Helping the Neighbors

Thursday, January 21 2010 | Send to a friend

Helping the neighbors

Many people in Haiti are still without food, water, shelter and medical care as foreign aid makes its way in. In the meantime, many Haitians are doing what they can to help one another.

Christian Surena is a Haitian who was studying in Miami when the earthquake hit. He found out his parents had set up a makeshift clinic and shelter in their home, the only one left standing in the neighborhood. So Christian went down to help. He talks with Dick Gordon as he makes his way across Port au Prince from an unsuccessful trip to the airport, about the challenges of helping people when supplies are hard to get and the need is so great. Christian is also a music producer and one of the people behind the song Tribute to Haiti.

Laura Wagner (left) with friends Marlene and Acephie, 2 days before the earthquake

Laura Wagner was in Haiti during the earthquake. She was trapped in a collapsed doorway and rescued by a local handyman. She ended up in a UN shelter, where she cared for a boy without any family and was, at one time, asked to make tags for unidentified bodies. As she tells Dick, what most frustrates her now that she's back in the U.S., is how Haiti is being portrayed in the media.

Lew Zirkle is an orthopedic surgeon who is now in Haiti. He's invented a way to repair broken limbs without the use of an x-ray or even electricity. Lew talks with Dick about how he came up with the idea and why it's important to him to continue to do his work around the world. A longer version of this story aired on November 29, 2007.

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