HOPE FOR HAITI
The day I left for Haiti as one of the organizers of Choose Hope Medical Mission – One Week – A Change Life, I could not help wondering what it would be like to be in a country that I have never been before, yet I felt so connected to its people. I told myself it’s because I have worked so long with the Haitian people in Philadelphia, but I knew deep down in my soul it was deeper than that. Not much has been mentioned on the news in America, at least not in Philadelphia about the second anniversary of Haiti’s calamity. So easily we forget about the needs of a people we no longer see or hear about. Donations for Haiti have dropped off precipitously. They always do when media coverage fades and aid agencies shift from emergency operations like food drops and medical care to longer-term recovery measures.
Two years after the massive 7.0 earthquake stuck Haiti that left 200,000 dead and close to 2 million homeless, not much has changed. Despite billions of dollars pledged from private citizens and world governments, a serious health scare has arisen. With poor sanitation, malnutrition, little safe drinking water and no sewage systems, the crowded temporary housing tent communities provide ideal breeding grounds for cholera. Now, two years later, limited water distribution continues, with little development of sustainable, municipal water-filtration systems. The situation in Haiti is just as bad, if not worse than the day of the earthquake. Billions of donated money has nothing to show for it. They are still living in cardboard boxes, with no food, and no clean water. There's no sign of any rebuilding in sight.
“No governmental infrastructure, high crime, immense poverty, no education system, no health system. A cholera outbreak in full swing, 1.5 million people still living under tarps, and one-third of children under the age of 5 suffer from chronic malnutrition. In the face of these conditions, Haiti remains the non-governmental organization (NGO) capital of the world. Before the earthquake, there were more than 5,000 organizations on the ground in Haiti. From the International Red Cross to any number of churches and civic organizations, Haiti is replete with people of good will who are there to make it a better place to live.
With millions of dollars at our disposal do we really lack the ability to support basic sanitation and clean water? Do we lack the ability to stop a preventable, deadly water-borne disease right off our coast? What happened to the money?
Many of the charities on the ground have reported they are setting aside a portion of their donations (sometimes up to 70 percent) for the “reconstruction” period. It’s clear from the outpouring of support many of those who donated from their own scarce family budgets believed they were giving to save lives immediately. In the face of a preventable public health emergency, like cholera, many will be surprised that more than half of their donations continue to sit in U.S. banks.
Long-term development to secure transitional and permanent housing, build infrastructure outside of Port-au-Prince and promote public health campaigns are all extremely important. But if the Red Cross, whose mandate and expertise lie in emergency and crisis management, is not responding to continued immediate emergencies on the ground, then who is? Who is responsible for the deteriorating quality of life and preventable suffering faced by those most affected by the earthquake?
The lack of basic health care services we take for granted in this country such as visiting the OBG/YN is non-existent. The people with diabetes and HIV — Haiti has high rates of the disease — probably don't have access to regular medications. More than 90% of the women seen by our volunteer OBG/YN doctors have serious infection or disease. Dental and eye care is another of the medical services you cannot find in Haiti.
If survivors are dipping into contaminated wells for water, not boiling infected water, nor living in areas where fecal matter is not disposed of properly, bacterial and parasitic infections are more likely to spread. For the 17 medical and non-medical volunteers of both Lighthouse Covenant International and Espwam, local Philadelphia volunteer no-profit organizations that provided medical services to over 1500 people in Delmas 31, Port-au-Price, Haiti in 4 days was the great honor of our lives.
Lighthouse Covenant International, a local humanitarian organization has made a conscious commitment to help with the rebuilding of the Haiti health care system by building medical clinics in communities in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. We will staff them by partnering with local medical university hospitals, like Temple University, Drexel Medical and many others that can send interns on a regular basis to provide consistent health care to the people of Haiti. We will build the first clinic by joining with Fishers of Men Ministries to extend their current, but small clinic on the compound of Church on the Rock, run and operated by Pastor Jay Threadgill whose ministry exists in Haiti for 25 years.
To build the medical clinics we will need the help of our community in Philadelphia and the surrounding areas to make this vision a reality. I know it’s challenging to ask you to give again, but we must. The lives of another human being depend on our generosity, our compassion, our love for God, and to follow His commandment “Feed My Sheep”. If you are interested in helping Lighthouse Covenant International build clinics in Haiti, please contact us or make your donation at www.lciintl.com. You can also mail you check to P.O. Box 30125, Elkins Park, PA, 19027.
