The sun shines dimly through the Samaritan’s Purse tarp wrapped
securely around Jean’s shelter, casting a pale blue glow over him and his humble
possessions. Carefully placed mirrors, hanging plastic flowers and folded clothes
occupy the space.
Jean Wilneo lives in Titanyen 1, a shelter community of Samaritan’s Purse. It is
obvious that Jean and his wife take pride in their home. He stands grateful in his
shelter as he shares his story.
“The earthquake broke my house down. Everything, gone in less than a minute. This
is what we have now,” he says, looking around him.
Jean steps outside and moves his hand out in front of him, pointing to the working
latrines lining the community’s boundaries.
“They asked me to dig the latrines and clean the land. I wanted to help so that
I could move into this place and help it get started. I dug all the latrines you
see here. It was hard labor,” he shares as he looks away humbly. “But God gave me
strength.”
He steps back into his shelter, pulling back a translucent white satin sheet that
covers the doorway. His strong and weathered hands show the toil of his work, hours
of digging, moving dirt and lifting plastic buckets to build the latrines. He begins
to share about the earthquake.
“I never knew about earthquakes, really. It was the first time I had seen something
like that you know. We were very sad and so scared… we are not used to seeing these
sorts of things. And even now, we are not comfortable,” he says as his eyes shift
to the floor. “We still think something like this will happen again. It’s hard to
sleep at night. But Samaritan’s Purse has been a big help to the people of Haiti.
These shelters, they are just one of the many things you see that has the name of
Samaritan’s Purse on it. And we know we are going to be okay,” he says, nodding
and looking away as his voice trails off.
Jean summons his wife to come inside the shelter. She is sitting on a small wooden
chair, washing a few scattered dishes in her steel wash bin. She shyly smiles as
she stands beside him.
“I have two kids and a wife – this is my wife. My kids are playing somewhere perhaps.
Now they will at least have shelter. I am trying hard to provide for them.” Jean
places his arm around his wife and smiles at her. “This is such a good thing. We
didn’t know Samaritan’s Purse built things like this here. And now we pray often
that God will give Samaritan’s Purse more so they can do even more for the Haitian
People. Bless you for helping me and my family, with what little we have.”