Clean Water for Haiti
The critical need the poor always have for water has been heightened in Haiti after the earthquake. We’ve used various ways to distribute water to our church partners, and we’re looking to our strategic partnerships to continue to meet the short- and long-term needs.
We have a long-standing relationship with Healing Waters International, providing water systems to church partners in Guatemala and the Dominican Republic.
In response to the immense need in Haiti, Healing Waters International has provided 2,500 one-gallon jugs of water at no cost to Compassion Haiti. The water was bottled at the Healing Waters projects at our Dominican Republic church partner sites. If there is continued need, they are equipped to begin bottling on a daily basis.
The water will be trucked to Haiti along with the family food kits being assembled at our warehouse on the Dominican Republic/Haiti border.
We will also investigate several long-term solutions, such as building water systems at church partner sites in Haiti.
According to Gregg Keen, our Complementary Interventions Director,
“Healing Waters International and Compassion have been good partners for several years. When the disaster hit Haiti, Healing Waters was among the first organizations we called to ask what their response would be. They went to heroic efforts to find available water bottles in the DR when none could be found there. Bottled water will help people to avoid drinking and using contaminated water and the related diseases they can cause, especially in a disaster situation like this one. The impact of this can’t even be measured.”
Healing Waters’ mission is to empower local ministry partners to bring physical, social and spiritual transformation to poor communities, a mission that makes them an excellent partner for us.
Read more about our partnership with Healing Waters International.
Continue Reading ›Help Haiti
We’ve been helping Haiti for more than 40 years — teaching, feeding, educating, loving, mentoring, caring and most importantly, sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ.
Will you join us in helping Haiti rebuild?
Life in Haiti After the Earthquake: It Just Hurts
Received from Scott Todd, our Senior Ministry Advisor, who is leading our medical team in Port-au-Prince.
Saturday, Jan. 30 – We had the chance to meet eight leadership students today. We sat in a circle in the parking lot listening to their stories as ashes drifted like snow upon us and the smell of burning plastics scorched the air.
They spoke of how important Compassion’s work has been in their lives. Some shared with tears about being selected for the Leadership Development Program. I don’t know whether the tears flowed from joy, gratitude or something sad.
Like the dream that almost came true. They had climbed so high. From the slums to the universities. But when we asked how many went to schools which had been damaged in the earthquake all of them raised their hands.
We asked how many had lost friends or loved ones and all raised their hands again.
At one school 90 percent (180 out of 200) of the students were killed. With buildings collapsed, professors and administrators dead, its hard to imagine how those dreams can come true now.
May God have mercy on us if we fail to find a way forward for them. They are Haiti’s future.
Life in Haiti After the Earthquake: Carrying On
From Scott Todd, our Senior Ministry Advisor, who is leading our medical team in Port-au-Prince.
I’m in my tent. Too tired to go up to the place where I can connect to Internet on the sloping desk and wobbly chair in the parking lot – so I know this won’t go out tonight.
Today (Jan. 29) we returned to the area we visited on day two. Leogone. Almost a two-hour drive. It is an absolute war zone of destruction. Nearly the whole town is rubble. I felt a deeper sadness than the other places – a community completely broken. Yet, they were clearing away the debris from the streets and already beginning to rebuild.
We arrived at the church, a partner in our program, to find a group of people under a tarp canopy. We assumed they were patients waiting for our arrival as had been the case on previous days. They weren’t.
They were the people of the church who had gathered for fasting and prayer. They sang, “What a friend we have in Jesus, all our hopes and griefs to bear.”
We set up the clinic with greater proficiency today – larger tarps, larger ropes, higher anchors so the heat radiating under the plastic didn’t bake the people (and us).
Another day of broken bones and infected wounds. A few unexpected cases – a man with polio who had fallen and needed surgery, a young boy whose foreskin was nearly sealed, preventing urination, creating back pressure and infection risk.
Half the team has suffered intestinal problems, but they carry on despite their misery. It didn’t help that there were no latrines available today. We “stood guard” for one another.
The person I will be specifically praying for tonight is Chantal. Mother of five. We saw her two days earlier and I believe it is by God’s guidance that we came to this site today.
Life in Haiti After the Earthquake: Living by Faith
Received from Scott Todd, our Senior Ministry Advisor, who is leading our medical team in Port-au-Prince.
Back at my sloping desk in the parking lot with my chair tottering over the pothole.
In some ways today (Jan. 28) was the most exhausting. Mainly the heat in our “clinic.” Once again, under tarps despite a respectable-looking church right next to us.
Our team used the church for sorting meds and eating lunch, and I hope that our occupying it might encourage the people to overcome the fear that the earth may shake it down at any moment.
Treated over 100 people again today, but the conditions generally seem less severe in the city, where people are getting access to health services.
The story that will most trouble me as I try to sleep in the parking lot again tonight is the two very young children (approximately 2 and 3 years old) whose parents both died in the quake.
These young children are registered in our Child Survival Program. Their aunt came to take them and is caring for them.
I just learned an hour ago that their aunt is 15 years old and they are sleeping in the street under a makeshift tarp tent. It’s night now and I wonder how that 15-year-old girl is going to find any food for herself or for those little ones.
I’ve only shared about the kids and people we’ve been seeing, but I want to say something about our staff in Haiti.
It just isn’t possible to describe the emotional burden they carry. I spoke with Jozue (Joshua), who works for Compassion and is pastor of the church where we set up the mobile clinic today.
Jozue told me that on the day of the quake his wife was getting ready to wash their two little girls. Their water is outside, like a backyard spigot, and when mom went out to get the water one of the girls saw her go out and began to follow. Then the second one followed.
Mom saw the girls coming out of the house and said “Get back inside.”
But the girl said “No!”
“I said go back inside!”
But the girl stomped her foot and insisted, “No!”
Life in Haiti After the Earthquake: Reclaiming Beauty From Despair
Received from Scott Todd, our Senior Ministry Advisor, who is leading our medical team in Port-au-Prince.
Today (Jan. 27) was … not sure what word could cover it. The team went to a rural site (HA748) and set up our clinic under a large mango tree.
I had to stay back in the morning because we had medical supplies that had missed the original plane and it was important to receive them. They were tagged to me, and we didn’t think U.S. forces would allow anyone else through.
So, with a tail number on an aircraft we went through the two checkpoints and were suddenly amidst the chaos of the tarmac. Massive cargo planes from the U.S. military being unloaded, vast field of materials, also some non-U.S. big planes – a 777 from Israel…. Helicopters of all types buzzing around.
We took a guess at a small plane and drove out to a field where they were parking smaller charters and we found our guy grabbed our meds and got out to HA748.
The team saw much heavier needs today. I held an 80 year old (approximately) lady for 30 minutes while she writhed in pain as our orthopedic surgeon amputated her toe. It had been crushed and was rotting infection up into the bone so it needed to be completely cleared out.
That old lady was made of leather and wire but wailed away. We probably saved her life – certainly her foot as the infection would have progressed.
Life in Haiti After the Earthquake
Received from Scott Todd, our Senior Ministry Advisor, who is leading our medical team in Port-au-Prince.
Last night’s (Jan. 25) arrival – in the dark, no lights in the airport, Humvees and Marines roaring around, bags thrown on the tarmac, smell of jet fuel, shouting, chaos, can’t find our pickup, pulling out over 30 duffel bags and boxes, driving through the chaos of Port-au-Prince with three of our guys on top of each pickup “guarding” baggage.
Touring our office at night with flashlights, framed mission statement on the wall tilted, leadership principles tilted, warning to walk clear of certain walls which are collapsing – pitch tent in parking lot, spray some DEET, take some Malarone, sweating from hauling stuff.
Today (Jan. 26), our medical team worked under tarps because the people are afraid to go inside buildings. Within an hour we were up and running and saw approximately 100 patients.
Each patient registered at entry through a gate with name, basic info including height, weight etc… and took a number. Some were triaged. Others waited to be called to one of four (sometimes five) stations. Each station had a doc, nurse and translator (though some of our Haitian nurses also served as translators).
The cases were not as severe as I expected with some very serious cuts and abrasions that were infected and needed dressing, some dislocations, a few bone issues. Many were just overwhelmed and needed someone to look at them and tell them they were okay. We prayed with some of them.
Listen to Haiti Update Conference Call With Wess Stafford
This morning, Compassion President Wess Stafford interviewed Edouard Lassegue, Vice President of the Central America and Caribbean Region, who spoke by cell phone from Haiti about the situation on the ground and our efforts to minister to the Haitian people.
The call includes insights into our disaster response work and updates about the status of our staff and partner churches in Haiti.
You’ll also hear about our ability to distribute aid to Haiti through the Dominican Republic and our network of Haitian church partners.
The call is approximately 35 minutes long.
[audio:https://blog.compassion.com/wp-content/uploads/misc/1-22-10 conference call.mp3]It’s Time to Start Over in Haiti
UPDATED: Jan. 22, 2010 – Listen to Tim interviewed by Rodney Olsen on Australia’s 98.5 Sonshine FM.
You can see the photos and video footage on your television or computer, but they don’t do the devastation in Haiti justice.
Building after building has collapsed. I’ve seen dozens of multistory buildings that have collapsed into a stack of pancaked floors. Looking at the sheer tonnage of cement, I’m amazed anyone survived.
Hospitals, schools, churches and businesses all flattened. As if this country didn’t already struggle to provide those services to those who need it. That is the great irony right now. The number of people who need medical attention has increased dramatically as the result of this disaster, but the number of medical clinics and hospitals decreased. It seems so unjust.
Communication and transportation are terrible. I’d love to be able to show you some of the videos that I’ve shot, but I can’t get a strong enough Internet connection to last long enough to upload. At this point, my best connection provides 8kb per second. Terribly slow. And it lasts only a few minutes at a time.
This morning, I witnessed a relief truck get overtaken by a crowd of people in the streets. The people climbed the big rig by the dozens, forcing open the back doors and tossing out bags of rice … all while the truck was driving.
People are desperate for food. All over town, there are makeshift signs (mostly sheets with painted words on them) saying, “We Need Help” or “Please — We Need Food and Water.”
At the border of the Dominican Republic and Haiti, I saw a couple of relief supply trucks that had been turned into makeshift storefronts. People were trying to sell the food, water and clothing inside. Another example of how important it is for you to make sure you partner with an organization that has established distribution channels.
Many organizations can get stuff here, but don’t know how to distribute it. Parking a truck on the side of the road can cause mayhem. (more…)
Child Development Centers Affected by the Haiti Earthquake
UPDATED: Mar. 6, 2010 – This downloadable PDF lists all the child development centers in Haiti and categorizes each center as: not directly affected, moderately affected or significantly affected.
Six child development centers and one child survival program previously designated as not directly affected have recently reported several children and siblings of sponsored children as having been injured in the earthquake. They have also reported many houses that were damaged.
These centers are now considered moderately affected.
- HA-260
- HA-272 and HACS19
- HA-602
- HA-670
- HA-796
- HA-811
Please Encourage Our Haiti Staff: Prayers Needed
This blog post is about our staff in Haiti. We would like this to be a bulletin board for you to share your prayers and encouragement for them and
with them.
Although many of our staff have suffered incredible losses as a result of this disaster, we are asking them to perform heroically, and they are!
And they’re doing so in the face of loss and widespread devastation that many of us can only imagine. Because we are a world away, it’s easy to overlook that what we’re asking them to deliver must be obtained in the midst of communication and transportation problems, aftershocks and deep personal trauma.
Numerous members of our staff in Haiti are grieving the deaths of family members and friends. Some have lost their homes, and others are injured themselves.
In light of all this, we ask that you leave a comment or prayer to encourage and strengthen them. We guarantee that they will see your comments, even if the comments have to be printed out in order to be delivered. We hope that as communication becomes more reliable, they will have the ability and opportunity to respond to you.
On behalf of our staff and Haiti, thank you.
Recipe to Help Haiti
I know so many of us are riveted to the news, to our emails, to Facebook, or wherever else we can scrap together some information about the Haiti earthquake. Many of us are wishing there was something more we could do to help, some way to respond to the unimaginable things we are seeing.
There is one vital action that is always open to us: Prayer.
“And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.” – Ephesians 6:18 (NIV)
If you’re trying to find someway to respond, consider calling together a prayer group. Spend the night praying for Haiti and make one of the most traditional Haitian dishes, Soup Joumou, which they use to celebrate the new year.
Things to Pray:
- For the safety and rescue of David Hames and for peace and encouragement for his family
- For those still trapped in the rubble
- For those working to rescue people
- That roads would be passable to get in water, food, medicine, and other aid
- For our staff, church partners, and children
- That reliable communication channels can be established
- For efficient and strategic responses to the crisis
- For God’s will to be done
- For God to get all the glory
Ask your friends to each bring $5 or $10 to help pay for the soup and give the rest of the money to relief or rebuilding efforts. You can cook the soup together and use it as a time to build relationships, share prayer requests, and support one another.
Soup Joumou (Pumpkin Soup) (more…)
