Professor survives Haiti earthquake, shares experience with campus Friday

January 20, 2010

A University of Wisconsin-Whitewater professor survived the earthquake in Haiti by grabbing a small tree as the ground shook beneath him.

"It was incredibly violent. You can hear the earth moving underneath you," said William Chandler, a professor of curriculum and instruction and coordinator of art education in the College of Education.

Back on campus barely a week after being evacuated from Port-au-Prince, Haiti, in a cargo plane, Chandler remains shaken by the death and devastation of the Jan. 12 earthquake.

He will share his experiences and photographs at 11 a.m. Friday, Jan. 22, in 1001 Winther Hall and will lead a discussion about Haiti's future and how people here can help.

Chandler was among a group of eight volunteers with the Haiti Lutheran Mission Society, making his second trip after being inspired by a friend at his church, St. John's Lutheran in Glendale. No one in his group was injured.

"By the grace of God, we were all secure," he said.

After arriving in Haiti on Jan. 6, the volunteers painted and swept a new orphanage for girls on the outskirts of the capital city of Port-au-Prince. Two days before the quake, about 100 people gathered for a joyous dedication ceremony marked by prayers and song.

In the late afternoon of Jan. 12, Chandler stopped back at his Port-au-Prince hotel, the Coconut Villa. He had spent the day photographing schoolchildren who need American sponsors and taking snapshots of such landmarks as the cathedral and the gleaming presidential palace, now demolished.

Chandler was leaving his ground-floor room when the ground began to shake. He stepped into a gravel courtyard as tremors knocked his friend to the ground.

"I grabbed ahold of a tree and I held on for dear life," he said. "It seemed like it lasted for hours. It was 30 seconds."

His hotel was undamaged, but nearby buildings were flattened. Fires erupted in the distance as darkness fell. Injured people struggled by.

Hotel guests dragged mattresses into the courtyard for the night. Each time an aftershock rattled the city, people in devastated neighborhoods nearby cried out.

"It was like the city moaned, in the dark," Chandler said. "It was like the city itself was moaning and groaning with the pain the people were having."

The next day, his group traveled past bodies along the streets to reach the U.S. Embassy, where a staffer vetoed their plan to try to reach the Dominican Republic on their own.

About 60 Americans were ferried in vans through a military entrance to the Port-au-Prince airport, where two large cargo planes were waiting to take them to Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic. The next day, Chandler and his friend found flights to Miami and Chicago. His wife, Lenore, met him in Chicago.

"For me, it was a bittersweet departure because there was so much to do," Chandler said. "But the reality is I would have been a liability."

Back at home, he watches the news from Haiti and worries about people he knows. "It's overwhelming," he said. "You not only are brought back to the trauma of the broken buildings, but the wondering about who's left. Property is valuable, but the people are priceless."

Chandler will return to Haiti as soon as he can. The orphanage was damaged but he believes it can be repaired.

"When they can use amateurs like me again, I will look forward to going again," he said.

People who want to help Haiti should donate money to reputable organizations such as the Haiti Lutheran Mission Society, Red Cross, World Vision, Habitat for Humanity, CARE and other groups providing direct aid, he said.