Tyler Dean
Tyler Dean, a 2007 graduate of Cook County High School, is a missionary with a Christian nonprofit organization called Youth With A Mission (“Y-WAM”).
His work over the last couple of years has taken him around the world, but he is based in Pismo Beach, California, where one of his most difficult duties is to difficult duties is to reach out to local surfing dudes.
Dean is not reluctant to do harder things as well, such as befriending the homeless and giving hope to the disenfranchised in Third World countries. And he didn’t hesitate to head down to Haiti after a 7.0-magnitude earthquake hit the Caribbean island country on January 12, 2010, killing tens of thousands of people.
Dean has a blog about his work (www.tylerdean.blogspot.com/), and has included some missives from former Pismo Beach YWAMer Philip Causey, now a missionary in Haiti. On Wednesday, January 13, Causey wrote, “As we made our way to Port Au Prince, it was clear that we were in for a tough day. …Every hospital had closed gates and thousands of wounded and dying on the sidewalk outside. …We stopped in at one hospital to search for our friend’s wife. While we were there, we started treating people with non-lifethreatening wounds…digging chunks of cement out of gaping wounds, cleaning head wounds, etc.
“…We could not count the dead bodies in the streets and on the sidewalks. …On the way back home, all I could do is cry…just seeing all of those dead bodies just tore me up inside.
“…On top of everything else, we have some type of sickness that everyone is getting here (fever and intestinal problems).”
On Friday, January 15, Causey wrote, “We have little to no cell phone service, which makes things so much more complicated. We found out that a group of the inmates that escaped when the prison wall collapsed was hijacking vehicles in that area.
“Right now Port Au Prince has not been secured enough to let most humanitarian aid teams in. TheUN is working, but there are still so many dead bodies and everyone is still sleeping in the streets. The situation is extremely desperate and thousands of people that lost everything in their collapsed homes are trying to escape the city and go stay with loved ones and friends in the outlying provinces. We are working on getting a food distribution system in place to meet the needs of the refugees and the families that are receiving them. We want to be able to provide food as well as clothing and clean water.
“Most of the people we have become friends with have taken in family members and are trying to help them deal with the trauma and fear from their experience in the quake. We want to be able to meet their physical needs but also the emotional and spiritual trauma from such a devastating event. The people are so traumatized from the event itself that they have not even really begun the process of mourning for their lost loved ones.
“…As food and fuel become more scarce, the prices are going to continue to rise and make it even harder for the average Haitian to support their normal household, much less the extra people they are bringing in.
“…Please pray for the people of Haiti. They are so afraid right now and hurting. We hate it. To see people you love so desperate is heart-wrenching. …Know we will be careful and yet not shy away from the opportunity to go wherever God leads us.”
The evening of Friday, January 15, Dean and some fellow YWAMers left Pismo Beach, finally arriving in Haiti early January 17 in a bus packed with medical supplies and water.
Dean wrote, “We had police escorts on the front and back of us from the border all the way into the capitol city. They escorted us into the city’s main police station across the street from the president’s palace, which was totally smashed to the ground. I don’t really know how to describe what it looked like inside the city streets of Port Au Prince…it was what I would imagine a war zone to be like. Buildings were totally flattened… cars crushed, cement on the streets and people wandering everywhere, looking for hope. I heard we didn’t even see the worst part(s) of the city, either.
“…We will be VERY busy here and working long days. …Everyone from Port Au Prince is evacuating and going north, up to St. Marc.” Numerous buildings were turned into refugee camps and makeshift hospitals. “Just to warn you,” Dean wrote on Tuesday, January 19, “this is going to be a quick update because I am exhausted and I’ve tried to type this four times, but the power keeps going out.
“…I spent the morning a mile down the road at the abandoned hospital, washing it out and sanitizing it to get it ready for the refugee camp. We are preparing for 2,000- 3,000 people who are wounded to be arriving in St. Marc….
“After lunch, I worked at the refugee camp that is here at the YWAM base, doing medical work. I’ve never done anything quite like that. It was intense. We worked with quite severe abrasions, burns, head trauma, broken bones, etc.
“Here is a quick story from a kid who is at the refugee camp here at the YWAM base. He was found “dead” underneath a fallen building. They put him in a coffin and took him to the morgue. While the doctor was going through the morgue, he heard pounding and opened the door and the child was alive! He has severe head injuries (and more).”
“There are thousands upon thousands injured and needing help and food,” Dean wrote. “Please keep them in your prayers.”
Dean is scheduled to return to the United States Saturday, January 23. On Wednesday, January 20 a 6.1-magnitude aftershock hit Haiti. Dean survived the aftershock safely.
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