Tulsan Impressed By Haitian Spirit After Volunteer Trip

By Dan Bewley, The News On 6

TULSA, OK -- Hundreds of hungry people in Haiti are accusing their local officials of charging them for food that has been donated and sent to help earthquake victims.

All this is happening as dozens of Oklahomans make their way to and from the country.

One of those volunteers is Tulsa resident Sean Weins, who jokes that when he was asked if he wanted to go to Haiti he meant to say "no" but "yes" came out of his mouth.

He now says he's glad for the mix-up.

"This is actually a school that's been converted into a medical clinic/hospital," said Sean Weins from the comfort of his Tulsa office, as he shows video he shot in Haiti.

The chief technology officer at Tulsa Community College just spent a week volunteering in Haiti. He and 11 other Oklahomans helped the Salvation Army turn a destroyed school into a medical clinic.

Weins' was in charge of logistics, his job was to make sure everything was up and running to help the Haitians get medical attention.

"It does break your heart, but you have to - in order to be effective - you have to just stay focused," he said.

Weins says he was amazed by what he saw in the country. Despite the massive devastation, he says the Haiti people are resilient and proud of it. He says he was quickly able to connect with the children and was impressed by the Haitians' determination to fight through the destruction.

Still, he says, there's much more work to be done.

"The need is great, I would say in terms of thoughts, prayers, and giving financially - all of the above are critical," said Sean Weins, a Tulsa resident who just returned from a week of volunteering in Haiti.

Weins hopes his journey inspires others to put their own life on hold, if they can, and reach out to a country and a people who desperately need help.

"My advice is: don't forget Haiti," he said. "They're a neighbor of ours, and what an opportunity we have to set an example to the world and to really communicate the kind of character that we have as Americans."