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Van der Mark family helping Haiti recover from earthquake Continued from page 1 13 · Wednesday, May 5, 2010 OAKVILLE BEAVER · www.oakvillebeaver.com "I had really connected with the plight of the people down there and the Mission of Hope approached me to start off this program and said `Can you come?'" she said. Her husband, Laurens, an OPP police officer, was asked to manage MOHH facilities. So, in 2008 they decided to get involved with Mission of Hope for the long haul. Husband and wife and their three children Teagan, 13, Grayden, 11, and Bridgely, 8, made the move to Haiti together and currently live on the MOHH compound, located on the outskirts of the capital city Port-au-Prince. One year turned to two and now it appears it will be several more. The family also experienced the 7.0 magnitude earthquake on Jan. 12 that has claimed the lives of more than 200,000 Haitians. "We'll be back here," she said. "I don't know when. Right now, we just had this massive earthquake and everything is a mess so we can't leave the projects yet. We don't have a certain date we'll be back yet, but we'll be back every summer and we'll be back several times throughout the year." Cheryl and her husband also adopted six-year-old Haitian twins, Ana and Mina, who, since joining the family in July, already speak fluent English. All five children are being taught the Ontario curriculum family is together." Though she sold her business, the family still has possessions in Canada. They downsized to a new home, which they use when they make their returns, and rent it out while they are in Haiti. "This is still our home. We still have our home here. The Oakville to Waterdown area is definitely home for us and we will be back," she said. "The sale of my practice frees me up to do the work that I'm doing, both here and there. When we come back it gives us flexibility on where we land." Aside from coming back to Canada to sell her business, she also had an open house at the clinic to meet her former patients. "I came to say goodbye to all my patients, which has been very emotional and very difficult. My patients and my staff are like family to me. We built the practice from scratch so it's kind of like saying goodbye to my baby." Cheryl returned to Haiti this week (May 4). SUPPLIED PHOTO FAMILY TIME: The Van der Mark family, Cheryl and Laurens (centre) and their children (l-r, back row) Grayden, Teagan and Bridgely, and their recently adopted Haitian twins, (front row, l-r) Ana and Mina. by a Canadian teacher, who is in Haiti herself. "She just graduated from teachers college and wanted to go on some kind of mission, but didn't know what," Cheryl said of her children's teacher, whom she met in Canada. "It just kind of worked out perfectly and she has been with us since the beginning." In Haiti, Cheryl is running the MOHH medical facility. She's director of an outpatientclinic staffed by Haitians, orthopedic surgery, prosthetics laboratory (which is needed for the many amputees after the earthquake) and an inpatient ward. While she heads the above mentioned departments, she's also very busy in working towards building a new hospital. Aside from her administrative work, Cheryl also sees patients, who need chiropractic treatments and oversees North American doctors, who go to Haiti to work. "I'm doing a lot of hands on and a lot of administration at the same time. There's no set hours. We're working pretty much round the clock and on weekends as well. We live on the compound where the clinic is, so working has been improvised." She said her children have also adapted to life in Haiti. "The kids are into the life down there right now and they haven't protested," she said. "They're just getting used to the life there and they're laid back and versatile. They're happy wherever, as long as our ORCHESTRAS MISSISSAUGA 2010 ANNUAL GOLF TOURNAMENT WEDNESDAY, MAY 19TH, 2010 AT BRAEBEN GOLF COURSE Join us for a day of golf that includes: · 18 holes of golf with cart · Specialty holes and contests · On cart breakfast and hot buffet · Lunch with wine, coffee and desert · $25 charitable tax receipt issued · Raffle tickets for an exceptional prize table · Door prize for a basket of 15 wine bottles · Shot gun start at 7:30 am 5700 Terry Fox Way in Mississauga $150 registration fee per person TO REGISTER, PLEASE SEND IN YOUR COMPLETED FORM BY MAIL, FAX OR EMAIL TO: ORCHESTRAS MISSISSAUGA, 4141 LIVING ARTS DRIVE MISSISSAUGA, ON L5B 4B8 FAX: 905.615.4402 Please call for an email form to be sent to you in order to register. E-MAIL: symphony.info@livingarts.on.ca HOLE IN ONE SPONSOR: RBC DOMINION SECURITIES/FRANCISCO FONSECA Sponsorship opportunities available by calling: $10,000 905.615.4405 or email: HOLE IN ONE SPONSOR: WHITEOAK FORD LINCOLN Symphony.info@livingarts.on.ca 2 YEAR CAR LEASE ON A 2010 MUSTANG ORCHESTRAS MISSISSAUGA 2010 ANNUAL GOLF TOURNAMENT