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Writer's warning: this article acknowledges the existence of God.
For those who aren't majoring in History, here's the quick introduction to Haiti, courtesy of the CIA World Factbook:
"In the early 17th century, the French established a presence on Hispaniola. In 1697, Spain ceded to the French the western third of the island, which later became Haiti. The French colony, based on forestry and sugar-related industries, became one of the wealthiest in the Caribbean but only through the heavy importation of African slaves and considerable environmental degradation. In the late 18th century, Haiti's nearly half million slaves revolted under Toussaint L'ouverture. After a prolonged struggle, Haiti became the first black republic to declare independence in 1804. The poorest country [and also perceived as the most corrupt] in the Western Hemisphere , Haiti has been plagued by political violence for most of its history. After an armed rebellion led to the forced resignation and exile of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in February 2004, an interim government took office to organize new elections under the auspices of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH). Continued violence and technical delays prompted repeated postponements, but Haiti finally did inaugurate a democratically elected president and parliament in May of 2006." (https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ha.html, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corruption_Perceptions_Index)
So there it was.
I left for Haiti on January 8th. It was an arduous journey to get there (or so I thought), leaving in the early morning from Seattle, flying to Chicago, and then to Miami. Miami only offered a short reprieve (I think we spent more time trying to get to our hotel rooms than we did in them) before we had to be back at Miami's International Airport to catch our flight to Haiti. We landed in Port-au-Prince easily enough and then shuffled over to the regional airport (which shares the same tarmac and runway) where we caught our 45-minute flight to Port-de-Paix. An hour's drive by Toyota Land Cruiser (albeit at 10km/hr) and we found ourselves in Passe Catabois.
I was with a group of twelve, myself included. We are all part of Convergence, the young adult group (20's and 30's) from University Presbyterian Church. We range in age from 23 to 35 and only one of us is married. Our vocations range from engineer to office assistant and everything in between. Our mission was to serve with long term missionaries Bruce and Deb Robinson, working on projects they planned, primarily construction and electrical, at a school/church located 30 minutes away in the town of Foison.
Unfortunately, the first few days we were in Haiti it was raining and the roads, while technically drivable, were not ideal. Thus we had a change of plans, and our first of many lessons in being flexible. We ended up doing some small jobs around Bruce's workshop, sorting bolts, running electrical wire, fixing wheelbarrows, and playing with the local kids, among other things.
Tuesday, we were still at the workshop, letting the roads dry out. At 4:47 pm, we felt a rolling. Everyone looked at each other, mostly in confusion. A few seconds later, more rolling. Almost out of instinct, those that were inside headed to the door ways. I was at the front door, and decided that the best place, given the lackluster building codes, would be outside.
Bruce had mentioned that Haiti was home to frequent tremors and we all though this was just that. It would be another two hours before we learned of the actual devastation. The word came over dinner: Port-au-Prince had been hit by a huge earthquake, at least 7.0. Everything was flat.
Everyone was shocked; I hadn't even once considered that the epicenter could be Port-au-Prince.
There are a lot of questions about what can be done for Haiti. The first thing I tell everyone is to pray; I don't care what your religion is or even if you're an atheist or agnostic. Everyone should pray for the people of Haiti. Second, get out your checkbook and write a check. Send it to a reputable organization, such as the American Red Cross, World Concern, Yele Haiti, or UNICEF. There are several reputable organizations, and many can be found at http://www.google.com/relief/haitiearthquake/. If your currently working, you might also ask if your company does matching donations. You can also use your cell phone to make a donation, for example, by texting "HAITI" to 90999 to donate $10 to Red Cross relief efforts. Third, almost as important is what not to do. Do not start a food drive or a clothing drive or donate anything "in-kind." While your intentions are well meaning, you need to understand the additional cost of collecting, sorting, cleaning, packaging, shipping, and distributing. Donating money means they can get relief to the Haitians now, anything else will take weeks, at best, perhaps months to get to their final destination. Also, unless you speak Creole and extensive experience in disaster relief, don't plan on heading down to Haiti to help out right now. Wait for a couple of months, then coordinate with a church group or other organization to help the rebuilding process. This catastrophe isn't going to go away overnight and there will be plenty of opportunities for you to help in the future.
Andrew Ferguson is a 2009 Engineering - Electrical Specialty graduate of the Colorado School of Mines. He blogs regularly at http://AndrewFerguson.net, where you can also read more and see additional pictures about his adventure in Haiti.
For those who aren't majoring in History, here's the quick introduction to Haiti, courtesy of the CIA World Factbook:
"In the early 17th century, the French established a presence on Hispaniola. In 1697, Spain ceded to the French the western third of the island, which later became Haiti. The French colony, based on forestry and sugar-related industries, became one of the wealthiest in the Caribbean but only through the heavy importation of African slaves and considerable environmental degradation. In the late 18th century, Haiti's nearly half million slaves revolted under Toussaint L'ouverture. After a prolonged struggle, Haiti became the first black republic to declare independence in 1804. The poorest country [and also perceived as the most corrupt] in the Western Hemisphere , Haiti has been plagued by political violence for most of its history. After an armed rebellion led to the forced resignation and exile of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in February 2004, an interim government took office to organize new elections under the auspices of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH). Continued violence and technical delays prompted repeated postponements, but Haiti finally did inaugurate a democratically elected president and parliament in May of 2006." (https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ha.html, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corruption_Perceptions_Index)
So there it was.
I left for Haiti on January 8th. It was an arduous journey to get there (or so I thought), leaving in the early morning from Seattle, flying to Chicago, and then to Miami. Miami only offered a short reprieve (I think we spent more time trying to get to our hotel rooms than we did in them) before we had to be back at Miami's International Airport to catch our flight to Haiti. We landed in Port-au-Prince easily enough and then shuffled over to the regional airport (which shares the same tarmac and runway) where we caught our 45-minute flight to Port-de-Paix. An hour's drive by Toyota Land Cruiser (albeit at 10km/hr) and we found ourselves in Passe Catabois.
I was with a group of twelve, myself included. We are all part of Convergence, the young adult group (20's and 30's) from University Presbyterian Church. We range in age from 23 to 35 and only one of us is married. Our vocations range from engineer to office assistant and everything in between. Our mission was to serve with long term missionaries Bruce and Deb Robinson, working on projects they planned, primarily construction and electrical, at a school/church located 30 minutes away in the town of Foison.
Unfortunately, the first few days we were in Haiti it was raining and the roads, while technically drivable, were not ideal. Thus we had a change of plans, and our first of many lessons in being flexible. We ended up doing some small jobs around Bruce's workshop, sorting bolts, running electrical wire, fixing wheelbarrows, and playing with the local kids, among other things.
Tuesday, we were still at the workshop, letting the roads dry out. At 4:47 pm, we felt a rolling. Everyone looked at each other, mostly in confusion. A few seconds later, more rolling. Almost out of instinct, those that were inside headed to the door ways. I was at the front door, and decided that the best place, given the lackluster building codes, would be outside.
Bruce had mentioned that Haiti was home to frequent tremors and we all though this was just that. It would be another two hours before we learned of the actual devastation. The word came over dinner: Port-au-Prince had been hit by a huge earthquake, at least 7.0. Everything was flat.
Everyone was shocked; I hadn't even once considered that the epicenter could be Port-au-Prince.
There are a lot of questions about what can be done for Haiti. The first thing I tell everyone is to pray; I don't care what your religion is or even if you're an atheist or agnostic. Everyone should pray for the people of Haiti. Second, get out your checkbook and write a check. Send it to a reputable organization, such as the American Red Cross, World Concern, Yele Haiti, or UNICEF. There are several reputable organizations, and many can be found at http://www.google.com/relief/haitiearthquake/. If your currently working, you might also ask if your company does matching donations. You can also use your cell phone to make a donation, for example, by texting "HAITI" to 90999 to donate $10 to Red Cross relief efforts. Third, almost as important is what not to do. Do not start a food drive or a clothing drive or donate anything "in-kind." While your intentions are well meaning, you need to understand the additional cost of collecting, sorting, cleaning, packaging, shipping, and distributing. Donating money means they can get relief to the Haitians now, anything else will take weeks, at best, perhaps months to get to their final destination. Also, unless you speak Creole and extensive experience in disaster relief, don't plan on heading down to Haiti to help out right now. Wait for a couple of months, then coordinate with a church group or other organization to help the rebuilding process. This catastrophe isn't going to go away overnight and there will be plenty of opportunities for you to help in the future.
Andrew Ferguson is a 2009 Engineering - Electrical Specialty graduate of the Colorado School of Mines. He blogs regularly at http://AndrewFerguson.net, where you can also read more and see additional pictures about his adventure in Haiti.
Comments
Quote:
How long should we leave between these two? If God answers our prayers then there will be no need for the check, so how long is a reasonable length of time to allow Him to do his stuff before falling back on Plan B?
Full Disclosure: I believe prayer has power. According to Pascal's Wager I don't have anything to lose if it doesn't...