Paul Waggoner, a 32 year old man who sold his construction business and moved to Haiti in the aftermath of the earthquake last January to co-found MMRC (materials management relief corps) has been falsely charged of kidnapping a gravely ill child who later died at the hospital he was brought to where Paul was working helping to organize medical supplies.
Despite not having been involved in the actual care of the child, and his lawyer having produced a copy of the child's death certificate, Paul was remanded into custody at the National Penitentiary, where he could spend up to three months while awaiting a magistrate's decision about whether or not to press charges.
The conditions in the prison are grim even by third world standards. According to a video produced by the Pulitzer Center, as many as 67 inmates are crowded into 20 by 20 feet cells without plumbing, in lockdown conditions. Cholera has spread there, and tuberculosis and HIV rates are high in the cramped conditions which hold some of the most dangerous men in Haiti.
And if that wasn't enough, Paul has been portrayed as a kidnapper and murderer on local radio the last couple of days, making him a natural target for predatory violence within the prison walls.
I met Paul in May 2010 when I participated in a medical mission at the General Hospital (HUEH) in Port au Prince. He and his partner, Paul Sebring, co-founded MMRC, which functioned as the lifeline which allowed the different aid organizations and groups to survive and work in the overwhelming chaos. Whether it was transporting patients, finding tanks of oxygen, delivering supplies, blood, medicine, or even chartering a plane to get people up to the northern parts of the country to treat cholera victims after the roads were washed out by hurricane Tomas, as I witnessed firsthand when I was there again in November, the Pauls were always in the middle of it, lending a hand and figuring out ways to make things happen.
Compassionate, dedicated, polite, and resolutely stubborn to solve problems, make things work and make them happen now is what characterized their work. While this is not altogether different from what one sees with most of the foreign volunteers in Haiti (if that is not the approach, after all, why even bother?), the real difference is that their passion for helping the people of Haiti has let to them staying on for more than the week or two most come down for and continuing full blast for almost a year.
Many of us who know the Pauls are trying to get the word out and pressure to bear on the Haitian authorities to release Paul and put an end to this travesty of justice. Beyond the great physical risk to Paul, this jeopardizes the continued influx of foreign volunteers to Haiti, who will no doubt have to reconsider their willingness to put their lives and liberty at risk in such a state.
It is very inspiring to see that people are responding: Senator John Kerry's office is working on this, as is the office of Mayor Thomas Menino of Boston. Representative Barney Frank called me personally on my cell phone this afternoon to learn details and to offer advice. Senator Patrick Leahy's office is involved, and journalists from the Boston Globe, USA Today, Washington Post and WBUR are telling the story. Partners in Health is also making efforts to help Paul. I know, too, that others who know Paul have reached out to their own representatives and media contacts to try and help.
If anyone reading this can help, I urge you to do so. Please help a brave, dedicated and selfless man, and help the people of Haiti indirectly by not allowing this to derail the assistance they so desperately need.
http://mmrcglobal.org/paul-waggoner-transferred-to-penitentiary
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/16/AR2010121605088.html
