Virginia Tech freshman Nadia Tuck and the rest of her ministry group went to Haiti expecting to aid a country riddled with violence. Instead, they found themselves rocked by a devastating earthquake.
The mission group from Blacksburg United Methodist Church spent the first portion of its trip in the capital city of Port-au-Prince, which would later become the epicenter for an earthquake that charted a 7.0 on the seismograph, one of the largest earthquakes to hit the Caribbean area in centuries.
The group volunteered in one of the poorer sections of the city in the days prior to the Jan. 12 earthquake.
“We were working in the slums,” Tuck said.
Tuck said that while she “was pretty aware of the level of poverty,” the area of Port-au-Prince where the group volunteered was still striking.
“We were repairing tin roofs on houses — shacks, really,” she said.
This was Tuck’s first trip to the country, but both of her parents have been multiple times.
Tuck’s father, pastor Reggie Tuck, leads the Blacksburg United Methodist Church. He said he had gone to Haiti several times to work on programs through the Haiti Outreach Ministry.
The group also helped in other construction projects in a portion of the town Tuck said had been recently afflicted by gang violence.
Graduate student Michael Shroyer was also part of the mission group. He said that although the area was poor and that “there were no jobs,” the people were happy to connect with the mission group members over a game of soccer or a new roof.
“We were all amazed at how loving and kind and receptive everyone was toward us,” he said.
Although the area around Port-au-Prince was poverty-stricken, Nadia Tuck said she thought both the country and the people living there were beautiful.
“The people were nicer than I thought they’d be,” she said. “Their faith was very strong and I was very impressed by their love for one another.”
While in Port-au-Prince, the group stayed in an international missionary guesthouse, which later collapsed during the earthquake.
On Jan. 12, the morning of the earthquake, the group was not actually in Port-au-Prince. It had traveled to Cange, a town about three hours north of Port-au-Prince. Tuck said that his organization has worked with the group Partners in Health there to help build a school in the area.
The group had arrived in Cange about five hours before the earthquake struck. Although they were removed from the center of the damage, the group could still feel the effects of the earthquake.
“It felt like I was dizzy and I was going to fall,” Nadia Tuck said. “Then I realized everyone felt it.”
Shroyer said that at first the group was not sure of the severity of what just happened.
“We knew it was an earthquake,” he said, “but we had no idea of the magnitude.”
The group returned to where they were staying in Cange and ultimately used the Internet to learn the severity of the earthquake.
There was no immediate physical damage to structures in Cange, but the emotional damage of the natural disaster affected all parts of the country.
“We don’t know if the people we worked with are alive or not,” Reggie Tuck said.
Shroyer said that although the mission group was in Haiti at the time of the earthquake, they “had no idea what the Haitians were going through” as far as the deep effects of the disaster.
“There wasn’t a lot we could immediately do,” he said.
The Tucks and the rest of the mission group were able to stay in Cange for a few days past their expected departure as they worked out travel arrangements. Their flight out of Port-au-Prince, originally scheduled for Jan. 14, had to be changed.
“It became clear that going to Port-au-Prince was not going to work,” Reggie Tuck said.
The group traveled across the border to the Dominican Republic, where they stayed overnight before flying out of Santo Domingo. Half of the group was able to leave on Sunday, while the
rest returned to the United States Monday.
Shroyer said that the trip positively affected him, despite the surprise ending.
“It was a time of happiness and sharing of love,” he said, “even in the midst of tragedy.”
Both Nadia Tuck and her father were struck by the strength of the Haitian people around them after the disaster.
“We were able to return because of how the Haitians helped us,” Tuck said.
Nadia agreed.
“We were taken care of really well by the Haitians,” she said. “Most striking was how they took care of us like we were family, even though they were suffering and waiting to hear from their own
families.”
The Tuck family and its church plans to continue working with Haiti to provide help in any way they can. The church plans to continue its relationship with Partners in Health. Reggie Tuck said that he would wait and take direction from the Haitians about what was needed most as the country deals with the aftermath of the earthquake.
Nadia Tuck said that she also is looking for ways to help.
“I would like to go back sometime soon,” she said.
Many Tech students share her sentiments. Hokies United is planning an effort to help victims of the earthquake in collaboration with Partners in Health.