Bay Area Haitian native worried for family amidst chaos and violence in homeland

OAKLAND, Calif. - The violence and turmoil in Haiti, hits close to the heart for Jacqueline Oriscar Lee, a native of Haiti who now lives in Marin County and is founder and executive director of the non-profit Haiti on the Rise, which has helped build schools and provides scholarships and emergency aid to Haiti for nine years. Jackie, as she's called, started the non-profit with her husband, Randall Lee.

Now, her family, friends, and partners in Haiti on the Rise are caught in the clashes in her homeland, between police and the gangs who've taken over parts of the country.

"A lot of people they may die because of food because now food is getting really scarce," Oriscar Lee said.

She says her sister's friend this week was killed by gunfire.

"She got some bullets, she died instantly with her sister and I think one of her sons got one or two bullets as well," said Oriscar Lee.

Desperation is mounting and the U.S. State Department said at a briefing Wednesday that they've heard from nearly 1,600 U.S. citizens who are in Haiti. Federal and Florida state officials began airlifting dozens of U.S. citizens out of Haiti by helicopter and charter planes.

"We do expect these helicopter movements to make multiple trips in order to try and get as many American citizens as we can," Vedant Patel, Principal Deputy State Department spokesperson said.

Some lawmakers in Washington want the U.S. to intervene, saying it would prevent a mass migration of Haitian refugees fleeing to the U.S.

Lisa Armstrong, assistant professor at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, says it the threat of international intervention, however, that sparked the gang uprising when the prime minister asked for Kenyan forces to step in.

"They've come together to form an alliance and the name in Creole translates as "Living Together," said Armstrong. 

Armstrong says the gangs are a loose coalition, and the most prominent leader last night, called on people to defy the state of emergency.

"His nickname is Barbecue, and he is a former police officer and has essentially said the gangs are fighting for equality," said Armstrong.

The gangs' intentions, however, are unclear.

"They've blocked access to food and water for the people who are most impoverished, They've blocked access to fuel to generators for the hospital," Armstrong said. "So while they're saying they're supporting the people who are most impoverished, in reality a lot of the things they are doing are harming those people."

Oriscar Lee says she and her husband hope to collect more donations to help with humanitarian aid.

"We're going to have to mobilize our local network as strategically, quickly and safely as possibly to start procuring food that is available locally and get it to those in need," Randall Lee said.

The concern, however, is how to do it without risking the lives of their teams in Haiti.

"Right now, the biggest problem is insecurity," Oriscar Lee said.