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Haiti Update 3-4-10
YEA TEAM – YEA GOD!!!!! We will begin distribution tomorrow as soon as possible – this is so awesome! (attached is a picture of the tents at Go-Ministries cargo center) This AM we went to Jacmel with food and three passengers (a missionary, his three year old daughter and a member of the Canadian military – we discussed hockey a little – very proud of Canada – we let it go after a few minutes – it was the grace filled thing to do). Then we went to Les Cayes and we went into the city as we were planning – the good news is that this city is returning to its normal state – as you will recall this is the city where Pierre Leger’s factory is located and where there is an economy and relative economic health. The city was not damaged by the earthquake, but last week there was a major flood from the rain (3 feet of water in much of the city) and it has been confirmed that 13 people died. While this is still unacceptable, it is a testimony to what a little economic health can do – only Les Cayes can endure such trauma with such little loss of life in Haiti. We also learned that the city’s population grew by 30% after the earthquake but that most people were “taken in” and as a result there is not a tent city of any size in Les Cayes (again we see what a small amount of economic prosperity can do). While in Les Cayes we visited with a well know Haitian surgeon to try and get an assessment of the medical needs in the city and he referred us to another physician who is the head of a hospital and all Haitian medical services in the southern region. This physician agreed to see us and when we asked him if he could use support – he said YES, any kind of medical help would be appreciated and he then provided us with a list of needed supplies. Through these meetings we realized that the medical needs from the earthquake are still overwhelming as the healing process is just beginning – we will unpack this information further upon our return. We gave this doctor about 10 tents as he knew of where there was need in Les Cayes and we knew he would get them to the truly needy. We returned to Santiago and transported food to Pignon, which is about 50 miles south of Cap Haitian in the north. This was a grass runway but no where near as exciting as Port-de-Paix. We saw a similar situation in Pignon in that refugees had overtaxed the existing systems and while they were behind Les Cayes in solving their issues clearly they would get back to their “terrible” normal soon. Today, it became clear that the center of the relief issue is focused on shelter for residents of Port-au-Prince as requests for tents continue to pour into Go-Ministries for Port-au-Prince to Jacmel. The outlying communities are beginning to adjust to their new reality – Haitians are amazingly resilient. Tomorrow we are going to Port-au-Prince and hope to travel into the city to see Dr. Morquette at King’s hospital and to talk with Pierre Leger. Believe it or not, Pastor Jeanty still wants to do the Leadership Summit in Haiti – we will discuss this with him. Love you all and thank you for your prayers – together we are making a difference – thank you Lord for the privilege of serving you! Scott and Pastor Dennis
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FIRST OF ALL – THE TENTS ARRIVED IN SANTIAGO TODAY!!!!!