Whew!
This has been a busy year. Our world is in turmoil and much of that turmoil is affecting Compassion’s work.
Here’s a snapshot of the things I’ve reported over the past 11 months:
military rebellion, slum fire, dengue fever outbreak, H1N1 virus outbreak, flooding, strike, civil conflict, volcanic eruption, earthquake, heavy rains, political unrest, hotel bombings, protests and violence, typhoons, meningitis outbreak, polio outbreak, cholera outbreak, famine, landslide, tribal war, ferry sinking, riots.
As an organization entirely dependent on your trust, we have made a commitment to be honest and transparent in everything we do. This means, among other things, that we do our best to let you know as soon as possible when your child is affected by a crisis or disaster.
In a perfect world, here’s how the process would work:
- Within 24 hours of a crisis, our Field Communications Specialist (FCS) submits a crisis report via e-mail. This e-mail comes to an inbox that I check regularly.
- As soon as I receive this e-mail, I determine whether funds will need to be raised to provide relief, and summarize the report and e-mail it to our partner countries (the countries where the sponsors live).
- Meanwhile, the FCS is in contact with the Partnership Facilitators (PF), field-based staff members who are contacting our affected church partners.
- The FCS then submits a follow-up report via e-mail, with further details from the PFs about which centers are affected, how they are affected, and any other relevant details, photos or video.
- As soon as the church partners are able to provide specific information on registered children, the FCS e-mails that information to me. I do a quality check and then forward that information to the partner countries.
- Each partner country then contacts all the sponsors with affected children to let them know the status of their child.
Seems pretty cut and dried, right? And often, the process works exactly as I just described it.
However, as we all know, we do not live in a perfect world. Sometimes a disaster will wreak havoc on the field’s end, thus affecting our communications process.
Let’s take the recent typhoons in the Philippines as an example.
Typhoon Ketsana hit the Philippines on Sept. 26. Almost 17 inches of rain fell in 12 hours, halting any semblance of normal life, flooding everything in sight, killing hundreds and displacing thousands more.
Roads were destroyed, electricity was out and much of the country was underwater, neck-deep in some places.
Eighteen of Compassion’s staff members in the Philippines office (more than half) were personally affected by the flooding (including the FCS responsible for sending the crisis report).
After the typhoons, every single staff person in the Philippines office was involved in the relief efforts and for a time, Compassion’s entire staff put their regular duties on hold in order to help those in desperate need.
During disasters like this, while you are anxious to hear news about your child, keep in mind that many unforeseen and unavoidable things can occur, hindering good communication. Grace, patience, understanding and flexibility are critical.
Here are some things that might affect the communication process after a crisis:
- Getting information from the field to the partner countries isn’t always the No. 1 priority.
After a disaster, the highest priorities are critical needs such as shelter, clean water and food. Communication sometimes takes a back seat to meeting basic needs in life and death situations.
- It’s not just the sponsored children who are affected. Sometimes the staff members themselves are in need.
While our staff members are trying to address the immediate needs of our registered children, they also must take care of their own families and homes.
- Communication tools are not available.
The infrastructure in developing countries is much less stable than in the developed world. For instance, telephone and electricity were out throughout Manila, remaining out for weeks in some places. Communicating with the church partners was difficult, and in some cases, impossible.
- Different cultures put different importance on time.
Many countries where we work are not time-oriented the way we are in the United States. Time requirements do not have the same importance as they do here.
Despite this, you can be confident in our commitment to share accurate information with you as quickly as possible after a crisis. It’s just that sometimes this may take longer than we’d like.
I just wanted to encourage all of you who are still waiting for news concerning a child you sponsor in Haiti…
I sponsor a 12 year old boy named Woodclyf from Haiti, and I got a call from Compassion yesterday in regard to his situation. He is safe and his mother is safe, but his father was killed in the earthquake. Their house was also completely destroyed. He has been weighing on my heart since the earthquake, and he is still frequently on my mind as I can’t imaging what it must be like for him as a 12 year old to be dealing with something as traumatic as this.
But telling you about Woodclyf is not the purpose of this post. My purpose is to encourage you that news is coming.
News is coming, but keep on praying.
I had just become the new sponsor for my little girl and then the earthquake happened! The center she was at is on the significantly affected list, and I haven’t heard anything yet. I’m getting more concerned by the day! I’m continuing to pray that Compassion will find her and her family safe & well.
Clella,
I know how you feel-I also am completely in the dark about a child I have sponsored. But my heart is encouraged by knowing that she is always in God’s hands, whether or not I know what is going on. By His help, I’m resting in the fact that He will keep her; He is her father.
I have received notification that my sponsored child has been found. She is Maude (HA-778)and was with the Montrouis Center north of Port Au Prince. I was doubly glad I was sponsoring her when this earthquake hit. I would truly love to know if more information on specific centers and children is available yet, and where to look. Thank you
That’s a fantastic answer to prayer, Christine.
We are still waiting and praying for Danalove, whose Child Center #751 was ‘significantly’ affected by the earthquake, and about whom we still have no word.
We are asking to hear from any other sponsors of children from that same Center: we have been praying for all the children there and the staff, and all their families. It would be good to hear something, anything at all: surely some have been found, and some clues have been followed.
Please let us know if any have survived, or been found or accounted for, or it any sessions have begun again! Surely the center hasn’t just disappeared–but even if it has, may we know that?
ANY news would be greatly appreciated!
In prayer, and gratitude for CI and the monumental effort in Haiti.
Sharon & Patrick Moran
Christine, thank you so much for writing! That is the center that my little girl is in also. I’m so glad to hear that your child is safe, that gives me more hope for my precious child. Hopefully, I will hear about her very soon now.
Thank you again and may God bless you and Maude.
Dear C Fox, I will be praying for you and her. I really wish I knew more than that. I moved, my friend got the mail and simply left a message for me that she was found. I’m going to follow up here and however I can. I knew it would be awhile because of the chaos after such disaster. So glad Gods people-CI was and is there.
Thank you for your support & prayers, Christine. I’m sure CI is doing their best in terrible circumstances. I’ll keep praying!
I have written before requesting information on my sponsor child, Madora Simon. I would very much appreciate it if someone from Compassion or Haiti would please let me know if Madora and her family are okay. I realize that you have been overwhelmed, but I have been very patient and I haven’t heard anything since the earthquake. Your response would put my mind at ease. Thank you.
Marie,
We appreciate your patience. After doing some research, I found that Madora is in project HA-819. This project is in an area that has officially been reported as “not affected.” Therefore, Madora and her family are safe and if we receive any news otherwise we will certainly contact you. All “non-affected” projects are functioning as normal.
At this time, Compassion Haiti is working tirelessly to find approximately 20,000 children in the “significantly impacted” area where the earthquake hit. We are in the process of notifying those sponsors whose children were directly affected (child injured, homes damaged/destroyed, family members injured, etc). I believe sponsors who sponsor a child in areas not affected are being contacted by a different method, which is a bit slower.
I hope this helps! We greatly appreciate your patience and prayers, and I certainy encourage you to keep writing to Madora.
Aloha, All!
As we continue to pray for word of Danalove, from HA 751, we would greatly appreciate hearing from ANYONE who has heard ANYTHING about their child from her Center: Eglise Chretienne Child Development Center, in Port au Prince.
It would help us to know something….all we know is that the Center was ‘significantly affected’ by the earthquake, and that as of several weeks ago, about 80% of children have been accounted for, leaving about 20% still trying to be located or reported on in some fashion.
God bless all who continue to search, and all who are helping those who have been found!
Patrick & Sharon Moran
@Patrick & Sharon Moran
There are 13 other sponsors on OurCompassion.org (a networking site for Compassion supporters, who are mainly sponsors) who have children from HA751. If you join, then you can ask them if/what they have heard regarding their kids. 4 of them list statuses as praying/waiting for news on their sponsored child and one lists a status of having heard his child is safe. The others do not list that information but if you asked I imagine you’d get an answer
Rebecca received an automated call yesterday (3.30.10) from Compassion… our Haitian sponsored girl of 13 years (Wichelanda) is alive!!! Praise God! Don’t know much more other than that her home was damaged, so we have a lot of questions, but the fact that she’s alive is good enough. So there is hope for those of you still waiting to hear about kids in Haiti. I will tell you this though, we were ok with the fact that she may not have made it. Why? Because we know that she knows Christ and so, sad as it would have been, we know that she would have been in Heaven and we’d meet her there someday! Although I was in Haiti 2 weeks ago working at an orphanage and didn’t know she was still alive, now we have the opportunity to go down there again and meet her next time! Praise God!
Craig and Rebecca, what Center is Wichelanda in? So very glad to hear of another child who is safe! It is good to know that many of the children in the Compassion centers have heard the message of Christ and have accepted Him, that is truly a reassurance. God bless all who work or volunteer for Compassion International!
I’ll continue to pray for the relief efforts and especially the Compassion staff!