Coffy’s Journey – Update
http://tri-statedefenderonline.com/articlelive/articles/4583/1/Coffys-Journey--Update/Page1.html
By Tri-State Defender Newsroom
Published on 01/28/2010
The Tri-State Defender is shadowing the emotional odyssey of Yakini Ajanaku-Coffy and her husband, Jean Paul Coffy, both of whom have deep roots in earthquake-ravaged Haiti. For several years, Yakini Ajanaku lived in Memphis’ Klondike Community.
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The Tri-State Defender is shadowing the emotional odyssey of Yakini Ajanaku-Coffy and her husband, Jean Paul Coffy, both of whom have deep roots in earthquake-ravaged Haiti. For several years, Yakini Ajanaku lived in Memphis’ Klondike Community.
Coffy’s Journey – Update
Special to the Tri-State Defender
The Tri-State Defender is shadowing the emotional odyssey of Yakini Ajanaku-Coffy and her husband, Jean Paul Coffy, both of whom have deep roots in earthquake-ravaged Haiti. For several years, Yakini Ajanaku lived in Memphis’ Klondike Community.
Yakini and Jean Paul, who is commonly called Coffy, have created a blog that includes a chronicle of Coffy’s journey to Haiti to locate family members. He left their home in Chicago on Jan. 18 on a flight to Santo Domingo, going there because Haiti’s border is closed.
Last week at press time, the Tri-State Defender learned that Coffy had located his parents. The following posts from http://helpcoffy.blogspot.com update his journey:
What next?
Post: Coffy found his parents at the back yard of their family home. They had only survived. They survived, but when he found them they were in bad shape – dehydrated and starved….
His mom Zilania is very ill. She is a diabetic, and needless to say that she did not receive her insulin shots while she was stranded.
Right now Coffy is trying to get them out of Haiti to get medical treatment. The travel is physically challenging and he is very worried for her ability to go through it.
Getting to the border
The day started at 5 a.m. for Coffy and his parents. Early in the morning he rented a “Tap Tap” vehicle to take them all from their family home to the border. We got his phone call when they were 5-7 hrs into the trip, and had about 5 hours more to go.
Everybody is a little bit better, he said. His mom is upset – but his dad is positive.
The drive on poor back roads is physically painful. His mom is still not feeling well. She is in better spirits, but in a lot of pain – despite the pain pills that Coffy gave her. To make her a little more comfortable, Coffy had her lay on a mat that he put on himself, so that to use his own body as a shock absorbent and protect her, even a little bit, from the bumpy road.
After they reach the border the plan is to continue by bus to the Dominican Republic where Coffy’s sister lives. Coffy reserved the bus tickets in advance, and bought two rows of seats at the back of the bus with hopes that the little extra space would make the long trip more bearable for his parents.
Update
Coffy and his parents made it to the Dominican Republic. This is the good news. The bad news is that his mother isn’t doing well at all.
Coffy tried to check her into a hospital, but they were not taking any more Haitians. The second hospital turned them down saying the same thing. They finally had her checked into a private hospital, where she went through a complete evaluation: her leg is fractured; her blood glucose is through the roof (400 - where normal glucose levels fall between 70 and 150 mg); her organs are shutting down slowly because of that; she has other complications because of a surgery that she went through before the earthquake, that apparently was badly executed.
The bottom line, the doctors say, is that she needs to have a complete hip replacement surgery. However, she cannot go through the surgery before her diabetes is back on track, a recovery process that will take about three months. Even then, the surgery would cost $1,200.
Due to the high rate of $390 per night of hospitalization (American $), Coffy had to take her out of the hospital and is now looking for suitable housing for her.
She cannot survive a trip back to Haiti in Tap-Tap.
She cannot afford to be hospitalized in a private hospital.
She cannot stay with Coffy’s sister, who lives on the 8th floor with no elevator.
But WE cannot afford to do nothing. We did not come all this way to watch her die.
We need to get Reserve and Zilania to the U.S., so that Zilania receives the high quality treatment that she needs but can’t afford.
Again we’re asking for your help.
(To contribute to this relief effort, visit http://helpcoffy.blogspot.com)
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| The Ajanaku-Coffy family: (l-r) Akin, Jean Paul Coffy, Ade and Yakini Ajanaku-Coffy. This photo was taken in Haiti a few years ago. (Courtesy photo) |
Yakini and Jean Paul, who is commonly called Coffy, have created a blog that includes a chronicle of Coffy’s journey to Haiti to locate family members. He left their home in Chicago on Jan. 18 on a flight to Santo Domingo, going there because Haiti’s border is closed.
Last week at press time, the Tri-State Defender learned that Coffy had located his parents. The following posts from http://helpcoffy.blogspot.com update his journey:
What next?
Post: Coffy found his parents at the back yard of their family home. They had only survived. They survived, but when he found them they were in bad shape – dehydrated and starved….
His mom Zilania is very ill. She is a diabetic, and needless to say that she did not receive her insulin shots while she was stranded.
Right now Coffy is trying to get them out of Haiti to get medical treatment. The travel is physically challenging and he is very worried for her ability to go through it.
Getting to the border
January 22, 2010
The day started at 5 a.m. for Coffy and his parents. Early in the morning he rented a “Tap Tap” vehicle to take them all from their family home to the border. We got his phone call when they were 5-7 hrs into the trip, and had about 5 hours more to go.
Everybody is a little bit better, he said. His mom is upset – but his dad is positive.
The drive on poor back roads is physically painful. His mom is still not feeling well. She is in better spirits, but in a lot of pain – despite the pain pills that Coffy gave her. To make her a little more comfortable, Coffy had her lay on a mat that he put on himself, so that to use his own body as a shock absorbent and protect her, even a little bit, from the bumpy road.
After they reach the border the plan is to continue by bus to the Dominican Republic where Coffy’s sister lives. Coffy reserved the bus tickets in advance, and bought two rows of seats at the back of the bus with hopes that the little extra space would make the long trip more bearable for his parents.
Update
Coffy and his parents made it to the Dominican Republic. This is the good news. The bad news is that his mother isn’t doing well at all.
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| Jean Paul Coffy and his father, Reserve Coffy, shared a bunk bed at the private hospital, Clinica Rodriguez Santos, on Sunday, Jan. 24. Reserve Coffy told his daughter-in-law, Yakini Ajanaku-Coffy, “Of all the parents whose kids are musicians, I feel we are the luckiest ones.” (Courtesy photo) |
The bottom line, the doctors say, is that she needs to have a complete hip replacement surgery. However, she cannot go through the surgery before her diabetes is back on track, a recovery process that will take about three months. Even then, the surgery would cost $1,200.
Due to the high rate of $390 per night of hospitalization (American $), Coffy had to take her out of the hospital and is now looking for suitable housing for her.
She cannot survive a trip back to Haiti in Tap-Tap.
She cannot afford to be hospitalized in a private hospital.
She cannot stay with Coffy’s sister, who lives on the 8th floor with no elevator.
But WE cannot afford to do nothing. We did not come all this way to watch her die.
We need to get Reserve and Zilania to the U.S., so that Zilania receives the high quality treatment that she needs but can’t afford.
Again we’re asking for your help.
(To contribute to this relief effort, visit http://helpcoffy.blogspot.com)