HAITI: God is using your gifts
More than two years after an earthquake devastated Haiti, God continues to use Samaritan’s Purse to shine a light in the darkest parts of this impoverished Caribbean nation.
Thanks to the generosity of our donors, we are providing assistance to Haitians in four ways:
Shoe box gifts and the Good News:
Operation Christmas Child is bringing gift-filled shoe boxes—and opportunities to tell the Good News of Jesus Christ—to impoverished Haitian children and their families. In 2010, 50,000 Canadian shoe boxes were collected. In 2011, 75,000 shoe boxes were committed from Canada.
Many of the children receiving these boxes—often the first gifts they will have ever received—will participate in The Greatest Journey. It is our voluntary 12-week discipleship program that God has used, along with other discipleship material, to bring millions of people around the world to faith in Christ. In 2010, 27,684 Haitian children made decisions for Christ after participating in The Greatest Journey.
Hygiene and safe water:
Nearly 40 communities across Haiti are participating in a unique water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) initiative. While Samaritan’s Purse is drilling wells and building latrines and shower houses, a bank account has been established for each community to contribute $200 in seed funding. That funding is used by a local water committee to maintain these new facilities and do small projects.
In a country with an estimated per-capita income of just $100 per month, even an investment of a few dollars by the aid recipients is significant. Yet communities have worked together to collect precious dollars from each household, solidifying local ownership of the WASH initiative. Hygiene promotion and messages about the saving power of Jesus Christ are being incorporated into these projects.
Medical care:
Up to 200 Haitians are being treated daily at the Samaritan’s Purse-funded clinic in the Cité Soleil district of Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince. It is the only free medical facility in the largest and most destitute slum in the Western Hemisphere.
Malaria, pneumonia, chronic high blood pressure, asthma, and acid reflux are among the most common ailments requiring treatment, says clinic director Linda Mobula. “The cholera outbreak is still ongoing, even though the numbers aren’t as high as before,” she added. “There are still communities having problems.”
Linda and her full-time staff of 10 (often augmented by volunteer Samaritan’s Purse doctors, nurses, and therapists from Canada and other countries) have the misfortune of seeing the darkest side of Cité Soleil: physical and sexual violence against women and children.
This violence results in physical and emotional trauma, sexually transmitted diseases, and infections.
In response, our clinic is addressing not only patients’ physical needs, but their spiritual and emotional needs. The impact? In 18 months, more than 8,000 Haitians have come to faith in Christ at the clinic, and a nearby church, on whose land the clinic is built, is discipling these new believers. We praise God for the opportunity to help point people to Christ.
Read about our work in fighting the cholera epidemic.
Helping mothers and children:
Our Maternal and Child Health and Nutrition Program has helped thousands of pregnant women and mothers of children younger than two years old since the earthquake. Through this program, community health workers have been trained to provide education in prenatal and postnatal care, nutrition, and Biblical parenting.
The program also includes care to pregnant women and immunizing children younger than five years old in three regions. Over the next two years, as many as 16,000 pregnant women and mothers of children under two as well as 13,800 children younger than five will be included in the initiative.
Canadian volunteers and staff can make a difference:
The skill and passion of caring Canadian Christians are still needed in Haiti. Here’s how you can help:
Medical: The Cité Soleil clinic depends on assistance from volunteer Christian doctors and nurses. Two-week stays are available, with on-site food, housing, and transportation provided. All volunteers and contract employees will receive free food and accommodations. To respond to these needs, please email info@samaritan.ca.
What were we doing one year after the Haiti earthquake?
See videos of our work in Haiti.
Ways You Can Help
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Pray
Pray for the continuing rebuilding of Haiti and for the spiritual and physical needs of people who are still recovering from losing homes and loved ones in the 2010 earthquake. |  | GiveHelp Samaritan’s Purse continue to bring aid to people and places still recovering from the earthquake and cholera outbreak. Donate Here.
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