Best-selling author Mitch Albom found himself trapped in Haiti when the violent gangs took over. Albom, his wife, and eight volunteers were in an orphanage unable to secure a way off the island.
When I wrote about the rescue of Americans from the Have Faith Orphanage by Rep. Cory Mills, I didn’t know Albom’s involvement in the story. The Tuesdays with Morrie author posted on his Instragam account about their harrowing experience.
He and the rest of his group were rescued by Rep. Cory Mills (R-FL), a decorated former member of the 82nd Airborne Division. He is a security expert. He is doing the job that President Biden is not doing. Mills is bringing home Americans who find themselves stuck in a country when violence breaks out. He brought home Americans after the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, after the Hamas massacres on October 7, 2023, in Israel, and now he is rescuing Americans in Haiti.
Rep. Lisa McClain, (R-MI) reached out to Mills to spearhead the rescue. Albom is a Michigander. The group was rescued in the dead of night on Tuesday. Have Faith Haiti is operated by A Hole in the Roof Foundation founded by Albom.
“Our group was ten, and we raced into this helicopter in the dead of night, because the gangs will shoot at helicopters, and you have to go at night,” Albom said on “The Brian Kilmeade Show” Wednesday.
“The ten of us were shoved into this helicopter that had four seats in it. And so we were basically just a ball of people. It was right out of one of those movies, you know, go, go, go, go. And you’re in, and you’re up, and you’re flying out.”h
There is a blurb from Albom on the orphanage’s website.
I have been blessed to see much of the world; nowhere have I seen greater despair – or greater hope – than in Haiti. One life touches another and affects it indelibly. I have written that. I believe that. And Have Faith Haiti is proof of it. Bless you for your help.
Albom was interviewed on Fox News Channel this morning. He said that he and his wife have made monthly trips to volunteer at the orphanage for 14 years. They were rescued in the middle of the night because a daytime rescue was too dangerous. The State Department was no help to them. There was one aborted attempt before their successful rescue. There are about 60 children in the orphanage. He is deeply worried about them now. Albom noted that they experienced 8 or 9 days without freedom as violent gangs took over the island.
“We spent the eight days that we were kind of captive there, stocking up on food and on water, trying to get black market fuel. Because it’s quite possible that, with the government gone, everything could fall into chaos there, and then you can’t get anything. And so we stocked up with hopefully a month’s worth of supplies. We asked people to help us on the internet, which they did.”
Gang violence and political unrest are common in Haiti under normal circumstances. The recent crisis Haitians are experiencing now began on February 29 when then-Prime Minister Ariel Henry went to Kenya to request the help of the Kenyan military to combat the gangs. He has not been able to return to Haiti and has now resigned.
“It’s madness,” Albom said. “It’s something that we can’t imagine, and what we went through, not being able to leave, being in a country where you can’t get out is something that no American has ever gone through. You go through it once and you realize that’s how Haitians live all the time. And that just shouldn’t be tolerated.”
There are ongoing discussions between Brazil, Canada, France, Mexico, the United Nations, and the United States on how to help Haiti. Albom is advocating for U.S. intervention in Haiti.
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