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HAITI REPORT 2010 by David Heath Upon arrival to Cap Haitian (CAP) I encountered the same smells and heat as each year. Ben Adkins (World Radio Team Leader) and I went to work right away attempting to locate other organizations and acquiring information that would come in handy later. We obtained a vehicle for the purpose of heading down to Port au Prince (PAP) to assess the situation with the church. We made coordination and departed for PAP. Upon arrival in PAP we meet up with Debbie Vanderbeek who is with Hope for Haiti’s children. We stayed the night and strategize our next day. Once we departed to assess the area we found that the destruction was overwhelming. It brought to mind how devastation could happen in an instance. People had been going about their day in a normal way and all of a sudden the earth shook and buildings started to fall with them inside. Our evaluation of the area determined that livable places were far and few. We witnessed people using sheets and tarps to make shelter and to separate themselves for privacy. Imagine being in a office working with only the clothes on your back and later finding out that all of your belongings were destroyed. You now have nothing. There are very few banking facilities working and no way for you to obtain help the normal way. You and your family are separated and are looking for each other. Now imagine you are a child at school and your entire family was killed in the house you used to know. Their food supply is now gone since the stores were destroyed and there is no working utility. There is no water and no electricity. Where is my family, where is my mommy and daddy? This was what was happening in a matter of seconds. We stopped at many places just to look at what was PAP, and, is no more. The rubble was so overwhelming. There seemed to be no livable houses. The help that is needed is incomprehensible. There is a need for food on a daily basis, for fuel to move around, for clean water to drink, for shelter for a place to live, for funds to continue and for a pillow to lay your head on at night. There is nothing left. We take for granted that when the lights go out due to a storm that the electrical company will have them back on soon. The company was damaged also, the water department was damaged, the banks were damaged. There is no working organization. This is what the first days were like. Just plain out overwhelming - what do I do now? We found that after 1 week the best help is CASH, the banks are barely open. We also found that food is imperative. The day after the quake I contacted Lucner and told him to purchase beans and rice. He went out the next day and obtained a large quantity of food. Upon arrival at CAP we started to distribute food so that people would have something for a few days. I had also informed him to purchase fuel so that when we arrive, in case fuel was a shortage, we would have enough to get around. The lack of fuel manifested a little in the 2nd week. So how can you help? 1) The best way at this point is money since there is a need for daily subsistence. 2) Next would be to start shipping over daily living essentials for those that have lost everything. There are so many ways at a later point to help but most critical is funding for what is left. Keeping in mind that PAP is no longer the same and many people are moving to the north (CAP) to live and to survive. That is where most of the newest shortages will be. WFR Relief is attempting to resolve some of those issues at this point. |
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Littleton Church of Christ 6495 S. Colorado Blvd., Littleton, Colorado 80121 303-741-0265 E-mail us: jang@littletonchurch.org |
