Sisters man joins Haiti relief effort

When natural disasters strike, compassionate adventurers are the first to make ready to assist. Sometimes though, the situation strikes a chord that runs deeper than compassion.

Such was the case for Sisters resident David Uttley, who was on a plane making his way to the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, the morning after a 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck the city. Uttley was raised in Haiti, the son of missionary parents. He lived there until age 14, one of four siblings and, according to Uttley's wife, Cindy, "His mother likes to say he spoke Creole before he spoke English."

The Uttley's ties to Haiti run deep; they met there in the mid-1980s, when Cindy was working in a hospital and David had returned to manage a print shop supplying materials printed in Creole to missionary groups. He has been back several times since.

Uttley is a photographer, and this time he is attached to a media team with Christian relief group Samaritan's Purse. Since the sale of his graphic-art firm in 2008 and subsequent retirement, Uttley has found deep satisfaction photographing the work of Christian mission and development organizations. The stories told in his photos speak of the hope replacing despair in many parts of the world.

Shortly before the earthquake struck, Uttley contacted Samaritan's Purse, an organization he'd long admired and one that routinely works on the front lines during disaster relief operations. He was keen to work with them, never dreaming that his first assignment would be on home turf.

Cindy said, "David understands Haitian culture, and that gives him an advantage in understanding their reactions (to the recovery effort). Plus, he is a native speaker of the Haitian language."

She spoke to her husband on Saturday night, and said he confirmed what we've been hearing in media reports.

"The infrastructure is shot, so everything takes way longer than it used to take, which was already slow by American standards. Vehicle fuel is getting scarce, and hospitals are running low on supplies."

The local people that Uttley spoke with seemed in good spirits, Cindy said. "They are a resilient people and many have a deep faith in God and ordinarily rely on Him for daily needs."

Still, the reality is that for now, those people are largely without food, water, shelter or rest. Relief agencies are working hard to alleviate that, but the enormity of the relief effort, coupled with Haiti's inability to help itself, makes this a historic disaster.

Uttley plans to return to Sisters on February 7. His work with Samaritan's Purse will last a week, and then he will work through other missionary contacts to do whatever is needed. Samaritan's Purse partners with Baptist Haiti Mission (BHM) and the supplies sent are distributed through BHM.

More information may be found at http://www.samaritanspurse.com.