Corrine Kaiser Gould, R.N. 1 Renaissance Square White Plains, NY 10601
President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500 12/25/10
Dear Mr. President,
I am writing to you about a desperate situation in Haiti you may or may not be aware of. My friend and co-worker, Paul Douglas Waggoner is in Haiti’s National Penitentiary for allegations originating from ignorance and a deeply rooted belief in Voodoo. Although I chronicled the facts in an enclosure, in brief:
On February 23, 2010, Paul was working at Haitian Community Hospital (HCH) when a father brought in his 15 month old son. The child was critically ill, listless and died shortly after he was admitted. Although having nothing to do with the care of the child, Paul is accused of putting a spell on the 15 month old turning him into a zombie for the purpose of kidnapping him. The father viewed the body but did not take it because he did not have the funds for a burial. There is a death certificate that is signed by a Haitian doctor and 3 signed affidavits: one by an American attending physician and two by R.N.'s, all present at the time of the baby’s death, stating unequivocally that the baby died. Because the baby's eyes were not closed (rigor mortis had set in), the father was convinced the child was not really dead but put into a trance by Paul. The father confirmed his belief with a local witch doctor. Watch Anderson Coopers’ report:
http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/bestoftv/2010/12/17/ac.aid.worker.cnn.html
I am an R.N. and have been doing relief work with Paul on and off for months. He has done nothing but break his back for the Haitian people. PLEASE help him. I have exhausted every avenue and his health and life are at risk. There is not a shred of proof to hold him. To the contrary, there is proof that the baby died and the father did not want the body.
For the past 10 months Paul and I have been working together raising funds to support several orphanages. We have been supplying them with food, shelter, medical care, educational material and teachers. Some of these orphanages depend on us exclusively for their food. I enclosed some of the projects we have been working on with the kids.
We are also working hard on getting a young Haitian American, Ralph Saintulis, back into the states. He was abandoned in Haiti by his stepmother in November of 2008. She left him there without his passport or any form of ID. After the earthquake he started working as a translator for us and we have been trying to help him re-establish his U S. citizenship. The process has been excruciatingly difficult and we have the help of an immigration lawyer here, in the states. Can you imagine how frightening it was for a 15 year old American boy to be abandon on the streets of Port-au-Prince? Paul and I are his only hope.
Why is this man behind bars? He has done nothing but work night and day to help the Haitians. In addition, his human rights are being violated and the U.S. Embassy has not been fulfilling their obligation to ensure humane treatment.
Paul, along with Paul Sebring are co-founders of MMRCHaiti, one of Haiti’s small but more effective NGO’s.
Please feel free to contact me at anytime. I am willing to return to Haiti with you and show you the good work Paul has done. But please, make that phone call. I know you can ensure his release.
Respectfully,
Corrine Gould
Other links:
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/12/25/v-fullstory/1988042/in-haiti-tension-builds-against.html#storylink=fbuser
http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/dpp/news/offbeat/relief-worker-jailed-haiti-12222010
