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Haiti Earthquake
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Haiti Earthquake
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As we begin to see and hear of the staggering loss of life in Haiti our hearts and prayers are with the Haitian people. It is gut wrenching having served there and developed many close relationships with many in this country. In addition, many in the eXfuze family have friends or family there who desperately need our assistance now. Therefore, VivaKids has begun to reach out to those organizations we’ve served with In Haiti and soon you will be receiving another update from VivaKids describing how we will be providing them direct support. In the meantime, there is no shortage of organizations you can financially support and below is an example of the need from an update of a friend that serves in an orphanage east of Port au Prince. We will be doing all we can to help our friends rebuild their lives out of the largest devastation in Haiti’s history. If you would like to give through VivaKids please donate it toward our general fund. Thank you for all your support.
Rich Hennessey – Executive Director
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“Dear friends,
The past 30 hours have been incredible and very sobering. Without knowing if there is any damage to our homes, our entire family slept in the courtyard on mattresses. Our security guard didn't show up so I was the guard all night, It was a long night. By 5:30 am we were up and getting ready to head to the villages where we do ministry. We arrived just after sun up and first went to our mission compound. Praise God we have NO damage, everything intact. I along with Linda Neal one of our board members and 7 of my boys then began to walk the village of Source Matles.
Let me be clear on our role in this crisis. We are not part of search and rescue. We were involved in that in our neighborhood moments after the quake hit but not today. The search and rescue is going on in Port au Prince. In the villages there are NO 2 story buildings or houses. What we found in the village is nearly 100% of the folks homeless. Last night they all slept on the ground in front of their small homes. All the homes were damaged, entire walls falling in, roofs caving in and walls cracking. We heard many stories of babies nearly killed. I held two little babies, one had a scratch on his lip and one had a scratch on his neck, this from a falling cement block that hit them. The moms were praising God. We toured the village for over 3 hours, hearing every story, seeing everyone’s destroyed homes. We were able to help many people who still needed medical care. We also promised about 25 families we would help rebuild their home. What a joy to see their faces, and the hope that we had given. This is just one of our 4 villages. The other villages have been destroyed just as badly. I have taken in 5 teens into my home who are homeless and we will help rebuild their homes.
The cost to help each family rebuild will be about $300-$500. We are working on food distribution tomorrow for those who need meals. Water is not an issue in Source Matles as they have fresh spring water. We are still sleeping in court yard. The after-shocks keep coming, and are very strong and very scary. Of course all schools are canceled and may be for the rest of the year. Tomorrow we hope to be able to get back to the Good Samaritan orphanage, as well as begin to meet the needs of our 100 school children. What you are seeing on CNN is not happening in the villages but they are all homeless and need our help so badly, which we are doing. Think of everything in your home, in ruins, lying under cement blocks. You have no money, no food and can't even think about rebuilding. We are giving hope back.
Today we had one meal at our home, a 3pm pot of rice and beans, and popcorn tonight as we ration the food. I am very sad as we have reports that the French Grocery store I have been going to for 12 years was leveled. I made dozens of friends in 12 years with the owners, the cashiers, the bag men and I am so sad that most of them are probably dead. The garbage dump people of Merjay are doing fine. Two men came to my house today and said "God spared us, no injuries, no structural damage". We still have Titiyan, Cabaret and Minnotree to visit in the up-coming days. There is NO where to buy food or gas at this point. I do need to try to find blankets tomorrow as the people are very cold at night. I know it is still 70 but that is cold for these folks,. Imagine your temp dropping from 70 to 40, you would be cold. I hope to get 100 blankets to distribute. I could go on but I will stop. Our guard is here today so I can sleep in my shaky bed tonight. The boys think I am crazy for sleeping in the house but the bugs are so bad outside. We will have pictures on our website that are amazing and really paint the picture of what has happened in the rural areas.”
For Contributions: Jesus in Haiti Ministries, Inc. | Suite 155 | 10214 Chestnut Plaza Drive | Fort Wayne, IN 46814
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VivaKids is a division of To Every Nation a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. VivaKids was developed to partner with organizations that carry a long term vision for the well being of unprivileged children around the world. Our mission is to be part of the solution to assist in the feeding, educating and lifting up those in need worldwide.
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