Haiti (MNN) — The number of people living in tent cities in Haiti is down from one million, to around 600,000. However, it's not because the needs are being met. It's because health clinics and water distribution ran out, landowners and mayors illegally evicted residents, or because they gave up hope that aid might reach them. These "cities" have also become places of victimization and abuse.
Greg Yoder with Christian World Outreach says tent cities are a high priority with their Feminine Training Center. "The tent cities are an unsafe place. There are rapes and that kind of thing going on. The Feminine Training Center has always been about helping women have dignity and self worth in that county and being able to help support their families."
The program was launched almost a year ago with 24 ladies. That was followed by another class of 29, and now a third class of 30. Yoder says while the goal is to teach them a trade or craft to help earn a living for their families, it's doing more than that. "We do share the Gospel with these ladies. Many come from a hard background. By the time the program was over in the first two classes, many of the ladies had accepted Christ as their Savior."
That's just the beginning. Yoder adds, "We've assigned them a kind of 'godmother' — a lady who comes alongside these [new believers] and checks up on them, so there is some follow-up going on."
With 600,000 people still in tent cities, there's a huge need for more funding for this program. Yoder says it's a great investment. "Right now it costs $5 a day. That covers the ladies' supplies and a meal. They go [to class] four days a week for five months."
Your support of $400 today will help a woman in need in a Haitian tent city not only learn a trade like cooking, sewing, or other ways to earn a living, but it will make it possible for that woman to hear the Gospel.
If you'd like to sponsor a woman in need, click here. When you do, click the 'Haiti FTC' drop-down item.
