Most of you know that I spent 6 weeks there last summer, and the impoverished little country, and especially that orphanage in general have really captured my heart. I have been recieving updates from the orphanage via a friend and here are some bites from them to try and begin to explain what it has been like down there. I might add some side notes in brackets.
Tuesday, September 02, 2008 1:20 PM
We have high winds and damage at and around the orphanage in Thomassin. The metal gate is broken and they have lost their solar panels.(The gate is very important for the safety of the kids, and to make sure that people do not steal their supplies- esp with all the loss that is occuring right now). Metal roof is lifting on the balcony at the main house and wind is gusting with force and speed. Lots of trees down in our area and debris is blowing.
Tuesday, September 02, 2008 5:53 PM
5 PM - Haiti is being blasted by it's third storm in 3 weeks! Gonaive(a small town in the north) is experiencing severe flooding and conditions worse than with Hurricane Jeanne 3 years ago. Gonaive police reported seeing at least 10 bodies floating in the flooded streets. People are on their roofs and it's up to the 2nd story floor of homes that have 2 levels!!(In most places in Haiti, very few homes have a second level)
Roads blocked by fallen trees and power poles in our area. We tried to take Mme Bernard home in Ft. Jacques(a drive up the mountain0 45 mins away? on roads that are no where near our standard) at the end of her work shift and could only make it half way there. She is now walking the rest of the way.
Wind is shaking the house and bending the trees in here at the orphanage. We cannot believe we still have Internet service and pray that the satellite continues to hold! The roof on the babies' feeding balcony and the 3rd floor playing balcony have been ripped off the house! Some of the roof fell onto the babies tables. We could not get them inside without taking them apart.(They are specially crafted tables with one nanny able to feed 5 children at a time) Some of the toys are gone. Blown away in the wind!
Airport is closed. We have 3 families here and one of them is stuck here until the weekend unless some seats open up.
And on top of all of that it's freezing too! We are so cold from this wind! The house inside is covered in leaves. The wind is pushing them in around the closed windows. The staff keeps sweeping them up, and an hour later, it looks like nobody has swept at all!
Continue to pray and ask God to make the wind go away! This is the worst storm that we've been through in the 17 years that we've lived in Haiti. We are not having a lot of rain, but the wind is horrendous!
Hurricane Gustave hit the southern part of Haiti and Hurricane Hannah is hitting the rest!
7 PM - Satellite is not working right now. Some lightening and rain and wind gusts. I think the wind sounds like it is not quite as strong at the moment. The gusts are still pretty strong and our yard looks like a battle field with debris and trees down! Will try to get photos tomorrow to send.
Thank you for all of your prayers. So far, all kids and staff are safe.
Roads blocked by fallen trees and power poles in our area. We tried to take Mme Bernard home in Ft. Jacques(a drive up the mountain0 45 mins away? on roads that are no where near our standard) at the end of her work shift and could only make it half way there. She is now walking the rest of the way.
Wind is shaking the house and bending the trees in here at the orphanage. We cannot believe we still have Internet service and pray that the satellite continues to hold! The roof on the babies' feeding balcony and the 3rd floor playing balcony have been ripped off the house! Some of the roof fell onto the babies tables. We could not get them inside without taking them apart.(They are specially crafted tables with one nanny able to feed 5 children at a time) Some of the toys are gone. Blown away in the wind!
Airport is closed. We have 3 families here and one of them is stuck here until the weekend unless some seats open up.
And on top of all of that it's freezing too! We are so cold from this wind! The house inside is covered in leaves. The wind is pushing them in around the closed windows. The staff keeps sweeping them up, and an hour later, it looks like nobody has swept at all!
Continue to pray and ask God to make the wind go away! This is the worst storm that we've been through in the 17 years that we've lived in Haiti. We are not having a lot of rain, but the wind is horrendous!
Hurricane Gustave hit the southern part of Haiti and Hurricane Hannah is hitting the rest!
7 PM - Satellite is not working right now. Some lightening and rain and wind gusts. I think the wind sounds like it is not quite as strong at the moment. The gusts are still pretty strong and our yard looks like a battle field with debris and trees down! Will try to get photos tomorrow to send.
Thank you for all of your prayers. So far, all kids and staff are safe.
Wednesday, September 03, 2008 2:49 PM
TROPICAL STORM HANNAH
Tropical Storm Hannah came rolling over Haiti on Monday evening and continued through Wednesday morning about 3 AM. We weathered the storm of Hurricane and nobody was hurt. We are very thankful. We lost the Internet satellite dish at the Toddler House and the solar panels on their roof. Their metal gate was also broken in the wind!
At the main house, the balcony roofs suffered damage and the one over the babies' balcony was actually ripped off of the house! Lots of leaves laying around and the house is full of them. The wind blew rain in around the window frames and through cracks and my dining room table was covered in water this morning and the floor surrounding it! I've attached some photos of the destruction.
Tropical Storm Hannah came rolling over Haiti on Monday evening and continued through Wednesday morning about 3 AM. We weathered the storm of Hurricane and nobody was hurt. We are very thankful. We lost the Internet satellite dish at the Toddler House and the solar panels on their roof. Their metal gate was also broken in the wind!
At the main house, the balcony roofs suffered damage and the one over the babies' balcony was actually ripped off of the house! Lots of leaves laying around and the house is full of them. The wind blew rain in around the window frames and through cracks and my dining room table was covered in water this morning and the floor surrounding it! I've attached some photos of the destruction.
On the new property, trees are down and our new gates that they recently installed have been blown in and off the steel posts! The gates are huge and weigh a lot. The higher up the mountain you go, the more damage we see.
Trees and walls in the community are down. But lots of people out this morning cleaning up. So things should be back to normal soon. God kept us safe and I am so thankful for all of your prayers.
Thursday, September 04, 2008 11:40 PM
Trees and walls in the community are down. But lots of people out this morning cleaning up. So things should be back to normal soon. God kept us safe and I am so thankful for all of your prayers.
Thursday, September 04, 2008 11:40 PM
(From Haiti Children's Home)
the hurricanes have been causing havoc in Haiti to say the least. In the town of Mirebalais where the orphanage is located they have so far been relatively unaffected until now. The dams upstream from the river are full and they had to open the dam gates in the Dominican Republic and that will flow to the river that goes through Mirebalais. If the pressure is too great the dam that is just upstream will also have to be opened and that may cause large flooding downstream which would include Mirebalais. The orphanage is located fairly close to the river and this flooding could affect them. The river has already spilt over the bank and is about 1/2 way from the riverbed to the orphanage.
They were concerned that this evening they would have to evacuate all 40 children; a set of triplets in the incubator and other newborns and special needs tiny babes. Tonight they are safe and will reevaluate the situation in the morning. Please pray for the people of Haiti, the area of Gonaives has been devastated again.
The people of Haiti desperately need our prayer. They have lost crops, livestock and many lives in the various areas and Hurricane Ike is to come in a short time.
I think we will try and put updates on the website so that you can get them efficiently. These hurricanes will cause the cost of food to rise and for a country that cannot cope with rising costs this will be another blow that many will not be able to survive. There will be families needing to give up their children because they just can't bear to watch them suffer and die and that means more resources will be needed at HCH. Prayer is our first defense.! Action directed by God is our second.
Thank you on behalf of Pat and Melinda, volunteers Minnie, Hanna and Lori(on a break in Canada) and the blessed people of Haiti.
Check out the website for updates.
http://www.haitichildrenshome.com/
the hurricanes have been causing havoc in Haiti to say the least. In the town of Mirebalais where the orphanage is located they have so far been relatively unaffected until now. The dams upstream from the river are full and they had to open the dam gates in the Dominican Republic and that will flow to the river that goes through Mirebalais. If the pressure is too great the dam that is just upstream will also have to be opened and that may cause large flooding downstream which would include Mirebalais. The orphanage is located fairly close to the river and this flooding could affect them. The river has already spilt over the bank and is about 1/2 way from the riverbed to the orphanage.
They were concerned that this evening they would have to evacuate all 40 children; a set of triplets in the incubator and other newborns and special needs tiny babes. Tonight they are safe and will reevaluate the situation in the morning. Please pray for the people of Haiti, the area of Gonaives has been devastated again.
The people of Haiti desperately need our prayer. They have lost crops, livestock and many lives in the various areas and Hurricane Ike is to come in a short time.
I think we will try and put updates on the website so that you can get them efficiently. These hurricanes will cause the cost of food to rise and for a country that cannot cope with rising costs this will be another blow that many will not be able to survive. There will be families needing to give up their children because they just can't bear to watch them suffer and die and that means more resources will be needed at HCH. Prayer is our first defense.! Action directed by God is our second.
Thank you on behalf of Pat and Melinda, volunteers Minnie, Hanna and Lori(on a break in Canada) and the blessed people of Haiti.
Check out the website for updates.
http://www.haitichildrenshome.com/
Monday, September 08, 2008 9:06 AM
(And from GLA again)
More rain and wind and an already wounded Haiti is devastated! The photos I have attached are of the Gonaïve area on the west coast of Haiti. Gonaïve is situated on a river that comes out of the mountains inland of Gonaive. The old colonial drainage system has not been repaired or much has been destroyed. The government has not repaired the system or put in a new system, so the city floods when we have storms that come through.
We received this email from Yvonne Trimble.
Dear friend,
Ike rained and blew all night on poor Haiti. This morning it is still raining and blowing. While we are safe on a mountain in Port au Prince, the northwest of Haiti is experiencing a natural disaster of unimaginable proportions.
Tropical Storm Hanna flooded Gonaives and claimed more than 500 lives in the past week. Now Hurrican Ike is dumping more wind and rain on the battered region. This morning we received a first hand report of a missionary there who said, "Forty children in the orphanage are eating flour, because they have not had food for five days." This same missionary is using bleach to purify contaminated well water for drinking. While human and animal cadavers float in the flood waters surrounding the facility. They have no other choice though as the UN is NOT DISTRIBUTING RELIEF.
The UN received 33 tons of relief for the region yesterday and it is warehoused in Gonaives, to date they have not distributed any of it. We received a message from a Haitian pastor in Gonaives who said his wife walked 18 hours through mud and flood waters to get food for her family. She returned empty handed, even with cash she could not find food; BECAUSE THE UN IS HOLDING THE FOOD BACK IN THE WAREHOUSES. It is rumored they will sell the relief after the storm.
This same family said, they "are waiting for death." This is not an overstatement of the situation in Haiti. We need your help now. You can go on line and find the name of your Congress men and you United States Senators with their phone numbers. Call them today and tell them that the UN is NOT DISTRIBUTING RELIEF IN HAITI. That you know the situation is worsening by the minute and thousands are at risk, in fact 600,000 Haitians have been displaced without food and water for days now.
People have been without food AND water for 6 days now. Orphanages in the area have children without food and water.
The UN that is suppose to distribute the food and water. The US, Canada, France, Belgium, Switzerland, Spain, The Netherlands, and other countries supporting the UN should demand that this food be distributed!
Another missionary, Licia Zachary Betor with Real Hope for Haiti, in the village of Cazele said that at 3 AM on Sunday morning, a wall of water swept through the village of Cazele. There is a small, shallow river that runs through the middle of the village. They are assuming that a mud slide in the mountains caused the wall of water to sweep down and flood the village. It took out the foot bridge over the river and swept people away. Licia heard that the road to the village was cut in half by the fast moving water and so the village is isolated, but she did not know for certain yesterday afternoon if that was true. Go to her blog at: http://haitirescuecenter.wordpress.com/ to read more about the flood.
More rain and wind and an already wounded Haiti is devastated! The photos I have attached are of the Gonaïve area on the west coast of Haiti. Gonaïve is situated on a river that comes out of the mountains inland of Gonaive. The old colonial drainage system has not been repaired or much has been destroyed. The government has not repaired the system or put in a new system, so the city floods when we have storms that come through.
We received this email from Yvonne Trimble.
Dear friend,
Ike rained and blew all night on poor Haiti. This morning it is still raining and blowing. While we are safe on a mountain in Port au Prince, the northwest of Haiti is experiencing a natural disaster of unimaginable proportions.
Tropical Storm Hanna flooded Gonaives and claimed more than 500 lives in the past week. Now Hurrican Ike is dumping more wind and rain on the battered region. This morning we received a first hand report of a missionary there who said, "Forty children in the orphanage are eating flour, because they have not had food for five days." This same missionary is using bleach to purify contaminated well water for drinking. While human and animal cadavers float in the flood waters surrounding the facility. They have no other choice though as the UN is NOT DISTRIBUTING RELIEF.
The UN received 33 tons of relief for the region yesterday and it is warehoused in Gonaives, to date they have not distributed any of it. We received a message from a Haitian pastor in Gonaives who said his wife walked 18 hours through mud and flood waters to get food for her family. She returned empty handed, even with cash she could not find food; BECAUSE THE UN IS HOLDING THE FOOD BACK IN THE WAREHOUSES. It is rumored they will sell the relief after the storm.
This same family said, they "are waiting for death." This is not an overstatement of the situation in Haiti. We need your help now. You can go on line and find the name of your Congress men and you United States Senators with their phone numbers. Call them today and tell them that the UN is NOT DISTRIBUTING RELIEF IN HAITI. That you know the situation is worsening by the minute and thousands are at risk, in fact 600,000 Haitians have been displaced without food and water for days now.
People have been without food AND water for 6 days now. Orphanages in the area have children without food and water.
The UN that is suppose to distribute the food and water. The US, Canada, France, Belgium, Switzerland, Spain, The Netherlands, and other countries supporting the UN should demand that this food be distributed!
Another missionary, Licia Zachary Betor with Real Hope for Haiti, in the village of Cazele said that at 3 AM on Sunday morning, a wall of water swept through the village of Cazele. There is a small, shallow river that runs through the middle of the village. They are assuming that a mud slide in the mountains caused the wall of water to sweep down and flood the village. It took out the foot bridge over the river and swept people away. Licia heard that the road to the village was cut in half by the fast moving water and so the village is isolated, but she did not know for certain yesterday afternoon if that was true. Go to her blog at: http://haitirescuecenter.wordpress.com/ to read more about the flood.
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