Slideshow: On the Ground in Haiti [Watch]
Audio: A Message From Charles Sandefur in Haiti
[Listen]
See what we're doing in Haiti right now:
ADRA Delivers More than 10 Million Liters of Water in Haiti Since Quake
ADRA Completes Registration of Displaced Haitians at Temporary Camp
Haiti: ADRA Gives Earthquake Survivors a Real Shot in the Arm
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ADRA Efforts Continue in Haiti
of food. ADRA is currently distributing food to
50,000 families in the Carrefour area.
Two months have passed since Haiti was devastated by a 7.0 earthquake, leaving more than 220,000 people dead and nearly a million homeless. ADRA continues to bring help to Haiti as the country gradually shifts from a focus on emergency relief to long-term development.
ADRA is responsible for an internally displaced persons (IDP) camp on the campus of the Adventist University in Carrefour, just outside the capital of Port-au-Prince. The camp is home to 20,000 Haitians who are living in tents and makeshift shelters because they simply have nowhere to go. ADRA has provided clean water and food for the camp since immediately after the earthquake. A health clinic provides medical care to the camp’s residents, and 80 latrines help provide sanitation and reduce the risk of disease in the camp. An ADRA psychosocial program is also giving the camp’s children an opportunity to play, interact, and begin dealing with their emotional pain.
ADRA is taking part in a massive food distribution aimed at feeding approximately 300,000 people. As a partner of the World Food Programme (WFP) ADRA is the primary food distributer for the Carrefour region and is providing 1,296 metric tons of rice, corn-soy blend, beans, vegetable oil, and salt — the second largest allocation of food given to an aid organization in Haiti.
Every day during the food distributions, women line up to receive their allotment of food. Kati, was one of those women. "I’m a university professor, but now I’m sleeping on the street outside my home. My home is cracked all down the walls and I’m afraid to go back inside," she explained. "My life is very difficult now on the street. It is cold at night and I don’t know how I will ever get another home. I have been eating anything I can find or what people hand to me." After receiving her food from ADRA she seemed more optimistic, "I feel very happy. I know I have a lot of rice to eat and can share with my family and friends." Kati’s home is lost, her food supply is depleted, and the remains of one of her best friends is lost somewhere within her crushed city. Her loss is shared by hundreds of thousands more who have suffered through this tragedy.
Your gift can provide food for people like Kati whose lives have been shattered by this tragedy.
and friend in the earth-
quake, but he is still
helping ADRA provide
clean water for displaced
Haitians. Since the earth-
quake, he has helped
ADRA and partner Global
Medic distribute 5 million
liters of purified water.
Twenty-six year-old Romulus was crowded around a computer with three friends when the quake hit. One friend dove under the bed, another ran outside, and the one next to Romulus remained where he was. Romulus ran outside, then quickly back in to stand by a beam of the house. "I saw the house crack open and split in half," he recalled. "Chunks of the wall and ceiling fell all around me, trapping my legs," he gestured as he explained. "Then a final slab of cement fell on my back. I couldn’t move!" Minutes, which seemed like hours, ticked by before four men lifted the rubble around him to free him. Stepping to safety, he was relieved to see two of his friends. Suddenly the relief vanished. "I saw my friend, my friend I’ve had since birth, my friend who was just next to me moments before." That friend now lay crushed by the shattered home. "I didn’t want to believe he was dead; but when I looked at him, I knew," he said, still shaking his head in disbelief. "Later I found out two women in the first floor of the house also died."
Despite his own injuries, the loss of his friend, and the destruction of his community, Romulus showed up at the ADRA office just days after the quake ready to help. "If there’s something that needs to be done that I can do, I’ll do it," he said. Putting all personal plans aside, he joined ADRA partner GlobalMedic in purifying drinking water. He’s been working seven days a week ever since. He’s taught more than 45 local young people how to operate water purification machines, monitor their usage, and provide maintenance when needed. Because Romulus looked past his own needs, he and the many other ADRA volunteers have now provided more than 5 million liters of clean water for their fellow Haitians throughout Port-au-Prince!
Haitians like Romulus are doing all they can. Won’t you join them in supporting ADRA?
ADRA is currently planning to build transitional shelters to begin moving the IDPs from the camp and into more permanent housing. Shelter in the camp continues to be a challenge, particularly because the rainy season has started. Torrential rains and flooding have also increased the risk for disease, particularly malaria.
In the coming months, the need in Haiti will not diminish. Some experts are estimating it may take 10 years before Haiti has recovered. ADRA is dedicated to helping the Haitian people survive during this difficult time, and to showing them the love and care that Christ asks of us. You can help us fulfill this mission. Your support makes our work possible, and every dollar counts. Please consider a gift today, and together we can give the Haitian people a future to hope for.
ADRA is not accepting volunteers for Haiti at this time.
