It’s been nine months now since the earthquake in Haiti changed the lives of millions of people, including my own. Now we are reading reports of cholera threatening the city of Port au Prince, and we are feverishly praying for God’s hand of mercy to stem the tide of sickness that could further devastate the country. Thanks to those of you who have prayed and given for your outpouring of love to a nation that most of you have never visited. It is a true sign of the love among the body of Christ when strangers help one another. This is the way it should be.
Just to recap the year: from January until July, we have been able to provide immediate disaster relief for the orphanage needs in the form of food, water purification, a large 20’ x 40’ tent for holding school, clothing, shoes, kitchen supplies, school supplies, and teacher salary assistance. Many Haitian pastors wanted to get the children back to school as soon as possible after the quake, but in reality it wasn’t until April or May that this was possible. Though it was under less-than-ideal circumstances, school re-opened in early May for the children at Val’s. My daughter and I were able to go and visit at the end of May, collecting more images and video of the situation, and seeing first hand the living conditions, which are appalling.
And…I wanted to give an update on what has happened in the last few months:
TRUCK: My husband Kirk and I were able to go and visit the weekend of July 30, and we were joyfully collected at the airport by Pastor Val in a brand new truck! Through the generosity of many, we were able to send him enough money to fully pay for this much-needed vehicle and for several years of insurance. He had been driving a clunker of an Isuzu Trooper, with no window crank handles, barely functional anything, and a dash of indicator lights that were constantly aglow. It was by sheer prayer that we were ever safely transported anywhere, especially during the earthquake. When he made his needs known about this situation, we hurriedly gathered the funds, and God was gracious to supply. It is a double cab, four-wheel drive diesel pick-up, “Great Wall” is the model name, a Chinese product.
SHELTER: Our initial goal was to raise enough funds (approximately $200K) to rebuild the orphanage complex that would house 50 children, staff, a kitchen and dining facility. There would also be space for several classrooms. As we began this effort in earnest, another non-profit came forward and offered to do it all, at their expense. We were very happy to have this offer and saw it as the provision of God. While we wait for this building to be constructed, which may take a long time, we felt the need to provide something immediately. We showed Pastor Val an example of a semi-permanent structure and spoke with him about the possibility of purchasing several of these “kits” that could be conjoined into one unit. There are several organizations building these types of kits in Haiti, and we were familiar with one in particular, Maxima, S.A. in Port au Prince. It was a win-win all around, because Maxima is a Haitian company which employs Haitians! We purchased 5 kits, and they were delivered to Pastor Val last week. As soon as they can put them together, which only takes a few days, the children can sleep indoors for the first time in 9 months! This will solve the problem of shelter in the short/medium term…the shelters are made of plywood, coated with a thick paint, and are hurricane and earthquake proof when put together correctly. They can only last from 3-5 years though, so a long-term solution is necessary.
OTHER DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS: It is our greatest desire to not only meet immediate needs, but to help solve more basic problems in this village. Many of the children that Pastor Val cares for do indeed have families. Some even sleep at home, but spend their days at the orphanage simply because their families cannot afford to take care of their most basic needs. Pastor Val feeds many more children than actually sleep there. The core problem is employment. There is very little beyond farming that is available to the average rural Haitian family, and while the women are busy taking care of children, washing clothes, and trying to find clean water and some food, many men are standing idly around the local gathering spots with nothing to do and no way to make a living. In addition to helping Pastor Val take care of the children, we want to help him develop some of his land and bring some opportunities to the village of Bongnotte. We have already sent some money to begin the following projects:
Bakery: One need that he alerted us to is the availability of bread. It is a long 3 or 4-mile walk down a muddy road to the nearest market, and the need for a local source of bread is obvious. Building a bakery would answer the need for bread, but it would also provide jobs and job training.
Food Depot: There is also a need for a food depot that could store food for the orphanage, and also be a source of supplies and food for the community. The employees of the food depot could therefore turn a profit for the orphanage.
Trade School: Education and training is also of utmost importance and we are now discussing the possibility of providing scholarships to worthy older teens at the orphanage to attend a trade school in Carrefour.
As elections take place (hopefully) in November and the one-year anniversary of the quake approaches, we anticipate a lot of violence and rioting in the city over the next few months. We have to decided to post-pone any trips until after commotion of the anniversary and probably will not go to Haiti until March. Please pray with us for a smooth election process and transition of power, as well as peace to reign in the country. Also as we watch the news of cholera beginning to spread, pray for God to end the epidemic and prevent it from getting into the tent cities. All of our concerns are based on the human observations of what is going on, however, our God is able to do all things and we are praying with this sort of faith. Please join us!
Slowly, good things are happening. It has been a little frustrating to watch and wait for change from here, where everything is so easily obtained and executed. We are all very grateful for everyone's generosity.
