With barely five minutes warning, KU students Adam and Karen Buhler quickly grabbed their belongings and boarded a private helicopter that rose steadily above the devastated Haitian landscape.

From the air, they were able to see for the first time the true extent of the damage the earthquake had caused. Bound for the safety of their home in the United States, their emotions fluctuated between exhaustion, excitement and regret; though they were together and safe, millions of Haitian and international refugees remained behind with inadequate food, housing and water and with no guaranteed source of relief on the horizon.

With the central goal of telling the story of those they left behind, Adam and Karen Buhler returned home. These videos tell what they experienced.

To help with the rebuilding of the school with which Adam and Karen were involved, visit www.siloe.org.

— Lauren Cunningham, Haley Jones, Ryan Waggoner, Chance Dibben, Jesse Brown and Grant Treaster helped in the production of this story.