Our photos cannot capture the devastation our Haitian neighbors feel…

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Our photos cannot capture the devastation our Haitian neighbors feel. Fearful of collapsing homes, they sleep in the streets, many with no tents. Thursday it rained. Tents are still badly needed. Even after a month, the home in which we stayed has no electricity; huge lines of people three and four blocks long line up for a bag of rice; dozens of women with five gallon pails on their head stride back to their families with water for the day.

If hope is to gain traction in Haiti it’s up to folks like you and me. Conditions were terrible before the earthquake. The media frenzy will soon dissipate. Then what?

Travel is still not easy. A 1941 vintage DC-3 cracking along at 225 mile per hour top speeds made our 16 ½ hour trip possible. With daylight slicing through the edges of the closed cargo door, I felt like Indiana Jones.

I came to Haiti to encourage and verify avenues to distribute your funds that come from the $2 million matching grant through Haiti Renewal Fund. (Over a million dollars arrived so far!) We came away imminently impressed with Water Missions International, which served Haiti long before the quake.

They have 40 of their water purification units in place. The partners they work with such as Samaritan’s Purse sang their praises. Your dollars are at work and also provide 40,000 meals of beans and rice to two ministries serving children. One of these ministries addresses the needs of children literally enslaved as domestic servants.

Less than a mile from where I slept, a tent city of 35,000 people sprang up on Haiti’s best golf course. Bed sheets, blankets and blue plastic tarps served as shelter. Your Haiti Renewal Fund is working on final details with an Atlanta church to get tents to more of the 700,000 people without shelter.

Defeat and dejectedness looms in the people of Haiti with a sense of hope struggling to emerge. With offices flattened and no jobs there is no place for people to go. Schools are flattened. During my visit, three days of official mourning began; songs soared from the crowds and others gathered along makeshift street side churches.

Women in their 70’s pluck huge rocks with their ungloved bare hands from the crumbled Episcopal Cathedral, piling them to await the rebuilding process. Frescos dating back to its 1924 construction date still remain, as the rector ponders in desperation, “How do we preserve them?”

Yet God is always at work, connecting random people serving in His name. That night at dinner I sat with three strangers from the U.S. who had come to help. “What do you do?” I asked, “We are specialists in restoration” they responded. Wow! Adding to the “coincidence” was the emblem on one of the men’s ball cap --- the emblem of the Episcopal Church! The next morning he and the rector connected.

A heartwarming visit with two U.S. Air Force men who dispatched planes carrying passengers and other cargo showed me how the entire world responded. Nicaraguans brought beans, Cubans brought medical supplies, Iranians flew in mattresses, Venezuela, Brazil, Canada, Spain ----- Everyone came ----- putting aside deep differences to bond together in a spirit of selflessness and brotherhood to help those who are hurting so badly. FedEx, who played a huge role in Katrina recovery, continues with incredible support of getting key supplies to Haiti.

Water Missions International was particularly grateful when a FedEx manager facilitated a special, expedited shipment for their water treatment systems and hand delivered it to their home at 10 pm! FedEx transported component parts from Denmark and California all without charge. Now, when I use FedEx, I can feel I also support clean water in Haiti.

It was exciting to learn of the hundreds of Christian missionary groups that were active before the quake and which now increase their commitment for the long haul. As a Christian, I’m humbled to see so many serving as Christ’s hands and feet. As an American, I’m inspired to see the amazing role private citizens and corporations play in responding to disaster --- men and women heeding the call, not out of duty or obligation, but with a heart of compassion. America is good. I am proud to be an American!

Partner with us at HaitiRenewal.org---Lynn and I match your donations (up to $2 million).

God Bless,

Foster (<:)*******

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