Posted at: 01/14/2010 4:55 PM | KSAX.com
By: Megan Matthews
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Fergus Falls Aid Worker in Haiti Talks to KSAX

ALEXANDRIA, MINN. - Fergus Falls volunteer Rhyan Buettner is still in Haiti at "Gods Little Angels Orphanage" in Petion-Ville, Haiti.  The building is still standing, but Buettner was in that building when the 7.0 earthquake hit Tuesday.

"My knees went weak when I heard the scream;" words from Buettner's blog as she helps more than 100 babies at the orphanage.  All of those children were in the building during the earthquake.

"Standing in there you literally fell to the floor, because it was going so far back and forth," Buettner said.

She was standing on the second floor of the building, surrounded by 50 babies, when it hit.

"And so my biggest fear...what went through my head at the time was that we were in a landslide, and our entire house was sliding down the mountain," Buettner described.

Seconds later the aftershock hit, just as Buettner was scrambling to grab as many children as she could and get out.

"And it was only a few seconds after, and so when that one hit we hadn't even recovered from the first one, and everyone was just thinking, 'it's never going to stop, it's never going to stop,'" She said.

In video taped the day after the earthquake everyone was singing to calm themselves and the children, as the entire country is in chaos.

"Right now it's complete chaos.  That's the only way to describe it.  A country that's already almost in a constant state of chaos is completely knocked down," Buettner said.

Now they're running out of food and water, and everyone in the country desperately needs help.

"If we don't help them recover...they won't," Buettner said.

The country needs U.S. support to get through this disaster, and Buettner will stay for the the 100 babies who need her.  However, it's hard to cope with all the death around her, she said.

"We're watching these pictures, and they're not just faces to us.  They're people we know," she said.

Buettner hopes media coverage of the aftermath continues so people don't forget about the country and the millions of people who are suffering. 

She has also spoken with her family in Fergus Falls to let them know she's ok.  She's also updating her blog.  Click here to read more.

Written for the web by Megan Matthews

megan@ksax.com