How NWHCM has been helping, and what comes next
February 4, 2010
Dear Friends,
In the last three weeks, more than 31,000 people in Port-au-Prince have pieced together their last few possessions the earthquake spared, packed them in tattered bags, and piled into buses, trucks and cars headed to Haiti’s dusty Northwest Department.
Janeil Owen, Executive Director
Many of these refugees’ only connection there is an aunt, a cousin, or perhaps a brother. What awaits them are overcrowded homes or a patch of dirt outside to sleep on. But they are arriving anyway because they have no other options, because they are looking for a chance to rebuild their lives from the ruins.
It will be a long road, and Northwest Haiti Christian Mission is in it for the long haul to help them find hope.
I’m so thankful for all of those who have partnered with NWHCM through this devastating time. L’union fait la force (”unity makes strength”) is the declaration on the Haitian flag. I’m watching this come to pass as families and organizations draw together and strengthen each other with prayer, sharing every resource.
Northwest Haiti Christian Mission is in this for the long haul to help refugees find hope.
We have been blessed to work with great organizations like G.O. Ministries, Operation Blessing, Orphan’s Promise, IDES, and many others highlighted below — not to mention the thousands of individuals and countless churches and a humble, high-profile partner in Indianapolis Colts receiver Pierre Garcon. Everyone is uniting to show the strength of this nation and the body of Christ.
We have received free airplane shuttle service for our doctors, staff, and cargo. We have received many tons of medical equipment and medicines, hundreds of thousands of rice-based meals, water purifiers, and hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash donations. The outpouring has been unbelievable, and I know even more is coming.
Northwest Haiti is in the top three departments in Haiti receiving refugees. I want to share with you what we have done so far and what we are working on for the short and long terms to address the massive challenges this will present.
First, a review. In the last few weeks, we have:
- Used thousands of dollars in medicines and equipment in our hospital, treating earthquake victims and victims of life-threatening illnesses left vulnerable by Haiti’s overall lack of medical care in this crisis. We have organized dozens of medical personal in the states to come and provide care.
- Staged an emergency response team of medical professionals in the early hours after the quake that served in Port-au-Prince with a partner ministry, Mission of Hope. Along with the care, we provided a truckload of medical supplies, medicine, a generator and a large army tent to house refugees and patients.
- Assisted the two major hospitals in our zone with trucks full of medicine and equipment, along with 50 mattresses to help handle the overflow of earthquake victims.
- Partnered with 12 churches in the Saint-Louis du Nord area to provide food for hungry refugees.
- Partnered with the mayors of Saint-Louis du Nord and Port-de-Paix to provide thousands of dollars of assistance to victims and their families, along with thousands of servings of food.
- Given over $30,000 in cash to help more than 500 families with the increased expense of feeding and lodging refugees in our area.
Relief workers passed out bags of food from Feed My Starving Children at a church in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on Saturday, January 16, 2010. Andy Olsen / NWHCM staff
In the next few months, we will:
- Begin delivering shipments of relief goods in a project we’ve dubbed “Operation SHrImP IT.” NWHCM has procured two shrimp boats that will be leaving Florida this month for Port-de-Paix, on the northern coast, carrying supplies we have collected from centers across the United States. The ships will also deliver more than half a million servings of food given by our partner, Feed My Starving Children, and 10,000 gallons of much-needed and hard-to-find diesel fuel to continue running our hospital. This is the first of multiple planned trips for the boats.
- Distribute more than 200 Sawyer water filters to provide clean water for refugees throughout the Northwest Department. We will also provide these filters for our ministry partners in the Port-au-Prince area.
- Double the number of meals NWHCM provides for hungry families, to 20,000 a day. With the increased need across Haiti, we are working with our partners Feed My Starving Children and Kids Against Hunger to provide more than 5 million meals. We ship the food to Haiti for a nickel a meal, or roughly $250,000 for this year.
- Assist our partner Haitian Christian Outreach in Port-au-Prince with shipping, receiving, and transporting relief goods. We will also provide them with short-term medical teams over the next year.
- Provide comprehensive healthcare and emergency services in a time when Haiti’s healthcare system is overwhelmed. We are assembling teams of medical professionals to come into Haiti, along with supplies, on a weekly basis.
Of course, the hardest work in Haiti is yet to come. The task of rebuilding the nation, strengthening rural areas like the Northwest Department, and caring for refugees will demand a sustained long-term commitment that NWHCM is going to provide. Some of the ways we’ll be doing that over the next year are:
- Finishing the renovation of our Saint-Louis du Nord campus into a fully functioning hospital, thanks in large part to the partnership we have with the medical resourcing ministry FAME. Though this ongoing renovation has not yet been completed, we are already functioning as a hospital with the limited space we currently have.
- Building an aquaponics program as a pilot for a much larger program to follow. The program is an agri-business venture that, through fish farms, will provide fish and fresh vegetables to feed dozens of families a day and create more than 100 jobs in the northwest region.
- Working with our reputable partner, C3 Missions International, to address the needs of Haitian children left orphaned by the earthquake. NWHCM has always worked closely with the Haitian government to provide care for children who are registered orphans. These partnerships have already helped fund several NWHCM orphanages and are helping us prepare for a possible influx of as many as 3,000 at-risk or orphaned children in Northwest Haiti.
Thank you again for your generosity, and we ask for your continued support and prayers during these troubling times and for the years to come as we meet the incredible needs left by the earthquake. We will continue to seek God’s guidance as he has entrusted us with many resources to help the nearly half a million people in Northwest Haiti.
Your fellow bondservant,
Janeil Owen
Executive Director
Northwest Haiti Christian Mission
ABOUT THE PHOTO: Jean Yvena Charlles, 11, is one of thousands of displaced people from Port-au-Prince living in tent cities like this one downtown in front of the remains of the national palace. Andy Olsen / NWHCM Staff
