11 February 2010

Haiti Update
We continue to be humbled by the generosity of so many people to the
victims of the earthquake in Haiti. The miracle rescues we heard of each
became a symbol of hope. Good as this news was, it masked a huge
sadness that hangs over the country as people grieve those they know
have died and give up hope for those who have not been found.
Latest news from Agencies that you,
through Churches of Christ Overseas
Aid, are supporting:
Recent reports indicate that the numbers
affected by the earthquake are
astounding: 200,000 fatalities; 200,000
more injured; 1,000,000 left homeless.
750,000 are living in makeshift camps in
and around Port-au-Prince, while nearly
250,000 have already fled to other areas
throughout Haiti. It is estimated that
even with international assistance, it will take five to ten years for Haiti to
rebuild.
The International Disaster Emergency Service (IDES, Christian Church
– Churches of Christ USA) continues to develop partnerships with
missionaries, national evangelists, orphanages, and other ministries within
the Christian Church / Churches of Christ to bring assistance where it is
urgently needed. In the first two weeks of the disaster, we released
emergency response funds to people on the front lines of the relief effort.
This weekend the IDES Board approved the first round of longer range
projects aimed at caring for the ongoing needs of survivors, bringing
additional food into the country, deploying an assessment team, and
helping our mission partners to restore their properties to operating
condition.
Week of Compassion (Disciples of Christ) comments, “While you’ve
inevitably heard about the difficulties of getting aid, supplies, and medical
care to those affected by the
earthquake in Haiti we can assure you
that aid is reaching many of those in
need. It is true that the delivery of aid
has been hampered by many factors,
including infrastructure-related
challenges and thanks to you, we have
Photos: Action by Churches
Together
helped make possible the following aid and supplies:
• An air-freight arrived on January 22 in Santo Domingo. The
shipment contained 500 Church World Service (CWS) blankets,
1,125 baby kits, 10,595 hygiene kits, 720 tubes of toothpaste and
25 flashlights with batteries.
• An air shipment of 60 cartons of medicine boxes were delivered in
Santo Domingo on January 26. Each box contains enough essential
medicines and medical supplies to treat the routine ailments of about
1,000 adults and children.
• Two shipments are due to arrive in Santo Domingo today
(February 2). In total they contain 3,450 light-weight CWS blankets,
20,540 hygiene kits and 3,525 baby kits.
• A first aid clinic and emergency room has been located in the
Christian School of Parisien, in Haiti, some 8 kilometres from the
Haitian/DR border - about two hours from Port-
au-Prince.
• Food and supply distribution sites have
been established across the border through
Haitian churches and managed through
different Haitian non-profit organizations.
We continue to lift up the people of Haiti, all those
on the ground working for the recovery effort, and
all those who have offered their resources to aid
with the relief effort. Week of Compassion is
committed to Haiti for the long term. Once the
news cameras are gone and the celebrity
telethons are long forgotten, we will still be at work in Haiti. Thank you for
making that possible.”
A disaster coordination team, working on behalf of Action by Churches
Together has been formed and is on the ground in Haiti. They are
addressing needs including education, psychosocial needs of relief workers,
water and sanitation, further disaster preparedness, material aid, logistics,
communications and security. They are also:
• Distributing 20,000 litres of water per day, around three litres per
person, food, hygiene kits and baby kits.
• Providing hot meals and food items so they can cook their own
food. It is important that food is bought locally.
• Encouraging the use of plastic sheeting and local building
materials (poles, salvaged materials from destroyed buildings) to build
temporary shelters. Imported tents are costly, and of no benefit to the
local economy in Haiti. Tents are messy in the rainy season and not
comfortable.
• Providing food and assistance to the disabled population.
• Distributing a cash amount of 1000 gourdes ($A28) which is the
equivalent of the cost of a month’s food distribution per person. It will
carry out this in small groups of 200 households in order to maintain
security.
Tax-deductible donations (over $2) are being received direct to GMP or
online. To date over $90,000 has been receipted in gifts. We are again
humbled and very appreciative of the response from people to this need.

Yours in Christ

John Gilmore
Executive Director