This weekend at the home of USVI Haitian Relief organizer Carmen Partridge, a diverse group of people wandered about, not seeming to recognize one another—at least not initially.
That’s because they were accustomed to seeing each other in hospital scrubs, jeans and T-shirts— clothing being the least of their concerns when working at the Haiti Community Hospital as part of the relief mission.
Sunday night the former volunteers, dubbed the Crazy Diamonds by Partridge, were decked out in island party finery, elegant and cool.
"Oh, it’s you," became the familiar greeting as folks recognized one another, most having only "been introduced" in highly stressed circumstances, with no time for socializing.
Though Partridge had previously personally expressed profuse thanks to each of the Crazy Diamonds as they returned from Port-au-Prince—tired, hungry, in need of sleep and a hot shower—Sunday was Partridge’s formal thank-you, complete with certificates of appreciation for all the volunteers from Gov. John deJongh Jr.
Amid laughter, applause and more than a few tears, Partridge and the governor awarded the certificates.
"When Haiti was in desperate need, Virgin Islanders answered the call and once again demonstrated our people’s compassion and selflessness," deJongh said, "and in so doing, the territory provided direct and greatly needed medical assistance and care to a Caribbean neighbor during an incredibly difficult time of crisis."
The governor, who thanked the volunteers personally throughout the evening, concluded, "The V.I. Haiti Relief effort is a moving example of the power of volunteerism, and proof of the good that can be accomplished by a small community unified to achieve a common humanitarian goal. It is a real grass-roots effort."
Within the first seven weeks of the operation, 22 flights left St. Thomas with 115 medical volunteers and 30,000 pounds of supplies.
The V.I. team comprised 25 percent of the volunteer force at the Haitian Community Hospital, where 4,000 to 5,000 lives were saved by the international relief effort. The V.I. team also supplied food and supplies to three orphanages with hungry and sick children.
Bringing the room to silence, Partridge, wiping back tears, said the V.I. mission had saved more than 1,000 lives.
What became known as USVIHaitianRelief was conceived by Partridge and pulled together in two days. She said she awakened two days after the earthquake convinced she could do something. And the rest, as they say, is history.
On Jan. 16, five days after the quake, the mission’s first flight left St. Thomas with an even dozen volunteers. Traveling on what Partridge called her "hero list," were Drs. Francis, Bacot, Julia Gardner and Sara Smith, an internist from the East End Clinic; nurses Carla Stevens, Tashema Clark, Charlene Jones, Jennifer King, Esta Merla Kimball and Michelle Sheil; attorney Michele Baker (also the translator) and organizer Amy Gurlea of Antilles School.
Many of the group were present Sunday, relaxed and happy to be in one another’s company, fully bathed, dressed and enjoying a hot meal. In Port-au-Prince, several volunteers remembered, the only hot food they’d had were the military MREs (meals ready to eat).
Stepping into another persona, Gardner, one of the first group of volunteers, brought out her guitar and sang a song she had written, "Hope for Haiti," accompanied by two tots who knew almost all the words.
Gurlea, who has made four missions to Port-au-Prince, has to be the most easily recognizable face of the mission, where her finely honed organizational skills have earned her the respect of the Community Hospital of Haiti. Partridge said, "Whenever I speak to anyone at the hospital, the first thing they say is ‘When is Amy coming back?’"
Partridge had said in January, "The story is the people walking up the steps of that plane. It’s courage and faith. They don’t know what they will meet there," sentiments she repeated Sunday as she formally thanked each volunteer.
The youngest attendee Sunday evening, and likely the most popular guy there, was 17-month old Shelby, dressed in a grownup suit, vest and white shirt. Shelby was returned from Port-au-Prince to his parents, Florence Fontus and Lamarre Maignan, through intervention of the V.I. volunteers.
The group cut a versatile swath of the community. Though many of them were in the medical field, there were those who went to Port-au-Prince as organizers and logistics experts, or pilots who donated time and/or aircraft. And then there were the people who flocked to the St. Thomas JetCenter hangar and the enormous warehouse donated by Bellows International, where, under the supervision of Fraser Drummond, helped to organize and pack the 30,000 pounds of donations.
