COLUMBUS, Ohio — Criminal gang violence is tragically impacting a cause that is near and dear to Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and First Lady Fran DeWine.
The Becky DeWine School, which helps thousands of poor Haitian children and families, was forced to close. The school is named after the DeWine's daughter who they lost to a car accident in 1993 when she was just 22 years old.
"The gangs really control today a great deal of Haiti," DeWine said.
Heavily armed gangs control much of the city of Port-au-Prince, and the country's prime minister has said he will resign. Over the last two weeks, gangs have attacked prisons, police stations and even the airport. The U.S. has evacuated non-essential personnel out of the country.
DeWine said two days ago he talked to Father Tom Hagan who founded the Hands Together charity that runs the school.
"To protect the students' lives and the teachers' lives, he has closed the school," DeWine said. "He certainly hopes to open it up."
But they haven’t been able to protect all the students' and teachers' lives. DeWine said over the last few months, several teachers and some students have died.
"Not at school, but some of the students who go to his school have been killed, and it's usually just random gunfire," DeWine said.
The DeWine's have supported the school's work for 25 years and visited more than 20 times. The Becky DeWine School is a network of nearly a dozen schools that serve the poorest people in Port-au-Prince's Cite Soleil slum. More than 10,000 students get a free education, health care and healthy food, but all of that is now cut off.
"These kids deserve to have a school," DeWine said. "They deserve to get fed, and when this violence is occurring, it just stops that from happening. So, it's a very tragic situation."
The leader of the gang is demanding that Haitians decide who will lead the nation next, and he's promising genocide if changes are not made. Others in Haiti are hoping to have a transitional council in place.
DeWine said Father Hagan described the violence as the worst he has seen in the 25 years he's been there. With the violence and unrest raging on, there's no telling right now when the Becky DeWine School will be able to reopen, but as the governor said, that's what Father Tom plans to do at some point.