Meet the volunteers who risk their lives to deliver Christmas presents to children in Haiti

Haiti has been beaten before Political instability and Increased and deadly gang violence. Middle A The Federal Aviation Administration bans flights from the United States. In Haiti, some volunteers remain steadfast in their determination to travel to the Caribbean country to help innocent people caught in the midst of instability.

According to UNICEF, there are nearly 3 million children in need of humanitarian assistance in Haiti.

A missionary group in South Florida says they feel compelled to continue their tradition of providing not just aid but Christmas gifts to children in what the World Bank says is the poorest country in Latin America and the Caribbean.

“A lot of people are on the brink of starvation,” said Joe Carabinch, a pilot who has been flying to help people in Haiti for more than 20 years. “Children need some joy this time of year.” “I definitely think it’s worth the risk. We’re praying for safety, but we know the task is huge, and we’re filling a need.”

His company, Missionary Flights International, helps about 600 charities transport life-saving supplies to Haiti. He has flown medical equipment, tires and even goats into the country in refurbished World War II-era planes.

But it’s an annual trip at Christmas time, filled with children’s toys, that feels especially important to him. This year, one of his Douglas DC-3 planes will ship more than 260 boxes of shoebox-sized toys purchased and packed by church members from the family church in Jensen Beach, Florida.

Years ago, the church built a school in a rural community in the northern region of Haiti, which now serves about 260 students.

Each year a small group of missionaries from the church volunteers to board the old metal planes at the Carabinish Barn in Fort Pierce, Florida, and travel to Haiti to personally deliver a shipment of Christmas cheer to the school. The boxes are filled with simple treasures, like crayons, toy cars and Play-Doh.

It’s a tradition that has grown over the past decade, just as the need has also grown significantly.

Contractor Alan Morris, a member of the group, helped build the school years ago, and returns there on mission trips up to three times a year. He said he keeps coming back because he feels called to do so.

“There is a sense of peace, if you will,” he said.

last month, Three passenger planes were shot down He flies close to Haiti’s capital, but Maurice said he remains confident that his life is not in danger when he travels to the country under siege, because they fly farther than Port-au-Prince, where Violence is more concentrated.

This is where World War II era aircraft play a crucial role. Because they have two wheels in front — unlike modern passenger planes, which have one wheel in front — older planes can land safely on a remote grass landing strip.

The perilous journey doesn’t end there – after landing, Morris and his fellow church members must drive an additional two hours carrying gift boxes.

“I guarantee you it’s the worst road you’ve ever been on,” Morris said.

It’s a treacherous journey that Morris lives through, year after year, to see children’s faces light up when they open their gifts.

When asked why it was so important to help give these children a proper Christmas, Morris responded with tears in his eyes, “They don’t have anything, they don’t have anything, you know, but they’re wonderful, wonderful people… and if we can give them just a little bit of what we think is “Christmas, then we’ll have done something.”