Haiti (MNN) ― Mission Network News' Greg Yoder has returned home from Port-au-Prince. He describes how the quake inspired a generosity born of poverty.
Almost immediately after the quake struck, Compassion International launched into action.
"Aid came even as the aftershocks jolted survivors, but it wasn't coming through the channels you might expect."
According to Yoder, the first round of help came from the Dominican Republic Compassion project participants. Logistics manager Ken Terry says they collected enough items to help 9,000 people, or 1800 families.
Those who have nothing know how critical food, water, clothing, and shelter become in the hours following this kind of disaster. Those who have received help to escape the death grasp of poverty know it better than most.
Terry was humbled and grateful by the response of Dominican Republic Compassion. "It was totally spontaneous. They weren't asked to assist; they just decided that they were going to do that and shipped it in."
Because of their longstanding presence in the region, Compassion is shipping almost all of their aid through the Dominican Republic; in this way, they're avoiding the well-known "bottleneck" at the Port-au-Prince airport.
Terry explains, "Although it's slow through the border and the roads, the aid is able to flow freely. The Dominican Republic airport is actually less congested, so the only delay that we have is the travel distance from Santo Domingo to Port-au-Prince and then distributing it again."
Compassion International has a goal of helping 75,000 people through their "Help Haiti with Compassion" campaign; more importantly, they want to share Christ. You can help. A disaster of this proportion means rebuilding a nation. The process will take years, and funding is needed desperately. You can help. Click here for details.
