ARTICLE - VOODOO DOC

VOODOO DOC GIVES NURSE NIGHTMARES
(Journal Gazette) - By Frank Gray

Elinor Shank, who graduated from South Side High School in 1998, is now a nurse and has been to Haiti twice as a volunteer since an earthquake devastated the country last January.

Shank is scheduled to go back again soon and work for free, caring for the sick in Haiti. Now, though, she’s having second thoughts.

It’s all the result of what she’s seen happen to another volunteer whom she worked with, Paul Waggoner, who has been held in Haiti’s horrific National Penitentiary for nearly three weeks, accused of turning a toddler into a zombie and kidnapping him.

Waggoner, who is from Massachusetts, quit his job and went to Haiti just days after the earthquake struck. He teamed up with another American, Paul Sebring, to found Materials Management Relief Corps, which distributes medical supplies to hospitals and clinics and transports patients to hospitals and clinics.

The story surrounding Waggoner, verified by affidavits introduced in the courts in Haiti, goes back to February, when a man brought a sick child, about 18 months old, to Haiti Community Hospital in Petionville, a suburb of Port-au-Prince. The child was malnourished and dehydrated, had a high fever and was suffering from some type of infection.

Shortly after arriving at the hospital, the child died and was pronounced dead by an American physician, and a death certificate was prepared. The child’s father was given the body and escorted by a nurse to a private grieving area, where the father held the body for some time – hours, according to one source.

The body was then placed in a file box that served as a makeshift coffin with the child’s name and dates of birth and death and sealed, and the father left.

The next day, the child’s father returned, wanting to see the body. Waggoner, who was volunteering at the hospital, found a doctor to accompany the father to see the body. The doctor unsealed the box. The father took pictures of the dead child and noted that his eyes were open and he looked alive. The doctor again verified that the child was dead. The doctor also took photos of the father holding the body.

The father then left, refusing to take the body because he had no land or money to bury the child and asking that the hospital dispose of the body. The body was later cremated.

The controversy arose when, according to a spokeswoman for Waggoner’s group, Materials Management Relief Corps, the man showed photos of his dead child to a Voodoo doctor, who declared that – because the baby’s eyes weren’t closed – he was still alive. That is when the allegation arose that the child was made into a zombie and kidnapped to be either adopted or sold, according to the Materials Management Relief Corps.

Fearing the child’s father, Waggoner left Haiti but returned in a few weeks.

Meanwhile, the American doctor and a Haitian doctor had kidnapping accusations against them thrown out, but on Dec. 12, Waggoner was arrested on suspicion of kidnapping.

Shank, who has maintained contact with Materials Management Relief Corps officials, said a court hearing was scheduled for last Friday but canceled because of a power outage, and a Monday hearing was canceled because there was no transportation to take Waggoner from the prison to court. A hearing did take place Tuesday, but it was suspended after a power outage, and Waggoner was returned to prison.

Then, Wednesday morning, the judge issued a ruling that there was not enough evidence to substantiate the kidnapping claim and ordered Waggoner released. The prosecutor, who had three days to sign the release, did so Wednesday evening.

We attempted to speak to someone at the Haitian Embassy in Washington to ask whether anyone knew about the case or had been contacted regarding it, but there was no answer at the office we were given.

Meanwhile, Shank wonders about the safety of returning to Haiti.

“What could happen to me?” she asks. “I handle all kinds of patients. He (Waggoner) doesn’t even handle patients.

“It definitely makes me think twice” about returning to Haiti. “It makes me scared. When I was down there, I always felt safe,” but seeing what is happening to Waggoner makes her hesitate.

The news of Waggoner’s situation hasn’t attracted much attention. A group at IPFW that has made mission trips to Haiti hadn’t heard of it, and Paul Phillips, who is coordinating trips of volunteers for The Chapel hadn’t heard of it, either. He said their major concern has been the cholera epidemic and possible rioting after elections in January.

Waggoner will return to the U.S. for medical attention and recovery. Materials Management Relief Corps will review its future in Haiti. The organization will continue, but it has yet to be determined whether Haiti is a safe place to operate, Nanci Murdock, spokeswoman said.