ProVision Foundation in cooperation with Cedar Springs Presbyterian Church has established a Haiti Relief Fund which will involve funding the organizations listed to the right and will balance immediate relief and ongoing development funding as more assessment and strategy is solidified. Additional trusted organizations may be included in the distribution of this fund if deemed appropriate and helpful to the overall effort. Cedar Springs Presbyterian Church is handling the gifts for this fund.

Monday, March 8, 2010

Update: Harvest Field Ministries #20

Brian has been back on the ground in Haiti since last Friday. Sorry for the shortage of updates, but Brian's days are long and sometimes it's just too hard physically and emotionally to put these things in an e-mail. For those of you who have been to Haiti, you know that it takes a while to process what you're seeing and experiencing. Also, remember that what Brian is relaying through these updates is only a small, small percentage of what he is seeing and what the Haitian people are going through. While American media outlets have moved onto new things, there is still a need for help in Haiti. Don't forget the people of Haiti.

Here are Brian's words from last night...


The last couple of days in Haiti have been primarily medical in nature. We provided a clinic at the church in Fond Parisien, we helped receive and unload a big shipment of medical equipment from Remote Area Medical that is for our friends at the Bon Samaritan Hospital (www.chadasha.org).

We are still waiting on our container that is stuck in customs. Praying it'll get released any day so we can begin getting all the tarps, tents, food, water, medicine, etc out of the container and into the arms of Haitians who need it.

Today, after leaving church, we were driving through a very poor area and there was a collapsed house and there stood around it at least 20 official looking people in hard hats and nice clothes, also some American military, some representatives from a couple large relief organizations, the entire area flagged off, while a big backhoe was putting debris into a shiny new dump truck. Of course all this made good free entertainment so dozens of Haitians were gathered around watching the event too. I asked who lived there and was informed an American lived there and had died in the collapse. I pulled over and watched them for a few minutes and it just got me thinking (which can be a dangerous thing, especially when I'm tired). All that fanfare and expense to get this American body out of the rubble; while thousands (yes thousands) of Haitian bodies still lie buried under tons of cement and rebar all through out the quake zone. There are no envoys of people going around to dig through rubble for those Haitian bodies. If they haven't had family come collect their corpse by now, then that probably means the entire family died, and where they lay under the buildings on Jan 12 will be their resting place; until a year or so from now when some UN bulldozer comes through and pushes the concrete (along with the decayed corpses) into the back of a dump truck. So as I'm watching this, the question that keeps coming to my mind is "where is the justice in this?" Don't get me wrong, if a family member of mine died in a foreign country I'd be doing whatever it took to get their body found and shipped home too. It's just I want to believe a Haitian life is as important as an American life and I think we would all agree to that. But when it comes to putting that into practice, it doesn't seem like the world agrees. Otherwise, would there be rotting corpses still under debris? Would there be kids with legs skinnier than my arms dying daily because they don't have anything to eat? Why is it acceptable for me to "get used to" the 9 year old little boy with no shoes and tattered rags for clothes coming out in traffic to wash my car window in hopes I'll give him a few pennies? 9 yrs old!? That is the same age as my son. Would I stand for it if a 9 yr old kid ran out in traffic in the states to beg for money? No way, none of us would. We'd pull over and ask him where his parents were and we'd take him to get help. But this happens multiple times daily while driving around Haiti and I realize sometimes I've grown cold to it. I don't know how to change this. Don't know what the solution is. I just know that justice seems to be very elusive in Haiti. Maybe it's hiding under some concrete debris somewhere...

Keep praying,
Brian

2 comments:

  1. Brian, I was personally a part of that container and will lift up its speedy release for you. The boxes are filled with equipment and such as well as a lot of LOVE and PRAYERS. We will pray for God to lift you on wings of eagles and renew your strength. Here's a favorite well known story I think is applicable:
    The Starfish Story
    Original Story by: Loren Eisley

    ... See More
    One day a man was walking along the beach when he noticed
    a boy picking something up and gently throwing it into the ocean.

    Approaching the boy, he asked, “What are you doing?”

    The youth replied, “Throwing starfish back into the ocean.
    The surf is up and the tide is going out. If I don’t throw them back, they’ll die.”

    “Son,” the man said, “don’t you realize there are miles and miles of beach and hundreds of starfish?
    You can’t make a difference!”

    After listening politely, the boy bent down, picked up another starfish,
    and threw it back into the surf. Then, smiling at the man, he said…”
    I made a difference for that one.”

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  2. Very enlightening piece, and thanks for all that you're doing in Haiti. At the GENESIS Network, our founder recently returned from a fact-finding trip to Haiti; we're currently doing a water filtration project and hope to do more there in the future. Check us out at http://www.thegenesisnetwork.org. Thanks.

    ReplyDelete