Parker: Eight years after Haiti’s quake, pilot recalls mission

What started as relief flights of medical supplies has turned into schools that will help hundreds of kids.

By Kathleen Parker

The Washington Post

PAWLEYS ISLAND, S.C. — Jonathan Nash Glynn — artist, pilot and philanthropist — never envisioned himself as a missionary, but, absent religion, that’s what he has become in recent years.

“I’m a secular Jew from Jersey,” he laughs, as we catch up by phone on the past eight years. “You don’t see many of those down there.”

“Down there” is Haiti, where Glynn is building his second school for children who have nothing. He is probably as unlikely as anyone to be a builder of schools, but in 2010, he had one of those Road to Damascus moments (if I may) as he and his dachshund, Lily, were flying toward Miami for a family visit.

Partway there, he heard of the 7.0 earthquake that had all but destroyed Haiti and decided to change course. Briefly stopping in Miami to drop off Lily, Glynn filled his single-engine Cessna with medical supplies and headed into the heart of darkest despair.

“I come from a family of doctors, so it was natural for me to take medical supplies,” he explains. Once there, however, Glynn was overwhelmed by the raw human horror — limbs being amputated with construction saws — and the immeasurable need. Because of his small plane, Glynn was able to more easily reach people in places that larger planes couldn’t. For about 19 days, he ferried doctors and supplies in and out of Haiti.

Amid the maelstrom, he wondered what more he could do. But, how do you salvage civilization from scraps of debris and people immobilized by pain and hunger? How do you create a future from an apocalyptic past? Glynn says he knew he couldn’t save Haiti, but he thought he might be able to save one child.

He would build a school.

Within three months of the devastating temblor, the first classroom of what is today the Heart School in Port-au-Prince opened to about 25 children. Adding one classroom each year since, the school now boasts 178 students and 25 faculty members. At the current pace, the first graduates should receive their diplomas in 2024.

“I think they’re going to go to college,” says Glynn, with a mixture of pride and awe.

I previously wrote about Glynn in March 2011 after a chance meeting in Sag Harbor, New York, where he told me of his mission. When I recently received an email about an art auction to raise money for a second school, I decided to give him a call.

My first question: How do you keep going?

He doesn’t hesitate: “I live in a beautiful place and I have wonderful friends. But the real world doesn’t make sense unless I have my finger in it.”

But he concedes that sometimes he falters.

“It’s hot, it’s difficult and it’s not safe; and I’m getting older,” said the 67-year-old, half seriously. He jokes that when he dies, his body will have to be reduced to some sort of molten material thanks to all his replacement parts.

If Port-au-Prince posed dangers from vandals and thieves, his new venture is challenging in other ways. Remotely located in the mountains, the town of Ranquitte can’t be reached by road once the rainy season begins. Whatever the season — and because there are no overnight accommodations — Glynn has to fly in and out the same day, his tarmac a stretch of grass. The closest school is 30 miles away.

After three years in Ranquitte, using land donated by a local woman, Glynn and his team have produced four classrooms scheduled to open for school in September. That’s when Glynn reaps his reward — the beaming faces of children in clean, blue uniforms who can’t wait to get to their school, to hold a book and, best of all, to eat two meals — all at a cost of just $1.50 per day per child. The school also provides free medical care.

The un-fun part of Glynn’s nonprofit work is fundraising, hence the upcoming art auction. Glynn has collected a few big-name supporters, including Donna Karan, and hopes that others will lend their support.

Today must seem a century and a dream ago since that solo flight Glynn and the late Lily took in 2010. How, I ask, did a painter and sculptor know how to do all of that?

“By making a million mistakes,” he says. “It’s all sort of a miracle, if you want to know the truth.”

Kathleen Parker’s email address is kathleenparker@washpost.com.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Opinion

toon
Editorial cartoons for Friday, March 29

A sketchy look at the news of the day.… Continue reading

Initiative promoter Tim Eyman takes a selfie photo before the start of a session of Thurston County Superior Court, Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2021, in Olympia, Wash. Eyman, who ran initiative campaigns across Washington for decades, will no longer be allowed to have any financial control over political committees, under a ruling from Superior Court Judge James Dixon Wednesday that blasted Eyman for using donor's contributions to line his own pocket. Eyman was also told to pay more than $2.5 million in penalties. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
Editorial: Initiative fee increase protects process, taxpayers

Bumped up to $156 from $5, the increase may discourage attempts to game the initiative process.

Schwab: Who was Langerhans? And when’s the ferry to his islets?

The Herald’s resident retired surgeon slices into the anatomy of the etymology of our anatomy.

Comment: Cervial cancer treatable; if you’re screened for it

A screening for cervical cancer can detect cancerous or precancerous cells and direct treatment.

Comment: Framers gave us Goldilocks Constitution; let’s use it

It was meant to be resilient, not perfect, but it has to be used as designed toward workable solutions.

Comment: GOP in Congress isn’t fighting crime; it’s arming it

Budget cuts to the FBI and ATF and other riders have made it easier for criminals to get firearms.

toon
Editorial cartoons for Thursday, March 28

A sketchy look at the news of the day.… Continue reading

Washington state senators and representatives along with Governor Inslee and FTA Administrator Nuria Fernandez break ground at the Swift Orange Line on Tuesday, April 19, 2022 in Lynnwood, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Editorial: Community Transit making most of Link’s arrival

The Lynnwood light rail station will allow the transit agency to improve routes and frequency of buses.

Protecting forests and prevent another landslide like Oso

Thank you for the powerful and heartbreaking article about the Oso landslide… Continue reading

Boeing’s downfall started when engineers demoted

Boeing used to be run by engineers who made money to build… Continue reading

Learn swimming safety to protect kids at beach, pool

Don’t forget to dive into water safety before hitting the pool or… Continue reading

An image of Everett Mayor Cassie Franklin is reflected in a storefront window during the State of the City Address on Thursday, March 21, 2024, at thee Everett Mall in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Editorial: State of city address makes case for Everett’s future

Mayor Franklin outlines challenges and responses as the city approaches significant decisions.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.