There have been many miracles stories from the January 12, 2010 4.53PM, 7.o Richter scale earthquake that hit Haiti. This is a summary of my story of God's amazing protection he bestowed on me to escape what could have been. I write it as a prelude to a book I will be writing and paying homage to all those who did simple and extra ordinary things that contributed to my being safe and alive and also mention the activities that were happenning back home in the US and with my family in Uganda and Kenya. All proceeds will be used to help Haiti rebuild, especially with supporting education for children and deserving communities vocational education facilities destroyed by the earthquake
My name is Humphreys Munai, International Finance Coordinator for World Neighbors, an international development organization working to reduce hunger, diseases and poverty around the world in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Caribbean.
I arrived in Haiti on Monday January 11th, 2010 to conduct a financial audit (me and my colleague from Guatemala – Conrado Vargas) for our offices there. Feeling sick the next morning I checked into hospital to get basic checkup before going back to the office. That was the beginning of God's miracles. The doctor being alarmed by my vitals, admitted me while waiting for an expert. The expert arrived later in the afternoon and did several tests and said I was fine and nothing alarming and was going to release me. Before the nurse could come to discharge me the earthquake hit and our survival story became possible to tell.
We spent the night in the parking lot of the hospital (CDTi) witnessing people dyeing, wailing, screaming, mourning, being operated on while in the parking lot while experience aftershocks almost every couple of hours. Two of our local staff came to check on us one after another. That was Leneve Haiti Senior Program Coordinator and Fede, Driver who walked us back to the office when I could not handle the emotional toll at the hospital after seeing 30 plus bodies and still more people coming.
We spent the night sleeping on the tarmac road in front of our World Neighbors office because buildings were not safe. Next morning we walked to the hotel Montana w
e were staying only to find it collapsed. This was very depressing and reality struck that what we had on is what we were left with. We had to go back to the office because at least it was still standing.
After trying to get food and all we could get was water, juice and biscuits, we realized it was time to leave the country and get the word out. My main motivator was to make sure my wife and mother knew I was alive. I could not let my wife surfer from the lack of information about me and also had to make sure my mother who was still recovering from the loss of my sister a little over a year ago. Knowing how it devastated her, I had to make sure she knew I was okay.
Upon learning that the airport was closed, we made a decision to travel to Dominican Republic by road to fly back to United States. Our heroic driver who did not leave our side from the moment he found us at the hospital in spite of his inability to speak English or French, drove us to the boarder of Haiti and Dominican Republic.
On the boarder we ushered through by Haiti guards to Dominican Side where we cleared with passport control in a miraculous way especially since we did not have an exit stamp from Haiti, since the Haiti passport control was closed.
We then hired a pickup truck to drive us 300km to Santo Domingo. It did not matter the cost all we wanted is to get to a place where we can be safe, can call home, and can fly back to United States.
We arrived at Santo Domingo around 11:00PM and as soon as we saw the sign FREE Wi-Fi, we took out laptops out and made the calls to our loved ones. I called my wife and we cried on the phone. my first words were ' I'm alive, thank God, I'm alive" I then called my brother Alex and asked him to pass the message to my family until I got access to power source to charge my computer.
It’s just a miracle how I was in that building at the time of the earthquake, how we were able to spend the night outside in a foreign land, made our way through Dominican Republic and to the United States. I still amazed of God's love for us to keep us safe with all that was going on around us. I saw dead bodies on the streets, most of the buildings torn down and dreams shuttered.
Haiti is going to need help for along time to recover from this. This is going to be financial, emotional and physical. I am blessed to work for an organization that is going to be part and parcel of the recovery (World Neighbors www.wn.org)
This ordeal has given me a new perspective on life. It’s a second chance at life. I should not be alive today. I should be dead in Haiti and maybe never to be found again. I thank God for everything. I may have emotional scars, physical pain but I can recover from that.
It is good to be home and I cannot wait for that opportunity to meet my parents and just give them a hug.
Thanks to my praying family led by my parents Rev Wellington and Mrs. Eunice Munai. You raised me good to make quick and good decisions that helped me survive and move fast to safety once the earthquake hit. God answered your prayers
My name is Humphreys Munai, International Finance Coordinator for World Neighbors, an international development organization working to reduce hunger, diseases and poverty around the world in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Caribbean.
I arrived in Haiti on Monday January 11th, 2010 to conduct a financial audit (me and my colleague from Guatemala – Conrado Vargas) for our offices there. Feeling sick the next morning I checked into hospital to get basic checkup before going back to the office. That was the beginning of God's miracles. The doctor being alarmed by my vitals, admitted me while waiting for an expert. The expert arrived later in the afternoon and did several tests and said I was fine and nothing alarming and was going to release me. Before the nurse could come to discharge me the earthquake hit and our survival story became possible to tell.
We spent the night in the parking lot of the hospital (CDTi) witnessing people dyeing, wailing, screaming, mourning, being operated on while in the parking lot while experience aftershocks almost every couple of hours. Two of our local staff came to check on us one after another. That was Leneve Haiti Senior Program Coordinator and Fede, Driver who walked us back to the office when I could not handle the emotional toll at the hospital after seeing 30 plus bodies and still more people coming.
We spent the night sleeping on the tarmac road in front of our World Neighbors office because buildings were not safe. Next morning we walked to the hotel Montana w
e were staying only to find it collapsed. This was very depressing and reality struck that what we had on is what we were left with. We had to go back to the office because at least it was still standing.After trying to get food and all we could get was water, juice and biscuits, we realized it was time to leave the country and get the word out. My main motivator was to make sure my wife and mother knew I was alive. I could not let my wife surfer from the lack of information about me and also had to make sure my mother who was still recovering from the loss of my sister a little over a year ago. Knowing how it devastated her, I had to make sure she knew I was okay.
Upon learning that the airport was closed, we made a decision to travel to Dominican Republic by road to fly back to United States. Our heroic driver who did not leave our side from the moment he found us at the hospital in spite of his inability to speak English or French, drove us to the boarder of Haiti and Dominican Republic.
On the boarder we ushered through by Haiti guards to Dominican Side where we cleared with passport control in a miraculous way especially since we did not have an exit stamp from Haiti, since the Haiti passport control was closed.
We then hired a pickup truck to drive us 300km to Santo Domingo. It did not matter the cost all we wanted is to get to a place where we can be safe, can call home, and can fly back to United States.
We arrived at Santo Domingo around 11:00PM and as soon as we saw the sign FREE Wi-Fi, we took out laptops out and made the calls to our loved ones. I called my wife and we cried on the phone. my first words were ' I'm alive, thank God, I'm alive" I then called my brother Alex and asked him to pass the message to my family until I got access to power source to charge my computer.
It’s just a miracle how I was in that building at the time of the earthquake, how we were able to spend the night outside in a foreign land, made our way through Dominican Republic and to the United States. I still amazed of God's love for us to keep us safe with all that was going on around us. I saw dead bodies on the streets, most of the buildings torn down and dreams shuttered.
Haiti is going to need help for along time to recover from this. This is going to be financial, emotional and physical. I am blessed to work for an organization that is going to be part and parcel of the recovery (World Neighbors www.wn.org)
This ordeal has given me a new perspective on life. It’s a second chance at life. I should not be alive today. I should be dead in Haiti and maybe never to be found again. I thank God for everything. I may have emotional scars, physical pain but I can recover from that.
It is good to be home and I cannot wait for that opportunity to meet my parents and just give them a hug.
Thanks to my praying family led by my parents Rev Wellington and Mrs. Eunice Munai. You raised me good to make quick and good decisions that helped me survive and move fast to safety once the earthquake hit. God answered your prayers
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