Latest Haiti Update

UPDATE – Friday, January 15th

 

Yesterday, we were able receive some fragmented information from our friends in Haiti.  The information is horrifying, and the need is overwhelming.  Pastor Jeanty informs us that at the STEP seminary there are 2000 refugees.  The airport at Jacmel is a refugee camp and unusable.  Late yesterday we received a report that  a hospital in Les Cayes collapsed from aftershocks.  Les Cayes is Haiti’s 3rd largest city.   This is the first report we have heard from a location extending to the west of the epicenter.

 

One of the things that we believe may be misleading is the news reports.  Watching the reports we recognize the locations and virtually everything that is “on-the-ground” reporting is within  a short distance of the Port-au-Prince airport.  Our concern is that this is a long way from the epicenter of the earthquake.  We found this Map and all that we are seeing reported is close to the star at Port-au-Prince.  As you can see the epicenter and strongest shock waves are to the south and west.  Most of these areas are as heavily populated or even more populated than the areas around the airport.

 

The logistical difficulty that the rescue effort faces is unimaginable.  The airport has one runway without any taxiways and the tarmac is much smaller than the Providence airport tarmac.  The shipping port in Port-au-Prince can only accommodate Caribbean style freighters.  We anticipate that the aircraft carrier Carl Vinson will serve as a command and control center for the effort and a large helicopter contingency will be deployed.  But the challenge of getting to the earthquake victims will be overwhelming as the roads, that by and large were barely passable before the earthquake, must be completely impassible today.

 

An additional problem that we have often realized in our trips to Port-au-Prince is the lack of maps of the road.  We heard that there is an effort to use Google earth to create maps of where roads existed so that rescue vehicles would know how to travel around the city or at least know where roads should be.   There is a minimal amount of heavy equipment in Haiti so getting equipment into the country and repairing roads will be a necessity.  There almost always is a shortage of gasoline in the country so getting fuel to run the vehicles also will need to be a priority just to reach earth quake victims

 

We are beginning to envision the rescue effort in two stages.  Stage one is what we are thinking of as trying to keep people alive.  This is what is now underway by the US government and many other countries.  We celebrate the efforts of ministries like “Samaritans Purse” that had the means to add to the government effort by flying in water purification systems and other essentials.  During this phase (which we think could last several weeks) we are trying to establish better contacts with our friends and determine if there is a clear need that we can address.  If we identify such a need we are prepared to load up the plane that we have access to and fly (600 lbs) into Haiti providing we can hand the goods to them for distribution.  Hopefully the possibility of this will become clear over the next few days.

 

When the rescue effort reaches Stage 2 we expect to see some stabilization of life but a total destruction of community.  It is our hope that pastors will have connected with the members of their churches and that they are beginning to reform community.  We hope to be able to work with our friends who are well connected to local pastors (such as the country director for Compassion International) and identify the pastors most pressing needs.  We will then determine what we can do to help them meet those needs.

 

This rescue effort will extend for months and will continue long after it drops away from the news cycles – it is important that we take a long term perspective of what is happening.  We believe that properly lead and managed this disaster could become the foundation for the redemption of Haiti as they are now a part of the global conversation.

 

This Sunday we will be focusing on Haiti and will, of course, take an offering for disaster relief.  As others may want to support our efforts there is a means to contribute on our website at

Hope in Action - Haiti Relief.  (Visa or MasterCard only please).

 

Today our prayer should be for those in Haiti who are still alive, that they will quickly receive the help that they need.  Also we need to pray for the rescue effort that it will be well lead and effective.  God, please help the people of Haiti.