12 March 3, 2012 - ObserverXtra

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20 | FEATURE FROM | 19 tions were left without power in the aftermath. Raymer was the family’s only source of information in those early hours through her text messages, but with no means of recharging the device she tried to conserve power, meaning her messages were few and far between. It was on his way back from the passport office the next day that Luke got the call from his dad saying that Yvonne had been killed. “I was utterly stunned and couldn’t believe the words when they came out of my dad’s mouth. I was in shock.” He boarded a Toronto-bound flight an hour later and joined the rest of the family at their farm near Elmira that evening, and what followed were an agonizing couple of weeks in which the family tried desperately to communicate with the Canadian embassy in Haiti, and to get their mother’s body back to Canada. “There were lots of doubts about where mom’s body was, and then lots of frustration as far as trying to confirm it from here and trying to get it home. We just didn’t realize how overwhelmed the city was,” explained Luke. A funeral was held on Jan. 20 and mourners packed the Waterloo Mennonite Brethren Church to pay tribute to Yvonne. Yet without a body the service lacked a sense of closure for the family, and it would take weeks for Yvonne to be returned to Canada and arrive at her final resting place in a cemetery just west of Elmira. Gradually time passed and life began to take on a new form of normalcy as family members adjusted to the death of Yvonne, yet Terry and Luke always had the sense that they needed to go to Haiti to see where she died and where she had worked. To that end, Terry and Luke finally boarded that long-awaited flight to Haiti, two years after they first began scouring the web in a desperate bid to join the search for their mother. The brothers planned to meet in Port-au-Prince on Jan. 11, where they also met McIlroy, who would act as their guide for the trip. Their other brother, Dean, decided that he did not want to join them. They traversed the congested streets of the still-recovering capital city amidst the crumbling walls and leaning buildings. Tent cities and ramshackle shacks still dominate the landscape, and the entire city was coated in a thick layer of dust. They spent that first evening Location: Western one-third portion of the island of Hispaniola, shared with the Dominican Republic. Population: 9,801,664 (2012 estimate) Language: French (official), Creole (official) GDP: $12.44 billion (ranked #145 in the world) Agriculture: coffee, mangoes, sugarcane, rice, corn, sorghum, wood Industry: textiles, sugar refining, flour milling, cement, light assembly based on imported parts talking with the six men who had dug their mother out of the rubble with their bare hands, took the time to carefully wrap her body in a sheet, and drove through the chaotic streets of Port-au-Prince to deliver her to the Canadian embassy. Yvonne was one of 58 Canadians killed in the earthquake, and hers was the only body recovered from the guesthouse that night. It was through the efforts of Nicholson, Veniel, Samuel, Jean, Lucien and Jean Jonel that her body even made it back to Canada rather than ending up in the mass graves that were dug to dispose of the more than 300,000 people estimated to have died. “They were working with whatever they could to move the stones and debris. I wanted to get pictures of their hands and their faces, and to hear their stories of how overwhelmed they were,” said Terry. “If they hadn’t done it that night I’m sure mom’s body wouldn’t have got home.” “What surprised me was that I don’t think I really believed that people knew her,” added Luke of his discussions with the drivers and vendors who had worked with his mother before she died. “She was just one nurse out of however many NGOs and development organizations and medical missionaries pass through, but they remembered her clearly and had a relationship with her.” The next day, Jan. 12, Terry, Luke and Marilyn participated in memorial services across the city, and stood at the same spot where Yvonne had been found. The section of the guesthouse that collapsed still has not been rebuilt, and all that remains is the brown tile floor. “How do I come up with a word for that?” Luke asked. He paused for a moment before adding, “It was very meaningful. Where my feet were was exactly where her feet were when they found her. It was like visiting a grave.” Yvonne may have died in Portau-Prince, but she was very rarely ever in the capital. It was where she and the other missionaries would arrive and depart, but little more. The heart of her work was located in the mountainous region east of the city, in the plateau region near the border with the Dominican Republic, and that was where Terry and Luke headed next. On Jan. 13 the brothers climbed aboard a small plane and took a 20-minute flight to the village of Henche. It was there and the outlying villages of Malary, Savane Cajou and others where the brothers were able to see and hear the true impact that their mother had on the Haitian people. After touching down at an airport which was little more than a dirt landing strip, the group had to travel through the forest and along the rocky terrain, often riding in the back of a pickup truck or even on foot on roads that were barely passable. The thought of their 67-year-old mother making those same trips filled them with admiration. “She always said she would keep going until her body couldn’t do it anymore,” Terry said. They were surprised to learn that the villagers remembered her so vividly, and the Haitians cried as they recounted their annual visits with Yvonne. The memories of her were still as fresh in the minds of the Haitian people as they were in the minds Because the coat of arms is only used for national and military flags, whereas the civil flag consists solely of the two unaugmented horizontal bands, it was found at the 1936 Berlin Summer Olympics that Haiti and Liechtenstein were using the same flag. This led to the addition of a crown to the design of the flag of Liechtenstein. The brothers spent several days visiting the smaller outlying villages where their mother had worked. Top right, Luke (left) and Terry enjoy a drink from some coconuts, and they also distributed toys to local children. Terry also wanted to take photos of the hands of the men who helped dig their mother out of the rubble after the quake. More images available online at www.ObserverXtra.com. [terry martin] of her own family. The men heard countless tales of how their mother had helped distribute food and medical aid, and cared for the sick and the injured – particularly the children. “That made total sense to us, because that’s what mom was always fixated on – children,” said Terry with a smile. At the end of their six-week mission trips each year, Yvonne and the other women enjoyed travelling north to the 19th century citadel that was about 17 km south of the coastal town of Cap- Haitian. After climbing to the top of the fortress, the group would unwind by spending a few days at the beach on the coast. Luke and Terry had seen photos that their mother had taken during her trips to the citadel and the beach, and they knew the site had a special place in her heart so THE OBSERVER | SATURDAY, MARCH 3, 2012 Haitian Earthquake by the numbers $4.5 billion: amount of money pledged for the rebuilding process $2.38 billion: amount of money delivered for the rebuilding process by January, 2012 $220 million: amount of money donated by Canadians to charities in support of Haiti and matched by Canadian government 3 million: estimate of number of people affected by the earthquake 316,000: estimate of number of people killed 58: number of Canadians killed HAITI: Martin brothers see firsthand what drew their mother to this impoverished country they travelled there as well. “Mom always described it as what she imagined Haiti used to look like. It was beautiful, with lots of trees,” said Terry of the beach. Luke and Terry left Haiti on Jan. 19, and have spent the past several weeks trying to sort out their feelings for the nation, the people, and the stories about their mother – as well as the horrors of the day she died and the impact it had on their Christian faith. “The earthquake hit and my first thought was ‘how could this happen?’ and I think that’s a pretty normal response for people who go through something like this,” said Luke. “I’m not one of those people who think that everything happens for a reason. No, this was the wrong time and the wrong person.” “The earthquake happens and you think ‘what better place for my mom to be, she’s a nurse and she can help,’” echoed Terry. “Ever since coming back from Haiti, though, I have a better understanding of life and what things are important. We don’t understand everything – it is way bigger than us here and on the island of Haiti.” In an effort to keep her legacy alive, the family established the Yvonne Martin Memorial Fund through the Evangelical Missionary Church of Canada, which helps offset some of the costs associated with training medical personnel in Haiti. There are currently three students receiving funding, and for every year they are supported they must spend one year working in the same plateau region where their mother worked. The family continues to cope with Yvonne’s absence, and their personal experiences with their mother before her death continue to shape the complexity of their grief. She used to visit Terry and his family almost every day, and her death has left a void that still remains. For Luke, living in San Diego for nearly a decade meant the visits with his mother were always much rarer, but he still misses the letters and the phone calls, and those feelings will likely never wane. They also believe that there is still a lot of work to be done in Haiti to rebuild, and their journey there has helped them understand why that work needs to be done. “This trip wasn’t so much a goodbye for me, it was just to gain a better understanding of what she did,” said Terry. “But, you know, I still dream about mom all the time.”
THE OBSERVER | SATURDAY, MARCH 3, 2012 THE ARTS Live music / jazz Running hot and cool Larry’s Jazz Guys will herald the trumpets of jazz during Mar. 9 show at Kitchener’s Registry Theatre steve kannon Miles. Chet. Louis. The names conjure up the sweet, hip sounds that follow the placing of lips against trumpet. Cooler than cool. For Larry Larson, they’re icons of the jazz he loves to listen to and perform. On Mar. 9, he and his band – Larry’s Jazz Guys – will fill the Registry Theatre with their music in a performance dubbed Hot & Cool: The Trumpets of Jazz. The show is aptly named, as it was the coolness factor that drew Larson to the trumpet in the first place. Not that of Miles Davis, Chet Baker or Louis Armstrong, however, but the slightly older cool kid that lived in the Chicago neighbourhood he moved to in the fifth grade. “He was really cool. He played the trumpet, so I wanted to play the trumpet,” he laughed. Supported by an encouraging music teacher, Larson stuck with it. “I knew at a pretty early age this was what I wanted to do.” As a grade school student, however, he really didn’t think about the details of making a living as a jazz musician. He simply kept on playing, eventually studying music at Chicago’s DePaul University. It was there that his jazzy life took a sudden change: exposed for the first time to orchestral music, he became enthralled, shifting into classical music. After graduation, his search for orchestral work NOW ACCEPTING NEW PATIENTS Dr. Adam Keech Optometrist Dr. V. Hinch Optometrist PHONE: 519-669-0012 Evening appointments Available brought him to Canada, first at Orchestra London, followed by a stint with the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra and then with K-W Symphony, where he’s been the principal trumpeter since 1993. Over the years, he’s worked with a variety of other orchestras, including performances with the backing orchestras for Diana Krall, Brian Wilson, Jann Arden, Holly Cole, Anne Murray, Dennis DeYoung, Roger Hodgson, and Yes. In addition to performances of the classical repertoire, Larson has developed nine critically-acclaimed Pops programmes for orchestra with conductor/trombonist David Martin. He is in frequent demand by Toronto recording studios for his work on motion picture soundtracks and commercial jingles. Larson is happy to be busy, knowing that versatility is what it takes to maintain a professionalmusical career. It beats the alternative. Dormant, the jazz bug never left him. After an absence of 20 years, he got back into jazz about a decade ago, renewing his love affair for the genre. Out of that sprang Larry’s Jazz Guys, with Larson joined by David Martin (trombone, tuba, vocals), Paul Shilton (piano), Kevin Muir (bass) and David Campion (drums). PHONE: 519-669-0879 63 ARTHUR STREET S., ELMIRA Larry Larson, principal trumpeter with the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, will be taking part in one of his side projects Mar. 9 at the Registry Theatre when Larry’s Jazz Guys salute some of his musical heroes in Hot & Cool: The Trumpets of Jazz [submitted] Happy to have his fingers in many pies, Larson savours the jazz performances, which are in many Rebecca CannonB.A., N.D. DOCTOR OF NATROPATHIC MEDICINE NOW OFFERING: • Hair Analysis • Hormone Testing • Allergy Testing • Cholesterol Testing • Glucose Testing Quality care available for all ages and all health conditions. 26 Centre St., ELMIRA T: 519-669-2405 ways the exact opposite of his day job with the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony. Where classical music Celebrating 10 years of service to Elmira & surrounding communities. demands strict adherence to a composer’s notes and arrangements, jazz is all about improvisation. Play- Ping Pong Tables Billiards Tables Shuffleboard Tables MON.- FRI. 10:30-6 SAT. 11-4 103 ONTARIO ST., KITCHENER THE ARTS | 21 ing jazz adds variety to his life. “No piece has to be the same every time – and it shouldn’t,” he said in an interview this week. “Jazz is a side adventure to what I do week in and week out here at the symphony.” Job, of course, is a very subjective term – Larson says none if it really feels like toil. “I don’t consider it work very often. It’s an absolute kick to do my job, and I enjoy it. “If I’m not enjoying it, what’s the point?” Next week’s show will be long on enjoyment, drawing on his trumpeting heroes, including Baker, Armstrong and Davis, as well as New York’s Tom Harrell, who, while not a household name, has been a major influence on many players. “It will be a mixed bag of tunes that I know the audience will be familiar with, along with some other less-familiar stuff for them to appreciate,” he said, adding he’ll be putting his own take on some of the standards. That, after all, is what jazz is all about – putting the moment into the music. Hot & Cool: The Trumpets of Jazz is set for Mar. 9 at 8 p.m. at the Registry Theatre, 122 Frederick St., Kitchener. Tickets are $22, available at the Centre in the Square box office by calling 578-1570 or toll free 1-800-265-8977 or online at www.centre-square.com. 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12 March 3, 2012 - ObserverXtra

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