“The heavy rains, landslides, flooding, [are] a nightmare for disaster relief,” says Kate Michel, Global Communications & Fundraising Director at Radio 4VEH, a Trans World Radio (TWR) partner in Haiti.

Radio 4VEH is headquartered in Cap-Haïtien on the northern side of Haiti while new station 98.5 FM is located in Les Cayes, the center of the “quake zone.” It is reportedly the only station still on the air in Les Cayes. “We are broadcasting the latest news, the relief effort, as well as God’s Word,” Michel says.

(Photo courtesy of TWR)

“We know people just need to cling to the knowledge of who God is, His grace, and His peace, in these times.”

Follow Radio 4VEH on Facebook for regular updates. “We urge people to be praying for Haiti; for those who are trying to help; and for God’s hand of protection to be on the most vulnerable, today and in the days ahead,” Michel says.

“We know we’re often asking for prayer for Haiti, and sometimes it can seem like it’s never-ending. But trust me, we see God working miracles every day in Haiti.”

Send tangible help to Haiti through Radio 4VEH here. Currently, “the biggest need, apart from [rescue] efforts and medical help, is food and water,” Michel says.

Meeting tragedy with hope

As described here, Saturday’s earthquake occurred along the same fault lines as a 7.0-magnitude 2010 earthquake that left Port-au-Prince in shambles. That quake claimed more than 200,000 casualties, and estimated losses totaled $7.8 billion.

The fallout from this weekend’s disaster could rise to similar heights. “The whole of Haiti is affected [by the August 14 earthquake], even though the physical damage is located in the southwestern peninsula,” Michel says.

“Nearly every Haitian [and] Haitians living abroad are going through some of those traumatic reminders of the terrible earthquake in 2010.”

Pray for endurance as believers broadcast critical updates and the hope of Christ.
(Photo courtesy of Radio 4VEH)

A special trauma counseling program broadcast regularly by 4VEH helps Haitians deal with psychological fallout. “We spent a lot of time after the 2010 earthquake on helping people understand what trauma is, how people may react, and what kind of healing is possible,” Michel says, describing the program.

It’s an essential tool when difficult seasons like these stir painful flashbacks. Learn why earthquakes in Haiti are so catastrophic.

“The aftershocks are terrifying. Some of the aftershocks in the first 24 hours were very strong and [could] be felt miles and miles away, even on the north coast of Haiti, where our main broadcast center is,” Michel says.

Header image courtesy of Radio 4VEH.

Over 200,000 people lost their lives and 3.5 million lost their homes, OCHA reports. The total earthquake-related loss was estimated at $7.8 billion – more than 120% of Haiti’s 2009 gross domestic product. Billions of dollars of aid money poured into the tiny Caribbean nation, but questions surround the fate of those investments.

“Unfortunately, Haiti has made so little recovery progress.  More than 10 years after, we still see people… living under tents,” says Ricot St. Paulin, who oversees program support for Compassion International’s Haiti office.

(Photo courtesy of Compassion International)

“Things are even getting worse and worse… A lot of this is due to anger and frustration that the Haitian government’s response… [has] not helped at all.”

By comparison, Compassion Haiti is making steady gains.  Help release children and families from poverty in Jesus’ name.

Problems vs. progress

As previously noted, significant challenges haunt Haiti’s steps, keeping it mired in crippling poverty and despair. Drought, protests, and a widespread lack of daily essentials plagued Haiti in 2019 alone.

“Over the past few months, the political instability has [crippled] Haiti’s economic and social development, causing the level of inflation to reach about 20%,” St. Paulin says. “Not much has been done [in terms of earthquake recovery] but we stay hopeful that things will be changed.”

(Photo courtesy of Compassion International)

Three days after the 2010 quake, Wes Stafford – Compassion’s International’s president at the time – described the disaster’s impact on Haitian believers, Compassion’s church partners, and local staff.  For the next decade, Compassion staff faithfully walked with Haitian believers across every hill and through valley.

Learn more about Compassion’s progress here.

“Today, we are working alongside 350 church partners to bring hope and a future to more than 125,000 children and youth… we are moving forward,” St. Paulin says.

“We rose from the rubble; the ministry [is] getting stronger.”

From child sponsorship to micro-loans, Compassion applied 22 strategies to help the poorest Haitians recover their livelihoods. “One of the goals was to provide meals… by enabling [families] to have sustainable resources to feed their children on a regular basis,” St. Paulin says.

“I personally know parents that would not have found a way out without our interventions.”

People used Compassion’s micro-loans to start small businesses, St. Paulin explains. Today, “not only [are] they still running their businesses,” he says, “but they can supply all the needs of their families and provide jobs to others. This is an encouraging thing.”

How to help Haitians

By supporting Compassion’s work, you can help Haitians change their country’s future.

(Photo courtesy of Compassion International)

“Compassion has been in Haiti for 50 years and, with faithful and devoted people like our sponsors and donors, we have formed an army of men and women of God who are aware of the need for a better future for the next generation,” St. Paulin says.

“We are still calling for people to come alongside us so that we can continue to serve more children and to release them from poverty in Jesus’ name.”

Most importantly, pray. We’ve listed prompts alongside this article to get you started. “Six million Haitians live below the poverty line on less than $2 per day, and more than 2.5 million fall below the extreme poverty line,” St. Paulin says.

“There is still need in Haiti. We’ve done much, but we have still a long way to go.”

Header image courtesy of Compassion International.

The reviews are and always have been mixed. The U.N. has a deeper history in Haiti, but this latest chapter began in 2004. This mission, known by the acronym MINUSTAH, was meant to quell a rebellion that involved the resignation of then-president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide. NPR recalls several fronts to the stability — armed rebels, gang activity, and protests.

While these uproars were quieted, the U.N. peacekeepers brought other dangers with them. They were blamed for introducing cholera to the country, of which an epidemic was sparked after the earthquake in 2010. The death toll attributed to cholera is over 9,000.

Additionally, U.N. employees from various countries have been accused of several cases of sex crimes, even including a child prostitution ring.

(Photo courtesy of United Nations Photo via Flickr: https://flic.kr/p/9mfj2s).

We spoke with Eva DeHart of For Haiti with Love, a ministry in the northern part of the island, to get their take on the subject. A contact on the ground spoke with several Haitians, including a policeman and lawyer.

Generally, the people’s opinion was that it was a good thing the peacekeepers were leaving. Many Haitians believe it will be better for ‘Haiti to run Haiti’, rather than outsiders.

DeHart said the policeman did raise at least one concern regarding the change: “He said that the U.N. leaving should put something in place, like a military, because Haiti’s insecurities will be worse without a strong force in the country.”

According to the Los Angeles Times, precautions along this line include a gradual removal of peacekeepers, prolonged company of U.N. police, and eventually the training of Haitian police.

The attorney DeHart’s contact spoke to said one thing the U.N. did was make sure presidents served their full terms.

“Politics have been more stable with the U.N. there,” she explains.

(Photo courtesy of For Haiti with Love)

Regarding the ministry, DeHart believes the U.N. leaving will have about as much impact on them as they did while they were here. When asked if the peacekeepers helped solve corruption when supplies got stuck at the port, she says no — typically they couldn’t be found until an ordeal like that was over.

“I don’t expect us to be impacted nearly as much as the ministries that work in Port Au Prince and down south,” she continues.

And really, she says, we will just have to wait and see how things play out.

For Haiti with Love was established to demonstrate the love of Jesus and needs of the hurting wherever they can. This outreach has the ability to spread the Gospel of true healing and peace.

With that in mind, DeHart says we can pray this way:

“Pray that the Haitian people in general look at this as a good thing, and that they become eager to take responsibility for their own future instead of looking to someone else to solve their problems. Pray for their morale and just generally their courage to take a stand against evil and help their country get on its feet.”

(Image courtesy Compassion)

Haiti (MNN) — On January 12, 2010, a devastating 7.0-magnitude earthquake rocked the tiny Caribbean island and caused many Haitians to seek answers. Life as they knew it, for many, ended that fateful day.

But January 12, 2014 is a new chapter for Haiti, according to Compassion International.

Spokesman Tim Glenn says they marked the four-year anniversary of Haiti’s 2010 earthquake on Sunday with ten new multipurpose buildings. Construction may have taken a long time by Haiti standards, but for good reason.

“We had to bring in international experts to meet these international codes and make sure that the quality was better than anything else that was being built in Haiti,” Glenn explains.

“These buildings had to be high-quality and had to be able to withstand an earthquake in the future. [The] problem is that so much of the construction that’s in Haiti…they don’t know how to create or how to build buildings that are up to international code.”

This is one of the 10 multipurpose buildings recently rebuilt by Compassion.
(Image courtesy Tim Glenn)

The buildings aren’t just Child Development Centers for Compassion-sponsored kids, Glenn adds. These buildings will also act as schools, churches, and community centers for villages affected by the 2010 earthquake.

Compassion hopes to send a simple message about the Church, and by extension, the loving God they serve: “When disaster hits, go to the Church…. We want to enable the Church to be the response to those opportunities,” Glenn says.

By making sure the buildings are up to international code, “I think it sends the message that the Church demands quality; the Church demands excellence; and…the safest place in this country is for your kids to come to this church and be here, especially in the time of crisis.”

Funding for Compassion’s rebuilding efforts came from their General Disaster Relief Fund. Although the financial needs have been met, Glenn says many children still need sponsors.

(Photo courtesy Tim Glenn)

“There are kids who are in dire need of somebody to speak messages of hope into their lives right now,” he states.

“That’s one of the most beautiful things about being a sponsor with Compassion. You get to speak hope and love and peace and truth into the life of a child in poverty.”

Click here to sponsor a child in Haiti through Compassion.

Compassion is celebrating quake recovery efforts in Haiti.
(Image courtesy Compassion)

Haiti (CMP/MNN) — Sunday marks the 4-year anniversary of Haiti’s devastating earthquake. Compassion International will set a positive tone for the day by looking to the future.

They’re finishing ten building projects for church partners affected by the disaster. The buildings will serve as schools for local children and Compassion-assisted child development centers for children enrolled in Compassion’s holistic child development program.

“On a day that brings the solemn remembrance of an earthquake that took thousands of lives, countless homes, and the hope of a nation, we are so thankful to celebrate these solid new facilities,” said Mark Hanlon, Compassion International senior vice president of global marketing and engagement.

“While it hasn’t been easy, there has been incredible progress in Haiti as a result of the dedication and commitment of our field staff and church partners to the children we serve. I can’t think of a better way to honor the past than to open new schools and child development centers for the children: the future of Haiti.”

(Image courtesy Compassion)

Approximately 90% of children in Haiti attend private or church-run schools due to an unstable public school system. This allows Compassion church partners in Haiti to serve children who attend a school run by the local church as well as children enrolled in Compassion’s holistic child development program.

An estimated 22,500 children will benefit from these building projects. Compassion’s holistic care meets each child’s physical needs and introduces the Gospel.

Pray that the projects bring hope to Haiti’s people.

(Image courtesy Compassion)

In addition to the 10 completed church building projects, Compassion has 9 church projects under construction with another 11 slated for construction within the next year. While relief and recovery efforts are far from complete, Compassion is joining its church partners on Sunday to celebrate the progress made.

You can learn more about Compassion’s work in Haiti here.

But nearly four years later, Haiti’s tent cities are still standing.

(Image courtesy Starfysh)

“One of the horrible consequences of the earthquake in 2010 was that people lost their homes,” says Starfysh founder Dr. Steve Edmondson. “If they survived that earthquake, they fled their homes to live in places that wouldn’t fall down on them.”

Around 1.5 million people abandoned the rubble of their former homesteads and set up shelters using whatever material they could find: towels, clothing, branches, etc. These communities soon became widely known as “tent cities.”

Edmondson met the inhabitants of one tent city situated atop a hill on the island of La Gonave in 2010. He was helping out at La Gonave’s Wesleyan hospital a few weeks after the earthquake struck.

“They were tents of sticks and clothing and things that would semi-stop the rain from falling on them at night,” Edmondson says, describing the shelters. “Starfysh generated a little money, and we sent tarps up there.”

Fast-forward nearly four years, and nothing has changed. Edmondson made this observation during a recent visit to La Gonave.

“It moved me in a lot of ways,” he states. “One was just pity and the natural emotion. One was a little, frankly, disgust — why would they still be there four years after?”

Edmondson pursued answers to this question by taking a trip up the hillside to the settlement which houses nearly 150 families.

“I got there at daybreak; I wanted to see everybody there before they took off, doing whatever they do,” says the Michigan doctor. “People were very gracious with me; they invited me inside their little homes.”

As he visited with people, he asked the questions haunting his heart: Why not move? Why not go further down the mountain, where life is a little easier?

Edmondson visits with one of the families in La Gonave’s tent city.
(Image courtesy Starfysh)

“They just looked blankly into my eyes and didn’t know how to answer that question. They feel so stuck because they have nowhere to go,” Edmondson recalls.

“What do you do? What do you say to somebody like that?” he asks. “I guess I relearned, I was reminded, how difficult it is.”

Edmondson says he’s also reminded of the stark contrast between his life and the life of those Starfysh is serving.

“While I…get up and make my coffee and head off down the highway to work, they are waking up after having been rained on during the night; the floor of their little 8×10 tent is wet dirt,” says Edmondson.

Tent cities aren’t exclusive to La Gonave, a small island off of Haiti’s mainland and the primary focus of Starfysh.

There are approximately a quarter of a million “people in Haiti still living in camps like this,” says Edmondson. “It just seems so wrong, and I feel so helpless, [not] knowing what to do.

But, “it starts by just showing up, and seeing what happens from there,” he concludes.

Finding answers

How can Starfysh help the Haitians who live in this hilltop tent city?

“That’s the question of the hour,” Edmondson observes. “It’s obviously not easy; otherwise they wouldn’t still be there.

“We can talk about long-term solutions, how [we can] make this never happen again, etc. But these people are waking up today without clean water.”

During his tour of the tent city, Edmondson learned residents must trek a mile down the hill to draw water from a public fountain.

“That water is filthy, dirty, and stinks,” he says. As a result, many have cholera, and many are dying from this curable and fully-preventable ailment.

Clean water is a simple solution to the disease killing thousands of Haitians each year.
(Image courtesy Starfysh)

Since the epidemic started in October 2010, the World Health Organization (WHO) says there have been 692,098 cholera cases, of which 8,470 patients died. There has been an average of 1,120 cholera cases and 9 deaths per week in 2013.

A lack of bleach and medical professionals are only making the problem worse in La Gonave. When people from the tent city suspect they have cholera, they visit the settlement’s sole medical center for diagnosis.

“There was a young man who said he was a doctor, but he wasn’t. He was a student of some sort,” says Edmondson. “[He] would give oral rehydration solutions but not have a drop of Clorox bleach there; that is the immediate solution to clean a bucket of water.”

Common household bleach, such as Clorox, contains a chlorine compound that will disinfect water. Relief teams responding to a natural disaster will often hand out Clorox packets to survivors so they can kill the bacteria in unclean water.

Edmondson immediately called for 10 gallons of Clorox bleach to be brought from the Starfysh ministry center to this makeshift medical tent. It’s a temporary fix, and Edmondson thinks personal water filters are the next step toward a permanent solution.

“That would be pretty easy to do, and I’ve already made some phone calls to hopefully make that happen next month,” he says.

Sustainable solutions

Starfyshʼs singular mission is to bring holistic, sustainable transformation to La Gonave. As Edmondson and La Gonave team members formulate a sustainable plan for getting clean water to the hilltop community, they also grapple with immediate needs.

“There’s an ongoing tension…between dealing with the immediate situation and thinking about longer-term solutions,” notes Edmondson.

“We can’t ignore people who are dying today…just because we’re too busy creating the structures for tomorrow.”

The battle never stops in La Gonave.

The needs in La Gonave are never-ending.
(Image courtesy Starfysh)

“The needs are so great, and they’re not theoretical: they’re real,” states Edmondson. “The little kids rub their bellies and have their hands out, saying they’re hungry. It’s an all-day struggle with balancing the immediate needs with the longer-term solutions.

“I think we’re compelled to respond to the now and to the immediate, because that’s where God’s love is made plainest.”

Learn more about Starfysh’s sustainable solutions.

Mackenzie Howell (7) wrote ‘Leila’s Big Difference’ to help children in Haiti, and friend Jace Theriot (9) illustrated it. (Image courtesy BGR)

Two years ago at Langham Elementary School in Nederland, Texas, five year-old Mackenzie Howell was deeply moved by a children’s documentary about the 2010 earthquake. She desperately wanted to help kids in Haiti who, in her words, “had lost their moms, their dads, their homes and their schools.”

But, she faced a big challenge: what could a little girl do to tackle such a huge problem?

With childlike faith and the courage inherent to a five year-old heart, Howell faced the challenge head-on. She sold homemade crafts and cookies to raise funds for a Baptist Global Response (BGR) school project in Haiti.

Now, at age seven, she’s helping the children of Haiti once again.

With the help of her mom, grandmother and friend, nine year-old Jace Theriot, Howell wrote “Leila’s Big Difference.” Her family had 100 copies of the book printed, and Howell set a goal of raising $500 to help children in Haiti.

So far, she’s surpassed that goal by at least $1,500.

A believer in a nearby town heard about Howell’s book and bought one for every child in their Vacation Bible School, which was already planning to focus on the needs in Haiti. Howell and Theriot were invited to read their story at the VBS.

“Mack and Jace were nervous to speak in front of almost 100 people,” says Howell’s mother, Alison. “But they did great!”

The initial print run of 100 books led to second run of 100. Those also went quickly and another 200 were ordered. As of July 30, 2013, Howell had sold nearly 400 copies of “Leila’s Big Difference.”

The proceeds, over $2,000, will support BGR’s follow-up work from the 2010 earthquake.

“This has been a wonderful experience. It is so exciting to see how God is moving!” Alison says. “Our goal is to bring Mackenzie to Haiti during the summer of 2015. Until that time, we will pray and give!”

Pray more workers will rise up with a heart like Mackenzie’s. Pray her efforts will allow children in Haiti to hear about their Savior.

You can order a copy of “Leila’s Big Difference” by clicking here.

Two years ago at Langham Elementary School in Nederland, Texas, five year-old Mackenzie Howell was deeply moved by a children's documentary about the 2010 earthquake. She desperately wanted to help kids in Haiti who, in her words, "had lost their moms, their dads, their homes, and their schools."

But she faced a big challenge: what could a little girl do to tackle such a huge problem?

With childlike faith and the courage inherent to a five-year-old heart, Howell faced the challenge head-on. She sold homemade crafts and cookies to raise funds for a Baptist Global Response (BGR) school project in Haiti.

Now, at age seven, she's helping the children of Haiti once again.

With the help of her mom, grandmother, and friend nine-year-old Jace Theriot, Howell wrote "Leila's Big Difference." Her family had 100 copies of the book printed, and Howell set a goal of raising $500 to help children in Haiti.

So far, she's surpassed that goal by at least $1,500.

A believer in a nearby town heard about Howell's book and bought one for every child in their Vacation Bible School, which was already planning to focus on the needs in Haiti. Howell and Theriot were invited to read their story at the VBS.

"Mack and Jace were nervous to speak in front of almost 100 people," says Howell's mother, Alison. "But they did great!"

The initial print run of 100 books led to a second run of 100. Those also went quickly, and another 200 were ordered. As of July 30, 2013, Howell had sold nearly 400 copies of "Leila's Big Difference."

The proceeds, over $2,000, will support BGR's follow-up work from the 2010 earthquake.

"This has been a wonderful experience. It is so exciting to see how God is moving!" Alison says. "Our goal is to bring Mackenzie to Haiti during the summer of 2015. Until that time, we will pray and give!"

Pray that more workers will rise up with a heart like Mackenzie's. Pray that her efforts will allow children in Haiti to hear about their Savior.

You can order a copy of "Leila's Big Difference" by clicking here.

"If you are skilled in block laying, we would love to have you come on our trips," says Howie Hooper with Orphan's Heart. The international arm of the Florida Baptist Children's Home is sending construction teams to Haiti in February and March. Their focus is finishing Phase One of a new orphanage in Bon Repos.

On January 12, 2010, a 7.0-magnitude earthquake destroyed much of Port-au-Prince, including the Bon Repos orphanage. Since then, 60 kids have been living in tent cities, where they're vulnerable to disease and the elements of the weather.

If Orphan's Heart can't gather enough workers for their February and March trips, Phase One won't be completed and orphans will be stuck without a solid roof over their heads.

"We are so longing to be finished with that first phase so that we can move those children, so they don't have to spend another rainy season in tents," says Hooper. "If you can swing a hammer, if you can push a wheelbarrow, or if you know how to lay block, we need you."

Block layers are especially needed as the children's dormitory and first stage of the rebuilding process is nearly complete. The building itself is completed; only the dorm interior and second layer of the director's house remain. This second layer will house short-term mission teams and other volunteer workers.

"That will save about 45 minutes to an hour travel each way, as we go back and forth to our mission house," Hooper explains.

Click here to sign up for one of the 7-day trips.

Phases 2 and 3 of this project include the construction of a large multipurpose building and another dormitory. Once those are done, the sky's the limit.

"We want to become a beacon in the community and would like to open a clinic," states Hooper. "After we get the construction finished, then we would start bringing in doctors and medical personnel…and focus more on the children's ministry."

Hooper says, "Our idea is not only to provide a building for the children to live in, but we will be providing training and direction in how to run an orphanage, based on the model that the Florida Baptist Children's Home uses."

Think Orphan's Heart only needs people who can go? Think again.

"Not everybody can go, but everyone can pray," says Hooper. "Continue to pray for Orphan's Heart and the ministry there in Haiti, and for the children."

Construction tools and supplies are needed, too. Click here to see how you can help by giving.