Like many of us, I held my breath all day yesterday hoping to hear something about the two Blue Ridge Community College students and two faculty/staff members who had just arrived in Haiti the day before a massive 7.0 earthquake hit.

Tried to find the remote village they traveled to on a map. Tried to find more information about what was going on OUTSIDE of the tragically decimated capital city. Worried even more when I realized the region they traveled to was pretty much the epicenter of the earthquake.

Finally late yesterday there was word – indirectly – that they were safe.

Today’s story in the Staunton News Leader has a few more details about the indirect “safe” message, as well as what’s been going on for the college, the families and the volunteers that work closely with the Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) group that made the trip. A blog about the project makes it even more clear how close they have been to the disaster, and that it is still important to pray for their safe return.

Just a couple of weeks ago, on December 28, the News Leader had run a story about the student projects with the SIFE group as well as their upcoming trip to Haiti.

“Megan Samples and Mike Aronoff didn’t know what to expect when they checked the solar oven they’d placed in a field near Blue Ridge Community College on a mid-December afternoon….”  the article begins, with a layer of irony that is only apparent now.  ….  “In a country where jobs are precious, creating a sustainable home business is a powerful enterprise. Already SIFE, along with Haiti Outreach Foundation, has helped establish a rabbit cooperative supporting a number of families in Zabricot. In January, the group will use funds students have raised to purchase rabbits for a similar operation in Signeau.” (spelling – also Sigeneau, Sigueneau)

 The Blue Ridge SIFE group has won a national award for its efforts to spread free enterprise around the world – won the top prize in its category for two years in a row.

Here’s a video created after they won the national championship for the second year a row, that helps explain just what they’ve been doing. *if you don’t see it below, just click on the link on “video.”

As reports continue to pour in from Haiti about the lack of food, water, medicine, fuel, and infrastructure; about UN workers and children trapped in government buildings and schools; about mission and college service trips caught in the crossfire; and about the inability to communicate in this era of hyper-communication, we still worry and hope.

Not one to jump on every charity fad, I think nonetheless that I may be about to text “HAITI” to 90999 to donate $10 to American Red Cross. In fact, I think I’ll do that right now.

Posted by Susan Hayden