After days of waiting, some B.C. families got updates on loved ones in Haiti Friday.

For some, the news brought elation. For others, more despair.

Others, meanwhile, couldn't help but be moved to act to help the country devastated by a massive earthquake.

'They're alive'

Nanaimo resident Sherry Eisel was one of the lucky ones.

She learned that her fianc�, Harrington Rigaud, is alive. Riguad is a police officer in Haiti and was in one of the hardest hit areas.

Eisel spent the last few days frantically checking her email and watching the television news.

She shed tears of joy as she announced the good news on her Facebook page.

"This is really what I wanted, just to get word. The next best thing would be having a phone call but I'm not pushing it. I know he's okay," she told CTV News.

And in Vancouver, nursing student Immacula Renaud learned from her sister that her two cousins are alive after being found in the rubble.

"To the grace of God I know they're alive. That takes a big burden off my back," she said.

"It's a miracle. ... Now if I cry it's a cry of joy, it's not chaos."

Hurt and helplessness

Not everyone was so fortunate.

In Surrey, Garry Auguste learned that his sister died in the quake. His mother and brother are still missing.

"I have a list of phone numbers that I dial every five minutes to see if I can get through," he told CTV News earlier this week.

Auguste said he and his wife, Ruth, were poring over collections of photographs to keep them distracted from the television images.

Meanwhile, Dana and Ryan Smid of West Kelowna are in an utter state of helplessness.

They were in the final stages of adopting a Haitian child when the earthquake struck.

They spent a week with their adoptive child in November and were expecting to have the 19-month-old join their family within a matter of weeks.

But now they're worried that an adoption process that's taken four years may be lost in the rubble.

They hope the governments involved can make special arrangements to get their child out of the chaos.

"It's the most helpless feeling in the world. To be a mother and not be able to help their child,' Dana Smid told CTV News.

The couple hope that if adoptions like these can be expedited it will make more room here for other Haitian children who need a home.

Determined to help

The devastation has moved many British Columbians into action.

A medical team from the Fraser Valley is preparing to fly to Haiti as soon as it can.

Nurse Esther King, of Chilliwack, who has been involved in helping Haitian orphans for almost a decade, is part of the team.

Her husband, Frank, is already in Haiti, about 45 minutes outside of the capital.

He told CTV News via Skype Friday that the priority is to find a new home for about 17 children they support.

The Fraser Valley healthcare team is planning to bring medical supplies and high-nutrient food to Haiti.

"I love this country and I love the people who live there," Esther King said. "I believe we are all part of the same world."

For more information about the Kings' charity, King's Kids Worldwide, click here.

With files from CTV British Columbia's Michele Brunoro