Displaced Haitians Grateful for the Gift of Life
Since much of their home collapsed in the Aug. 14 earthquake, Sony and his family have been spending nights in the courtyard of a Compassion partner church. The church has provided tents and sleeping mats for displaced families like Sony’s.
“It’s unsafe to stay inside the house now as we are getting aftershocks on a regular basis,” says Sony, whose daughters Sandra and Samantha are in Compassion’s program at the church where they are now camping.
Continue Reading ›Haiti Earthquake: To Weep and To Hope
How do we weep WITH our Haitian neighbors and show them true compassion?
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UPDATE: Two Years After the Deadly Mexico Earthquake
In 2017, Mexico suffered one of the most terrible earthquakes in its history. Two years later, lives are being rebuilt, thanks to the generosity of people like you!
Storms
Do we as Christians, children of God, need to suffer storms in life? What storms are you going through at the moment?
Child of Compassion
Ismene loved school. She loved learning how to work math problems. But Ismene was worried. Her grandparents might not make enough money to buy food and keep her in school.
The Greatest Hope of All
True hope will never be found in stable and financially secure governments, sophisticated technology, academic achievements, good jobs or happy families. While these are blessings from God and are noble ambitions to work toward, they will take you only so far.
Redeeming Haiti
No one in their right mind would call the earthquake that hit Haiti a good thing. It was utterly devastating. And yet still there is good.
Because of the earthquake’s destruction, Haiti is now having to start with what feels like a nearly clean slate. The [corrupt and inefficient] government was toppled. The [inadequate] school system was destroyed. Proof of [unjust] land ownership is now virtually impossible. The [enormous and unbridgeable] gap in economic status was decimated, putting government officials in tents next to poor slum-dwellers.
Life in Haiti After the Earthquake: Weary but Resilient
This was written earlier in the week by Ken Laura, a member of our Haiti Relief Team. He has been in Port-au-Prince working with our Haitian staff since shortly after the earthquake.
Five-thirty comes early most days, but especially on a Sunday morning when you hope to get some extra sleep before church. Not this week, however. I was wide awake at 5. I forced myself to stay in the sack for another 30 minutes despite the rooster’s consistent crowing.
The high-pitched chirp of some baby doves asking for food and the soft cooing of their parents as they brought another tasty morsel to them brought back memories of 30 years ago when I was living in Limbe’ at the hospital where I worked. One of the other missionaries at that time was raising a pair of turtle doves for the eggs.
Calling my tent a sack is an exaggeration of for what I’ve been sleeping in the last three months. My tent living is nothing like what the vast majority of Port-au-Prince residents are living in at the moment.
As you’ve no doubt seen on the news, tent cities are all over town. More than 300 camps are registered in the city and more than 19 of them have 5,000-plus people living in them. The families are crammed together in muddy lots with only a sheet between them and the next family. Privacy is not a word in their vocabulary right now.
Our Transitional Shelter Solution for Haiti
The rainy season is starting soon in Haiti. This period generally lasts from March to May, and then hurricane season runs from June to November. Most of the people who live in the streets and in tent cities as a result of the earthquake will be exposed to the heavy rains.
We don’t have accurate information on how many of those living outside are in shelters that can withstand the rainy season, but it’s clear that a large number of them don’t have rainproof materials. The materials most commonly used now for shelter are bedsheets. These provide a bit of privacy as well as protection from the sun, cold and dust, but not from rain and wind.
We are focusing our efforts on addressing temporary and transitional shelter needs by providing tarps as well as materials for transitional shelters. We will not be able to assist everyone in need. We will focus on those who are most in need and who have not received shelter assistance from other organizations.
Grieving the Loss of a Sponsored Child
How do you say goodbye to a sponsored child who has died? Have you ever had to do that, or to say goodbye to another child in your life?
Relief for Haiti: Transitioning to Longer-Term Solutions
While we continue delivering food and supply kits to our church partners for the immediate relief of the families they serve, we are beginning to shift our focus from short-term relief to longer-term solutions.
One possible component of a larger strategic approach includes working with other organizations in Haiti to implement income-generating activities for those who have lost homes, property and the means to provide for themselves.
Beginning in March and continuing every three months, we will begin hosting conferences and workshops for key church leaders in Haiti. We not only want to encourage them, but we also want to challenge them to be a prophetic voice during this time.
Edouard Lassegue, Vice President of the Central America and Caribbean Region says,
“Compassion has earned respect in Haiti and we are uniquely positioned to leverage that respect and the strong relationships we have developed with church leaders. We want to use our credibility to encourage them to be a voice for what is right, for service, for responsibility — that is what is required in a time like this.”
As far as the children themselves, safety is our top priority. Until children and their families can move back into permanent dwellings, protecting them in the tent cities is essential.
As Buildings Shook and Crumbled
Compassion Canada CEO Barry Slauenwhite and a group of fellow Canadians were met at the Port-au-Prince airport on Jan. 12 with an unexpected diplomatic reception. It lasted only 15 or 20 minutes, but it was long enough to possibly save their lives.
Barry was leading a weeklong vision trip for six Canadian pastors and their wives. Their home for the week was to be the Hotel Montana. But less than an hour after landing in Haiti, it became clear that this trip would take a very different turn.
