By now, almost everyone has seen images of the destruction and despair in Haiti following the massive earthquake that hit oPort-au-Prince on Jan. 12, but one University of Wisconsin-Whitewater professor witnessed the disaster firsthand.

Professor William Chandler had just stepped outside his small hotel when the earthquake hit. He quickly ran and grabbed a small tree to keep upright as the ground shook all around him.

“The ground started to shake and you could not only feel the ground moving but you could hear it like a mix of a train and tornado,” Chandler said.

This was Chandler’s second trip to Haiti in the last three years with the group Haiti Lutheran Mission Society. He and seven other volunteers were working on repainting and sweeping out a new orphanage outside of Port-au-Prince.

No one in Chandler’s group was injured in the earthquake.

Chandler said he spent the morning of Jan. 12 touring the capitol, sightseeing and taking pictures of famous landmarks. He returned to his hotel and stepped outside to read for a while when the earthquake struck.

“About 20 feet from our hotel room was a swimming pool and the water was lifting straight up four or five feet and dropping back down in droplets, but not like a wave on a beach or lake,” Chandler said. “It was unworldly, I have never experienced anything like that before.”

Immediately following the earthquake, Chandler and his group checked to make sure everyone in their party was uninjured and then began to look at the area surrounding the hotel.

“There were all sorts of people from the neighborhood walking the streets and people were crying and screaming and yelling for help and trying to find their family members,” Chandler said. “There were a couple of buildings across the street and in the immediate area that had completely collapsed.”

He added they pulled their mattresses out of the hotel and slept outside in anticipation of the several aftershocks that would occur that night.

Chandler and his group were flown out of the country the next day by the U.S. Embassy on a Coast Guard cargo plane. He hopes to return to Haiti as soon as he can to provide any help he can.

Chandler is giving a presentation to students and faculty at UW-Whitewater Friday to share his experience and talk about how to help Haiti. Chandler encourages anyone who wants to help to donate money to a charity of their choice, saying it is the fastest way to get relief to Haiti.

UW-Whitewater Communications Director Sarah Kuhl said several student organizations were hosting fundraisers to raise money for Haiti including a pancake breakfast and a potluck dinner.

“I’ve spent a couple of weeks in Haiti the last three years and there are some bad guys there but many of the Haitians are really beautiful people –; they’re hardworking and they need to be supported because the conditions there are incredibly extreme right now,” Chandler said.