Haiti Holding Dedham Aid Shipment Hostage

For six months more than $30,000 worth of supplies meant for struggling Haitians has sat in a port as government officials in the country continually ask for paperwork and payoffs, said Pastor Philippe Emmanuel Joseph of Dedham Temple Haitian Seventh-Day Adventist Church.

“Every time we present a document, they want another document. You can never satisfy their demand. That is where it gets stalled,” Joseph said in a recent phone interview.

The trailer contains much-needed medication, hospital equipment and hospital beds donated by the South Shore Hospital. The shipment cost $6,100.

The contents of the shipment are dedicated for 12,000 residents in the town of Petit-Goave, 42 miles southwest of Port-au-Prince. Dedham donors wanted to benefit people struggling on the outskirts of the capital city, where most of the relief efforts are concentrated, said Adrienne Albani, a Dedham town employee.

“They are so far away from Port-au-Prince that those are the people forgotten and don’t have access to aid. The roads were destroyed,” she said.

The shipment collected and sent by members of the church and employees at Town Hall isn’t the only one that has run into issues, Joseph said.

He has heard of other groups abandoning their shipments and giving up on the seemingly perpetual rollercoaster of “fees” and documents.

“It is pretty much widespread,” Joseph said. “Everything down there, you have to give money for – to get anything done.”

Joseph said the Haitian government wants groups to give up their relief efforts so they can take the shipments and sell the goods to their own people – probably at a steep price.

That just won’t fly with Joseph or town employees.

“We’re not willing to play that kind of game, but we’re not willing to walk away either, because even though there is a lot of corruption with the government, there are many more suffering people that need people advocate for them,” Albani said.

Supporters contacted Rep. Stephen Lynch’s office about the container, but were told that ultimately it is up to the Haitian government to decide when – if ever – to release the contents to Joseph.

They have yet to contact Sen. John Kerry or Sen. Scott Brown.

Town employees and countless of Dedham residents pooled together their resources to fill the 45-foot trailer from January to September of last year before they shipped it out of East Boston.

“People donated in good will and good faith,” Albani said. “It’s a caring community. We wanted to help them out, and we did that.”

Joseph’s church, located on Washington Street, includes many local residents with strong family ties to the earthquake-ravaged island.

“This was a real direct way to help out our own community that was here,” Albani said. “Helping out isn’t always easy.”

With donated funds running dry, town employees are staging another bake sale in order to raise money for Joseph to take another trip to his home country.

“We need additional financial contributions, and it isn’t because we want to pay anyone off, it’s because the ministry team has to make another trip,” Albani said. “This is not a foundation of wealthy people that are doing this.”

Joseph remains upbeat about the future of his shipment – and shipments from other organizations – with coming elections.

“I don’t know why people have become so greedy,” Joseph said. “Right now, it is like everybody is fighting for their own pocket.”