No surprise to us: our kids in Haiti show the world what’s possible

PORT-AU-PRINCE — There are many things you don’t expect to see in Haiti, and one of them is Anderson Cooper coming across the tarmac, waving. But there he was, along with five members of his 60 Minutes crew, all of us about to squeeze into a helicopter heading to our orphanage.

By now it appears that many of you have seen the 60 Minutes segment on Have Faith Haiti, which aired on CBS this past Sunday. I have been barraged with emails, texts and phone calls reacting to the 13-minute segment.

Many people didn’t know I even operated an orphanage. That’s fine. Many people didn’t realize the dangers involved in getting there every month. That’s fine, too. We don’t do this for attention or empathy. And certainly people are busy with their own lives and don’t need to know the details of mine.

But the shining light of that CBS piece — as it should be, and as it came across — was our kids. Their humility. Their maturity. Their courage. They blew away the producers and Anderson Cooper himself, who kept asking me what was the “aptitude test” that we gave kids before entering, because he figured there must be a reason they all seemed so smart and engaged.

When I told him the only “test” to admitting kids was how in need they were of a new home, he was stunned.

Come to think of it, there were a lot of stunned looks with the whole crew during that process.

Here are a few behind-the-scenes details of how that 60 Minutes piece all came together.

Six degrees of immersion

Months ago I received a call from a woman, a friend of a friend, who said she was friends with a producer at the 60 Minutes program. She asked if it was OK to pass on the story of our orphanage. I said sure, but didn’t expect much. This sort of six-degrees-from-someone-who-might-help-you thing happens a lot in the charity world. It often goes nowhere.

So I was surprised when I quickly received a text from the CBS producer, asking for a conversation. Several conversations later, they said they were interested in doing the story, and tried to coordinate dates.

We wound up choosing the New Year’s break, because Anderson had a couple of free days. I believe he actually flew down to Florida after hosting CNN’s New Year’s Eve show from Times Square, then flew into Haiti the following morning. How he managed to look so fresh and collected is beyond me, but then, he’s a pro. 

We chatted during the helicopter ride (which they filmed) and when we landed in Port-au-Prince, our armored cars drove us to the orphanage. The security team for 60 Minutes insisted we wear bullet-proof vests, which is why you see me in one in the piece (looking like the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.)

Finally, when we reached the orphanage, the kids were waiting. They gave us a roaring welcome, complete with a bullrush for hugs and kisses. Anderson asked if that’s the reception I usually get and I said, “Pretty much, yeah.” 

And it is.

Then the real storytelling unfolded. I had told Anderson if he wanted to experience our place he needed to stay in the middle of it — and that’s where we put him. On the middle floor of our dormitory, with the boys below and the girls above. He got the same bed we give other visitors, and he and the crew, who also slept in our guest rooms, ate dinner and breakfast with our kids, and filmed constantly through the classrooms, the soccer games, the church service, the nightly prayers. We even made s’mores over a campfire at night and the kids melted marshmallows alongside Anderson and his team.

In the morning we had a drill, as we always do, to see how fast our kids and staff could get into our safe room if danger came. The siren went off and the kids went running. I think this genuinely surprised the CBS team, and it is kind of shocking when you see it for the first time, nannies rushing babies in their arms, kids racing up the hill with their “go bags” in their arms, teenagers flying past, all plowing into this cramped room and pulling the bulletproof door closed behind them.

Equally shocking was the number of security guards (24) we must now employ. And the tin huts and mud floors of the people living just outside our gates, which left the 60 Minutes team in saddened silence.

But this is life in Haiti, and life at our orphanage. If they wanted to see it, they were going to see the truth. And in two days with us, I believe they did.

Living their stories

I never saw the 60 Minutes piece before it aired. I watched it live, same as you, in our house downstairs, alongside half a dozen of our Haitian kids, some of whom were on a college break, some of whom are here for medical treatment.

I have now been asked what were my favorite parts of the segment, and I have a few, none of which involved me:

• When Gina, who is now 17, recalled her arrival at the orphanage at age 5, and being stunned that so many people were smiling. I also loved when Anderson Cooper asked her what she thought of me, her first American, when she initially saw me, and she laughed and said, “He’s so white!”

• When our college kids, interviewed in Michigan, talked about their aspirations and Widley said he wanted to be Haiti’s ambassador one day, and Bianka talked about bringing education back to Haiti, and J.U. said he wanted to make a political difference back in his home country, because America is impressive but “Haiti is my home.”

• When our kids were pictured singing their prayers, and taking notes in class, and carrying their books, and listening in a circle in the gazebo. These are scenes that are commonplace in our daily life here, so I am pleased that the world got to see them.

But perhaps the thing I am most happy about is that, after watching the segment on TV in our house, all of our kids seemed pleased, but none of them asked to see it again. None of them acted giddy at having been on national television. None of them called or texted friends with “Did you see me?”

To them, it was just a story that they knew well, because they live it, it is their story, and when it was over, they went back to doing what they do —studying for college class, or finishing dinner, or getting ready for bed.

I am so proud of the young men and women our kids are growing into, and how even-keeled they are about life, coming from a place where nothing is even-keeled. It means they are becoming secure, and security comes from being loved and nourished and assured that you are, and will forever be, part of a family.

I hope that is what came across in 60 Minutes. Because that is what we are aiming for in all the other minutes. Thank you to the wonderful producers and crew, and to Anderson, for bringing our story to the world.

And thank you all for your help, and for watching. Seeing is believing, and belief is what we are all about.