Wednesday, September 1, 2010 — In October, Northwest Haiti Christian Mission will begin moving its U.S. headquarters to Zionsville, Indiana. We have greatly outgrown our existing office and warehouse space in Frankfort, Kentucky, and the move will enable us to continue serving our missionaries and ministries in Haiti in the best possible ways. Read more…
Tuesday, August 17, 2010 — American Marines, sailors, soldiers and airmen descended on Port-de-Paix and Saint-Louis du Nord in July during a large-scale humanitarian effort in partnership with Northwest Haiti Christian Mission. Read more…
Wednesday, August 4, 2010 — Potential travelers interested in participating in the 2011 New Year’s short-term trip should submit applications as soon as possible to avoid last-minute price increases. Read more…
Monday, June 21, 2010 — Northwest Haiti Christian Mission adds new personnel in 2010 in the areas of travel, administration, development, and child nutrition. Read more…
Saint-Louis du Nord, Haiti — CBS News today featured Northwest Haiti Christian Mission’s partnership with Indianpolis Colts receiver Pierre Garçon, a joint effort that has helped provide millions of meals for needy Haitians and is rebuilding a school in the Port-au-Prince area.
The piece, which was shown on the CBS Evening News, highlights the experiences of Garçon and his family members as they visited Haiti for the first time since the January 12 earthquake that killed more than 200,000 people there and decimated the country’s fragile economy. The video and story also feature the relief work of NWHCM through its child nutrition programs and orphanages.
Garçon, a Haitian-American, launched his Pierre Garçon Helping Hands Foundation last year to focus on boosting education and food relief in the Western Hemisphere’s poorest country. He was catapulted into the spotlight earlier this year after the earthquake and the Colts’ Superbowl bid.
Read more about the Garçon’s partnership with NWHCM.
“The Hungry” takes an in-depth look at malnutrition and how NWHCM is fighting it
Thursday, May 6, 2010 – Northwest Haiti Christian Mission today released “The Hungry,” a video photo essay project that draws attention to the causes and effects of hunger and child malnutrition in Northwest Haiti, and the ways NWHCM is working to help.
The result of more than a year of documentary photography work by NWHCM photojournalist Andy Olsen, “The Hungry” follows the stories of two children: A severely malnourished girl being treated in NWHCM’s hospital, and another malnourished girl enrolled in one of NWHCM’s child nutrition programs. Through the eyes of these children and their families, the video explores the complex set of factors that contribute to poverty and hunger.
The video was produced before the January 12 earthquake that forever changed Haiti, but the issues it confronts are no different now than they were before the quake. As with other natural disasters in Haiti, the earthquake has only placed greater strains on Haiti’s economy and food supply.
Churches, individuals, organizations and other groups are encouraged to use “The Hungry” as a tool to raise awareness of the issues of hunger and malnutrition. It is a perfect accessory for packing events and fundraisers in conjunction with NWHCM or its ministry partners, Feed My Starving Childen and Kids Agains Hunger.
“The Hungry” is also available on NWHCM’s resources page.
Calls mission clinic “one of the best in the area” of Northwest Haiti
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Saint-Louis du Nord, Haiti — A story aired on CBS News Saturday highlighting the efforts of Northwest Haiti Christian Mission’s medical clinic to help meet the enormous health needs in the country’s Northwest Department.
The piece, which was shown on the CBS Evening News, outlines Haiti’s dire public health climate even before the January 12 earthquake that destroyed most of the health-care infrastructure in Port-au-Prince. CBS News medical correspondent Dr. Jon LaPook calls NWHCM’s clinic “one of the best in the region,” noting, however, that both public hospitals and NGOs must be better equipped to fully address the country’s medical problems.
In the piece, LaPook tells the story of NWHCM’s medical staff having to share an oxygen machine between a premature baby and an expectant mother experiencing labor complications, because only one machine was available.
“The reality is that even the best-equipped NGO hospitals in Haiti have to make very hard decisions every day because resources are so limited, compared with hospitals in the United States,” said Andy Olsen, NWHCM media director. “LaPook’s story underscores the huge need for greater financial support of medical ministries in Haiti, and the need for governments to invest in Haiti’s public health infrastructure.”
NWHCM has been providing free and low-cost medical care in Northwest Haiti for more than 20 years. It’s medical facilities are almost entirely staffed by trained Haitian doctors and nurses, and surgeries are offered at various times throughout the year by NWHCM’s many visiting surgery teams. Click here to learn more about NWHCM’s medical programs.
View more about LaPook’s reflections on his experience at NWHCM’s clinic.
A fisherman trades his tackle for earthquake relief efforts
By Andy Olsen, NWHCM Media Director
Port Canaveral, FL — David Bates’ friends say he made things stink here. Bates thought it smelled like money.
The local seafood baron in his heyday, Bates owned a small fleet of shrimp- and scallop-laden boats that once dotted this bay. His company’s property was visible from almost any spot along the water in Port Canaveral. The shells spit out by his processing plant piled up so high that today they form part of the city’s coastline.
That was before plummeting seafood prices, soaring energy costs, and real estate-hungry cruise lines pushed Bates and his wife, Lisa, to retire. They sold most of their shrimp boats, trusty white workhorses that had literally fished the world.
“It got to the point where we could buy shrimp from Asia, ship it here, package it, and resell it for cheaper than we could sell our shrimp,” said Lisa, who is was also Bates’ business partner. “We said we would never do that.”
Instead, they found themselves looking for something to do with the shrimp boats they could not sell. When a devastating earthquake struck Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on January 12, and damaged the Caribbean nation’s main seaport, David felt led to load one of his boats with relief supplies and sail it to Haiti.
And so began a partnership with Northwest Haiti Christian Mission to deliver food and other badly needed supplies to Haiti’s northern coast. Through a series of connections at his church, First Christian Church of Merritt Island, Bates was put in touch with NWHCM and began retrofitting one of his ships, the Capt. Scott B., to haul cargo to Haiti.
Donated goods from across the country started rolling into a NWHCM warehouse in Port Canaveral. On February 22, Bates and his crew began a two-week process of loading the ship. On March 9, it sailed into Port-de-Paix and crews unloaded more than half a million meals of relief food, generators, barrels full of medicine and medical supplies, and hundreds of water filtration systems.
“I’ve always thought God has blessed me and my family beyond my dreams,” David told Florida Today, a local newspaper. “I figure we could give something back. It thrills me to be able to do it.”
A special thanks to NWHCM staff and missionaries Cameron Mayhill and Mike and Teresa Grant for helping coordinate the effort.
Lexington, Kentucky — Pam Shelton, who loved Christ and served faithfully for years in Northwest Haiti Christian Mission’s U.S office, died Thursday, April 15 in Lexington, Kentucky. She will be sorely missed by NWHCM staff and by the mission community as a whole.
Shelton, 57, had been undergoing medical treatment and suffered a complication during the process. Shelton served as a bookkeeper and all-around administrative helper for NWHCM. For hundreds of NWHCM partners, hers was a familiar voice on the phone offering information about nearly every facet of the ministry. She was passionate about helping orphans and worked tirelessly to pick up slack wherever she found it. She was heavily involved at Southland Christian Church in Lexington, where she was also an active volunteer.
Shelton left her position in March to begin undergoing medical treatment but continued to serve NWHCM in an advisory role. Visitation and remembrance services were held Saturday, April 17. Please keep her family in your prayers during this season in their lives.
A young NFL player steps into a nation needing his help more than ever
Photos, Video and Text by Andy Olsen
Saint-Louis du Nord, Haiti — Pierre Garçon sat for a few moments staring out the window of the bus, silently allowing the panorama of destruction to pass by as the bus wove its way through Port-au-Prince.
The Indianapolis Colts receiver had Haiti on his mind long before the earthquake the changed this nation on January 12. But since then, he has redoubled his relief efforts through his Pierre Garçon Helping Hands Foundation. In April, Garçon visited Haiti to see firsthand the destruction of the earthquake and learn how to best focus aid distribution in his family’s homeland.
“There was always someone needing help before the earthquake, but now, after the earthquake, it’s more urgent. We need to work faster,” Garçon said. He said the April trip was just one of many he hopes to make to Haiti in coming years.
NWHCM thanks Garçon and the thousands of people who have generously given toward NWHCM’s earthquake relief efforts. Click here to make a gift to NWHCM today.
Click here to read more about Garçon’s partnership with NWHCM.
They lost everything. Now thousands of internally displaced Haitians have come to the Northwest in search of new beginnings. How can we help them?
At a bus stop in Port-au-Prince for buses departing to Northwest Haiti, passengers arrive well before sunrise to claim their seats. Though the flow of earthquake survivors leaving the capital has slowed to a trickle, the displaced are still leaving the capital in search of opportunities elsewhere. Andy Olsen / NWHCM staff
Text and Photos by Andy Olsen
April 3, 2010
Port-de-Paix, Haiti — Almaide Joseph remembers when she was the breadwinner, a source of hope for her family. The 38-year-old was an urban entrepreneur, buying and selling goods across the border with the Dominican Republic while mothering her family in their comfortable Port-au-Prince home — a place with lights and electricity, perpetually wrapped in street noise and big-city bustle.
With the help of her husband, a schoolteacher, Joseph regularly sent money to her less-fortunate relatives in Port-de-Paix. They counted on Joseph’s support to help pay their rent and feed their families.
That was before the earthquake, 60 seconds of hell that robbed Joseph of her house, her husband, and nearly everything else. It forced her to move back to her hometown, Port-de-Paix. Now she sits restlessly in the dark home she once helped to pay for, dependent for food on the same relatives her income once fed. She has no job, no goods to trade, no money to spend.
“Things are bad in Port-de-Paix now,” Joseph said, balancing her 3-year-old daughter, Fabi, on her lap. “There are no jobs, and everything is very expensive.”
Joseph is part of a massive return of Haitians from Port-au-Prince to the countryside, a reversal of a three-decade trend where small towns bled their populations into the nation’s sprawling capital city in search of education and jobs. Since the Jan. 12 earthquake, more than 600,000 people fled Port-au-Prince to return to rural towns and cities across Haiti, according to government and United Nations figures.
A survey of displaced individuals in Port-de-Paix revealed little eagerness to return to the capital anytime soon. For most, the reasons were the same — being destitute among family is easier than being destitute among strangers.
The Strain of Providing
About a mile from where Joseph is staying, Solange hobbled up the steep, rocky hillside where her rented two-room house is perched. Left nearly paralyzed in an accident as a child, Solange walks with great effort on her half-folded legs.
The middle-aged woman from Port-de-Paix is no stranger to begging — she cares care for herself and her six children, and work does not come easily to disabled women in Haiti. Still, when four nieces from Port-au-Prince showed up at her door, looking for a place to stay in the city where they grew up, Solange welcomed them warmly.
The girls, who lost their parents in the earthquake, sleep packed like sardines on the dirt floor of the cramped home. Three of them, in their twenties, were college students before their university collapsed. The fourth was in high school but has been shut out of local schools because she cannot pay the tuition.
Each day, Solange and the girls fan out across the city and outlying areas to beg for food. It is full-time labor for the family. What each one gets, they bring back to the house to share with the rest.
“I have to do what I have to do,” Solange said, gesturing in the rehearsed manner of a woman who has lived most of her life hand-to-mouth. “Only God knows how long I can do this.”
The majority of the displaced settling into Northwest Haiti are dependent on government assistance and the charity of a few good samaritans and NGOs. The mayors of Port-de-Paix and nearby Saint-Louis du Nord, in partnership with Northwest Haiti Christian Mission, have provided food and petty cash to hundreds of displaced families in the area.
UN reports say roughly 50,000 internally displaced Haitians have landed in Northwest Haiti. Roughly 90 miles north of Port-au-Prince, Port-de-Paix has about 100,000 inhabitants, according to the Haitian government. As the largest city in the Northwest Department, the city’s population has swelled by as much as a third since the earthquake, by some estimates.
Those numbers are difficult to verify. But step into the street and ask someone to point to a household sheltering displaced people, and they are likely to point somewhere just a few steps away.
The influx has strained the city and the region. Relief food and supplies are in far scarcer supply here than in Port-au-Prince, which has prompted some families to return to the city. The cost of living in the northwest is also higher than in the capital, because goods must arrive here by way of long, expensive journeys over some of the worst roads in the country. Of the dozen households surveyed by NWHCM staff in Port-de-Paix, only two claimed to have any food in the house.
Others have already returned to Port-au-Prince in search of opportunities that just don’t seem to exist in the Northwest Department, especially in the small towns west of Port-de-Paix. If too many displaced Haitians return to Port-au-Prince, however, it may make the nation’s problems even worse and undermine the goal of the international community to revitalize Haiti’s rural towns.
“If we can give these people a reason to stay in the Northwest, a.k.a. ways to make income, then we can change the dynamic of Haiti,” said NWHCM Community Development Coordinator Curtis Rogers. “Job creation, agricultural development, and economic development can all play a large role in giving rural Haiti its voice back.”
Signs of Hope
In many ways, the displaced in Northwest Haiti are hidden. There are no sweeping tent cities here, no rows of public latrines, no long food lines outside military compounds. Many of them stay indoors most of the day, having little else to do.
Yet there is no mistaking the signs of change. Community members say they see find faces everywhere. On a sunny afternoon, a woman stood alone at the bus station in Port-de-Paix, waiting to meet a niece who was arriving from the capital, one of the few people still trickling into town each week.
In Gris Gris, a poor neighborhood in Port-de-Paix, Melota Timothee sits behind a counter at a small store she’s set up in the living room of a home she’s renting. She lost her store in the capital when her house collapsed, but the family has scrapped together some money with the help of relatives in Miami. A young girl walked into the store to buy a piece of candy, which Timothee sells alongside a humble assortment of drinks, crackers and lye soap.
“It’s too soon to say how much we’ll earn from the store,” said Timothee, 44. “We’ve only been open a few days.”
A few blocks away, in a home on the main road through town, 13-year-old Christ Armelle Davis studied notes from class that she wrote two months earlier, before the quake. She copies them nearly every day to another page, even though she cannot get into a school in Port-de-Paix because her family has no money.
She will still have to take the national exams someday, Davis explained, so she wants to be prepared. She is a teenage portrait of the resolve of many of the displaced. They say they are willing to work and study hard to get back on their feet, if they could just get a chance.
“Hopefully, this disaster will cause supporting agencies and other NGOs to turn their focus to the farmers and workers of rural Haiti, without whom Haiti cannot survive,” Rogers said. “When this happens, NWHCM will be there to help.” Displacement of People from Port-au-Prince
Source: UN, SNGRD
How NWHCM is Helping
To date, NWHCM has:
Distributed more than 150 tents to displaced earthquake victims in Port-au-Prince and surrounding areas.
Begun distributing more than 200 water filters to communities in Northwest Haiti and in the Port-au-Prince area.
Dispersed more than $30,000 and thousands of meals through local churches to help families in the Northwest that are caring for and lodging displaced Haitians.
Initiated a plan to nearly double the number of meals NWHCM will provide this year to needy families and children in Northwest Haiti.
Provided medical assistance by sharing supplies, medicines and personnel with hospitals in the region, treating patients in our Saint-Louis du Nord hospital, and sending medical personnel to the Port-au-Prince area.
Assisted various partner ministries in Port-au-Prince with shipping, receiving, and transporting relief goods.
Learning about missions and Haiti has never been this much fun!
Wednesday, March 31, 2010 – Finding Mache is a brand-new VBS supplement with a missions focus. Built around a series of five short DVD video segments, it follows a young girl named Naika who is searching her small town in Haiti looking for her family’s donkey, Mache. Along the way, Naika sees the many ways that God is using missionaries in Haiti to change lives and help children grow up to be strong and know Jesus.
Produced by Northwest Haiti Christian Mission, the materials make an excellent “missions moment” supplement to any existing VBS curriculum or children’s Sunday school class. In Finding Mache, children will encounter a safe environment to learn about poverty, missions, evangelism, and helping others.
The Finding Mache package includes a DVD, teacher handbook with suggested activities and accompanying materials, and a Northwest Haiti Christian Mission T-shirt. It also offers practical ways for kids and churches to get involved in missions in Haiti.
Contact us today to request a FREE copy of the materials for your church or VBS program. Materials will be available in mid April.
Mark Wilkerson hopes to raise money with every runner he passes in Indianapolis mini-marathon
(March 8, 2010) Indianapolis, IN – Mark Wilkerson, an executive with OneAmerica Financial Partners in Indianapolis, has partnered with Northwest Haiti Christian Mission to launch Run Mark Run!, an initiative to recruit 1,000,000 people who will pledge a penny for every person he passes during the OneAmerica 500 Festival Mini-Marathon on May 8, 2010 in Indianapolis. All proceeds will go to the relief efforts in Haiti.
Mark Wilkerson (photo submitted)
Wilkerson’s unique strategy will use traditional and social media to gather pledges from around the world that will assist with Haiti relief. He will use a blog, e-mails, Facebook and Twitter to chronicle his experience and urge more people to pledge. With a goal to pass at least 2,000 fellow runners, Wilkerson and NWHCM will use the donations to create a fund that will improve and sustain medical work in Haiti.
“With the high demand for medical care after the earthquake, we understand that the existing resources needed to improve medical care have been stretched beyond capacity,” Wilkerson said. “The destruction of hospitals, the lack of medicine and increased patient loads for current medical facilities and personnel require more funds, so every penny raised will be meaningful as we look to address these needs.”
NWHCM has been working to provide and improve health care in Haiti for the last two decades. The organization’s work includes an outpatient clinic that sees more than 2,000 patients each month, a birthing center that delivers between 60 to 80 babies each month, and a surgical facility that hosts U.S. surgical teams year-round.
To make a pledge or learn more about this endeavor, visit www.runmarkrun.net.
Welcome to Points, a unique way to support someone on a NWHCM mission trip and help the needy at the same time.
Simply sponsor a child or adult in any Northwest Haiti Christian Mission program, and a short-term missionary of your choice will earn points toward his or her trip. They can convert those points into a scholarship for their trip, funded through a special mission scholarship program.
Your sponsorship will change the future for a child forever. And it may just change the life of a traveler, too.
How it Works
1. Sponsor a child or adult online at nwhcm.org in any mission program. The greater the sponsorship amount, the more points a traveler earns.
2. When creating a sponsorship, be sure to include the words “Points Sponsorship” and the traveler’s name in the notes field.
3.The traveler specified in the notes field will automatically earn points for your sponsorship, and those points will be automatically credited toward a scholarship for their upcoming mission trip. Unused credits can be used by the traveler on future mission trips.
4. Enjoy the relationship you will begin building with your sponsored child or adult, and remember to pray for the traveler your sponsorship is supporting.
To qualify for Points, a sponsorship must be:
Established online at nwhcm.org, or made over the phone
Established with an automatic donation plan via credit card or Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT)
Established indefinitely or for a minimum of one year
Established for the full amount of the Sponsorship Need, except for Miriam Center sponsorships. Partial points will be awarded if Sponsorship Need is less than the program amount. For example: A Miriam Center sponsorship of $200 a month (out of a total Sponsorship Need of $300 a month) would earn 120 Points. A Miriam Center sponsorship for the full $300 a month would earn 180 Points. See below for a full explanation of Points amounts.
For Travelers
Earning Points
You can earn Points for every new sponsorship of a child or adult that a sponsor designates as credit toward your trip. You can also earn Points for medical sponsorships, as outlined below. Note: Points may not be earned for mission trips departing before May 30, 2010.
Sponsorship Point Values
*Click here to learn more about NWHCM Medical Sponsorships
Click here to sponsor a child or adult in Northwest Haiti today.
Redeeming Points
It takes almost no time at all to begin benefiting from Points. You can cash in your Points for large or small amounts toward the cost of your mission trip. When the amount of points you’ve earned reaches any of the benchmarks below, NWHCM will automatically credit your Points toward your upcoming trip.
Point Benchmarks
FAQs
How is the Points program funded?
Points is paid for through a dedicated scholarship fund that NWHCM has established. This money has been generously set aside by donors and NWHCM to provide scholarships for people traveling on mission trips with NWHCM. The goal of the scholarships is to make overseas missions more accessible and to encourage lasting investments in the lives of children and adults in Haiti.
How can I check my Points balance if I’m going on an upcoming NWHCM trip?
Remember that your Points will be automatically applied to your trip cost when your accumulated Points reach one of the redemption benchmarks, so no action is required on your part. NWHCM will notify you of your trip balance 30 days prior to your travel date.
If necessary, you may check your Points balance and the balance for your trip anytime by e-mailing us at travel@nwhcm.org. Please do not phone our U.S. business office to check your Points balance. Thank you.
Do my Points expire?
Yes. Points expire 18 months after the date of the trip for which they were accumulated. For example: If you are awarded Points for a particular sponsorship two months before your mission trip on June 1, 2010, and you do not use them for that trip, those Points would expire on December 1, 2011.
Can Points be applied to our group as a whole?
Yes. If your church or group is handling trip costs as a lump sum instead of as individuals, then Points may be earned for and applied to the group’s total trip cost. However, any Points earned for that group will expire after the group’s travel date and may not be used for future travel. In addition, those Points may not be transferred to individuals. If you wish to inquire about handling trip costs as a lump sum or are unsure of your group’s status, please contact NWHCM’s travel manager.
Can I start a new sponsorship and credit the Points toward my own upcoming trip?
Yes. If it’s a new sponsorship, you can earn Points for it!
Do I need to have a firm trip date before earning Points for my upcoming trip?
No. You can earn Points for your upcoming mission trip even if you do not have a specific date range just yet. Please be sure to have sponsors include in the note field a general idea of when you may be traveling.
How can I start taking advantage of Points?
If you are planning an upcoming mission trip with NWHCM and you have not already received a brochure about Points and about NWHCM sponsorships, please contact us. We encourage you to use these valuable materials as you serve as a sponsorship advocate for NWHCM.
Click here to download a Points flyer to help you as you raise support for your trip.
Rules and Details
1) Points may only be earned for new sponsorships. Existing sponsorships or increases to existing sponsorship amounts are not eligible. Only sponsorships started after March 10, 2010 are eligible.
2) The cutoff for earning Points for a particular trip is 30 days prior to the travel date. New sponsorships created 30 or fewer days prior to the travel date will earn Points for a future trip.
3) Unused points expire 18 months after the trip date for which the points were initially earned.
4) Points may not be applied toward trips of other travelers or family members.
5) Points are redeemed automatically by NWHCM, and may only be redeemed when the total point amount reaches one of the Point Redemption Benchmarks. Unused points will be counted as surplus toward a future trip.
6) Sponsors who are identified as intentionally closing existing sponsorships and replacing them with new ones, with the intent of earning extra Points, will be disqualified from participation in the Points program. NWHCM reserves the right to disqualify sponsors and Points at anytime, at its discretion, without prior notice.
7) Points have no cash value and may not be redeemed for any goods or services other than NWHCM trip scholarships, as defined above.
August 26, 2010 One week from today we’ll be back in Haiti! We cannot wait! Thank you so much –  For your prayers! For your encouragement! For the food you’ve brought by! For mowing our yard!  For watching th. […] Source: castilloavektimoun
August 8, 2010 I was struck by some really hard questions about myself today while at the prison in Port de Paix. Â Dennis and Lori brought the 25 year old boy out to the courtyard that they have been worried about. […] Source: melonnie
August 4, 2010 The final soccer game as seen from the roof of our house (photo by Dustin Waller). I promise that soccer is not the only thing we have done this summer, as this post will show. An incredibly hectic sc. […] Source: therogersinhaiti
July 28, 2010 How cool is it that we have had the Navy, the Army and the Marines all over our campus and all over St Louis du Nord this week? Â There are patients being helicoptered to a ship for surgeries, constru. […] Source: melonnie
July 26, 2010 In 2009 we did our first Youth Rally at Beauchamp and only allowed the churches to invite 10 youth because we could not handle all the sleeping arrangements and water issues. We had 80 to 90 in atten. […] Source: Teresa
Simply sponsor a child or adult in any Northwest Haiti Christian Mission program, and a short-term missionary of your choice will earn points toward his or her trip. They can convert those points into a scholarship for their trip, funded through a special mission scholarship program.
