New Haiti Shelter Project
After the devastating earthquake that hit Haiti in January 2010, millions of Haitians were left without homes. The problem of homelessness was further exacerbated by the unfulfilled need for clean water and proper sanitation, leading to even more disease and death.
In partnership with Habitat for Humanity, the Covenant World Relief shelter project will provide upgradable shelters for 450 families affected by the earthquake. Haitians have been trained to build these shelters, which provides jobs and benefits the local economy. These permanent shelters have a concrete foundation with plywood walls and a tin roof. As families save money, the homes can be added on to with concrete bricks. The project also provides communities with latrines, access to clean water and water storage, and promotes proper hygiene and sanitation, all of which will lead to improved health. Read more…
New Well in Haiti
The Bertain Well: Difficult but not Impossible
Bertain can seem almost impossible to access by truck¸ certainly by heavy equipment. Chosen as one of World Relief’s target communities in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, it is clearly the most vulnerable as well as the most difficult to visit. Bertain’s oppressive poverty is worsened by its lack of water sources and woefully inadequate schools. Three years ago, Pastor Fritz Gilles of the Baptiste de la Grace Church invited World Relief’s MYFL program (youth program) to come teach the young people in the Bertain community about AIDS prevention, abstinence, and making good life choices. The program ended with commitments from two participants to continue training others, and a relationship began.
After the earthquake, Pastor Gilles told World Relief that their most urgent need was for a clean water source. Until now, having free water each day meant walking 25-30 minutes down steep paths to a river and hauling back a bucket of impure water. Not only is the route dangerous, the young people were using this as an excuse to leave the watchful eyes of their parents and become involved sexually. Pastor Gilles felt a well would meet the vital need for a close and clean water source as well as helping to keep the young people under more careful supervision.
“A well? Here?”
World Relief is not new to wells. After the earthquake, WRH put in 12 wells in key sites that have made a difference for communities who had no good option for water. However, Bertain presents its own special hurdles. To reach Bertain, one must drive through a river, up a narrow road that drops off dramatically. “It isn’t every truck that can make it,” Joe Crowley of WRH explains. The other obstacle is simply the rocks which make well drilling more than challenging. A machine will start drilling, but the rocks have to be dug out by hand. After long consideration, the engineer for the project stated, “Difficult, but not impossible!”
So, Bertain, arid, abandoned and poor has a new project. Pastor Mikael will visit in the next few days to see the progress, but estimates the well will be ready in about two weeks. Romnal, a leader of the U.S. Church engagement team, smiles when he shares, “This will bring great joy to Bertain!” “And less risk,” adds Pastor Mikael. So, while politics, epidemics, and failed plans swirl around Port-au-Prince, Bertain makes a step forward with the help of World Relief Haiti
________________
Written by Tina O’Kelly
Photography by Matthew Smith and David Uttley
From CWR partner, World Relief International, and originally found here.
Haiti: How to Sustain Rebuilding Effort
PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI (March 18, 2011) – Editor’s note: This report is the last in a week-long series of articles written by Stan Friedman, news editor for Covenant News Service, who spent five days accompanying a five-member medical team from the United States providing care to Haiti residents during a two-week volunteer mission.
By Stan Friedman
The leaders of World Relief International and Medical Teams International say making the decision to turn their attention toward sustainability is tough, but necessary, even though current needs remain great.
“I have a little debate going on in my head, and it’s an important debate,” says John O’Kelley, World Relief’s Haiti country director. “Just because something is not sustainable, does that mean it’s not important? The Good Samaritan didn’t pass the person on the side of the road and ask, “Is it sustainable to help this guy?”
The debate has consequences even for the people with whom O’Kelley works. “We are developing programs on big scales and that’s very important, but I also have staff that are living in tents,” he says. “I’ve got a guard who’s living in a Boy Scout tent with a hole in it, and he has a wife and three kids. I have to let my heart not get hardened.”
The other side of the debate reminds O’Kelley, who has been in the country roughly eight months, that “needs are still important, but if you want to focus on changing things, you have to focus on sustainability…Read more…
Haiti: From the Reporter’s Notebook
PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI (March 18, 2011) – Editor’s note: This report contains a collection of notes taken from the reporter’s notebook. It is part of a week-long series of articles written by Stan Friedman, news editor for Covenant News Service, who spent five days accompanying a five-member medical team from the United States providing care to Haiti residents during a two-week volunteer mission.
By Stan Friedman
Haitian Nurse Inspires Ministry Team
Volunteers at the Medical Teams International clinic in Port-au-Prince gave hope to the Haitians who worked alongside them as well as to the patients.
A Haitian nurse named Lisa, who translated for Detroit pediatrician Mary Hakim, had experienced her own tragedy a year before the earthquake when someone shot and killed her father. He had been a well-loved physician in the community…Read more…
