out how rough it is here to the world, then it’s worthwhile being stranded here. We’re one orphanage of many in here in Haiti, and I’m sure there’s other people just like us stuck here, and maybe in worse, more dire straits.”

Right now, he and his fellow internationals are not sure when they’ll be able to return home. 

Cinotti is exhausting her resources to try and find a way out. 

“We’ve reached out to, of course, our senators, our governor, our local officials, and some of them have reported back to us, and so we’ve got some things working,” Cinotti told Lakeland Connect. 

“As far as the embassy here, we put our name on. We’ve done everything we’re supposed to here. They just tell us to hunker down and stay safe. There’s no evacuation plans in the midst right now, which is a little heartbreaking. But then that’s why I think we’ll probably have to go the private sector right route to get out of here.” 

Generosity

Being 99 per cent safe, as Kalinski put it, there is hope that at the very least, this can draw attention to the help that is needed in the country.

“If we can get the word out how rough it is here to the world, then it’s worthwhile being stranded here. We’re one orphanage of many in here in Haiti, and I’m sure there’s other people just like us stuck here, and maybe in worse, more dire straits,” he said. 

“This Mission of Grace, it goes directly to the children, right. And not only our church. There’s community people out there, and people with businesses, they’re like, I get handed 1000 bucks here, 500 bucks there, you know, even my logging guys that log with me, they always send money, and say make sure it goes to Haiti.”

The funds provided to the Mission of Grace are being sent who want to help the Haitian children, but these times are hard, said founder Linotte Joseph. 

“It’s very, very hard due to the gang violence. It’s not easy to maintain our budget. It’s really hard to get food, gas, medicine, and everything for all these kids, or even a mattress to pick them up from the floor. It’s hard to find — money is very short,” she said.

Those who are touched by their story and want to help, can do so at missionofgracehaiti.com.

“I just want to thank God for everyone that’s in the M.D. and surrounding area, Bonnyville, Cold Lake, Glendon. I just thank God for everyone there and just want to thank everyone that’s reached out to my family, and my wife especially.”