So many of you have inquired about the status of the kids at the orphanage we have visited in Haiti. By God’s provision, we have only lost one precious child. We know that he is with the Lord and hope that his two young sisters are comforted by that. We are thrilled to hear that Claire, a little girl I met on my last trip, is now in the arms of her forever family. It took three years of paperwork and an earthquake to get her there! Thankfully, New Hope in Haiti, the organization that supports this orphanage, has been able to get money and supplies in to meet the needs of the kids. I have been there myself and have found this orphanage to be a witness for Christ in a very dark and poor community. Even in this environment of shortage and desperation, the orphanage has been sharing their supplies with the community, demonstrating the call to “love thy neighbor” in ways that I fear I would not have the strength to carry out. New Hope has been sending in relief flights from their home base in Atlanta and this is getting very costly. If you would like to contribute to this work, please go to www.newhopeinhaiti.org

Here’s one of the postings from the New Hope in Haiti US coordinator:

“Though it has been an emotional trying day, I see God’s goodness.  I have learned to just trust Him and that is what I will continue to do.  Continue to press on, pursuing the opportunities that he puts before us.  We have 300 children that God has given us to watch over and I will be faithful to the call.  Rest assured none of us are stopping until all is well.  The country is going to be put together person by person.  New Hope in Haiti can’t go in and set up medical clinics and save the nation in a single swoop, but we can make sure that these 300 don’t need medical attention, that these 300 don’t need to stand in relief lines to get food.  If you saw what I have seen in the last 48 hours you would be full of faith.  Keep your eyes on God and your heart focused on His goodness, because HE IS GOOD!!”

Our friends with Christian Veterinary Mission are also hard at work. My husband and I have spent time with Dr. Keith Flanagan and Dr. Kelly Crowdis. Kelly is the veterinarian who is leading our “Give a Kid to a Kid” program to teach young Haitians how to raise production animals. Here’s a note from her blog:

“At dawn I had the truck loaded with medical supplies to go down and sew up and treat the wounds Guerriot’s family had. When I finished them, people just kept coming and I just kept working. Then a nurse showed up, then another and a doctor and we had a clinic set up just like that. We were sewing up things and splinting broken limbs with anything we could find….I have no idea how many people we have treated this past week but I would say at least 400. The hospitals were full and there were limited doctors. Every day has been the same dawn to dark treating wounds. The Haitian docs and nurses staying in the park even treat people after dark. It has been a week of making do with what we had and scrounging and asking for more. I have used all my supplies and part of Keith’s…..Everyone is in shock. We treated people who were buried for 2 days and more. It is amazing what the human body can endure. There is a sense of hopelessness in some but most are just grateful to be alive. We have just been trying to help in whatever way we can.”

From Keith (he and his wife have been in Haiti for over 20 years):

“I met with the Minister of Agriculture yesterday morning and will meet with Dr. Max Millien, the head veterinarian today. Medicines are a priority. The other priority that I see is animal control, especially the stray dogs. There will be an increase in stray dogs as many owners were killed and most walls that contained the dogs in yards are down. Thankfully we just completed a rabies vaccination campaign in the country with maybe 70% plus of the dogs in Port Au Prince being vaccinated.  Also a national anthrax vaccination was carried out this past year. Those are two of the biggest zoonotic diseases that we have.  Newcastle’s vaccination for poultry is a priority as this time of year is the peak time for this. The Ministry of Agriculture has vaccinators trained to do this, but lacks funds for the vaccine and to pay the vaccinators.  Classical swine fever and teschovirus in pigs are two more diseases that are affecting the food chain. We still do not have a vaccine for teschovirus, but have people looking at production of an autogenous vaccine.”

Please consider supporting the work of CVM in Haiti: www.cvmusa.org/Page.aspx?pid=2995

Finally, our friends the Conns, who run the Restavek Foundation, are in need of financial assistance as well. They are creating a compound where the children and families they work with can get assistance. Please consider supporting them as they work with some of Haiti’s most vulnerable children.

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No matter how you choose to help, please join us in praying for the healing of Haiti.

-Suzanne