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Candice Mac Lean
Telegraph-Journal

QUISPAMSIS - A Grand Manan fishing boat has been used to carry casualties to and from mainland Haiti to an island hospital since a disastrous earthquake swept over the country.

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Matthew Sherwood/Telegraph-Journal archive

Bob Colpitts, left, and Randy Chaisson, with Kings Valley Wesleyan Church, aboard the fishing Boat now known as Breezy Sea. The Grand Manan boat has been carrying casualities to hospital.

The boat arrived in the Haitian village Anse à Galets in December after making a month-long voyage across the Atlantic Ocean from Saint John. The journey was organized as part of a Kings Valley Wesleyan Church mission to provide aid to locals in need of medical care.

The boat's purpose was to secure safe transportation to the church-owned hospital in the village, located on Gonâve Island, but after a 7.0 magnitude earthquake pummeled the nation on Jan. 12, the boat became part of the massive relief effort sweeping the country.

"The last we heard was it was taking casualties from Port-au-Prince over to our hospital," said church member Randy Chaisson. "As far as I know they were making a direct crossing right from Port-au-Prince, which would be approximately 32 kilometres."

Chaisson, who has been part of four previous group trips to the country, worked tirelessly on sending the local fishing boat to Haiti for almost nine months before a Saint John delivery skipper offered to do the job.

The fishing boat, called Briz sou Lanme a (Breezy Sea), replaced a 50-year-old wooden-plank boat made by Haitians with a hand-stitched sail, hand-woven rope and worn-out motors, Chaisson said.

Skipper Bob Colpitts arrived with the boat in December, about a month before the earthquake struck and killed hundreds of thousands of people.

Chaisson has been in contact with a church member in Haiti who emails updates every week or so, he said.

"We just got word that the population of the village where the hospital is has doubled," Chaisson said, noting that about 27,000 people have flooded the small community on top of the approximately 25,000 locals. "There would be quite a bit of chaos there right now. Food and water would be critical."

Chaisson said he's heard that Haitians are travelling from Port-au-Prince to the small village to get medical help or to bury loved ones.

He said the last update indicated the boat was transporting people to the hospital for help.

He said he can't imagine the fuel used to power the boat has lasted this long and added it's likely the vessel is out of commission for now.

"Right now they're probably having a hard time just keeping the hospital up and running."

Chaisson said the hospital survived the earthquake but suffered structural damage inside. He said a Scottish charity organization has committed $1.3 million to renovate the hospital.

Since the disaster struck, Chaisson has been considering a trip to the devastated country to volunteer his time and help. He said logistically a mission has been difficult to plan.

An orphanage known to the church, run by a Haitian woman, Chaisson said, is one of the reasons he is desperate to get to Haiti.

He said the woman's home was destroyed in the wreck and she is sleeping at the orphanage, where she takes care of about 17 mentally and physically challenged children.

"These kids are truly forgotten about," he said. "We know the poor ones are going to suffer."

Chaisson said there is a long, exhaustive list of tasks to accomplish in the village, but added a safe and secure boat for transporting people to the hospital was an important one to accomplish.

"We know the population will increase in the village, but without the boat we couldn't supply the hospital," he said. "It's a key ingredient to keep us going."

To learn more about the mission, call the Kings Valley Wesleyan Church at 847-5343.

This is a photo I shot of this little boat as it was leaving Saint John on November 22, 2009. At first we saw it passing through the Reversing Falls, and then I took this picture from Sea Street. It looked so tiny and I've often thought about it ... if they made it to Haiti, and of course, even moreso now after the big earth quake.

Now I know...