Topangans to rebuild Haitian orphanage leveled by earthquake

Sue and Martin Schmitt, supporters of the Topanga Film Festival since its inception, are currently in Haiti with fellow Topangan Gala Calisto and a handful of others, eagerly awaiting the arrival of geodesic dome components — stuck in customs with an airline carrier in Florida — where they arrived 5 days ago to rebuild their orphanage, Kay Angel toppled by the the devastating 7.0 magnitude earthquake on January 12, 2010.

The new structures, donated by Pacific Domes, are intended to replace the previous orphanage that housed 13 orphans, ranging from 1-1/2 to 9-years old, who now reside in temporary shelters on or near the orphanage grounds. At the end of February, Andrew Bigosinski affiliated with Cine Institute, connected a crew of New York-based gaffers and grips distributing a container full of donated generators and other electrical equipment, from which a generator was donated to Kay Angel.

Gala said that a Los Angeles-based architect and a several carpenters are on hand awaiting arrival of the domes. Gala said the Schmitts and friends of the orphanage are standing by ready to build alternative housing if delivery of the domes is greatly delayed. “We need to have permanent housing for the children prior to the start of the 2011 hurricane season,” Gala said, “this is our top priority right now.”

An estimated three million people were affected by the quake with the Haitian Government reporting between 217,000 and 230,000 known deaths, an estimated 300,000 injured, and an estimated 1,000,000 homeless, many of whom are children. Approximately 250,000 residences and 30,000 commercial buildings were also reported collapsed or were severely damaged.

Gala, 26, went to work for the Schmitts shortly after their 2006 visit to Haiti. It was then then and there the Schmitts connected with activist friend Luke Montgomery that ultimately led to the founding of Kay Angel in the coastal community of Jacmel on the southern shore of Haiti. Gala came on board when the Schmitts sought a personal assistant, who among other administrative capacities, also spoke French. Gala said that working with the Schmitts has added a dimension to her life that she otherwise might not have had.

Well before the 2010 earthquake, an estimated 225,000 child slaves in Haiti, children as young as five years old who lost their parents and were forced to work just to survive. Today, that number is likely much higher, Gala said, echoing the opinion of orphanage director, Lia van de Donk, whose local staff cares for the Key Angel children on an around-the-clock basis. Whom, according to van de Donk, are of school age and visited either the local kindergarten, a school for the handicapped or were taught by a private teacher until the earthquake destroyed all three facilities.

Support for Kay Angel comes from private donations, Founder’s contributions and local support from MINUSTAH and the World Food Program. WeCanBuildanOrphanage.com received its grant of non-profit status from the IRS in March of 2007, and was recognized as tax-exempt by the State of California later that year.