We’ve had many delays as we rebuild in Haiti, but we’ve heard some great news. Our new Haitian staff are getting the hang of home construction and are taking on more responsibilities. This is exactly what we want to happen and truly an answer to prayer.
Since the earthquake, Humanitarian Aid organization World Concern has employed thousands of Haitians to clear rubble and repair or replace houses that were damaged or destroyed. More than 600 homes have already been repaired, and crews continue to complete approximately 80 homes per week. Now, we’re on to a new phase: assembling 500 “house-in-a-box” kits.
The following entry is from Scott Mitchell, who is from Seattle and overseeing the construction. The homes were in shipping containers, but the containers were held up in customs in Port-au-Prince for several weeks. It was a big frustration and delayed the unloading and construction schedule.
Here’s some of what Scott said on his blog:
I have been in Haiti 52 days. I was brought down here to build shelters I remember thinking before I left I had to put up 7 shelters a day to make it work. This is shelter number 1 of 500. By the grace of God He had different plans!
The team of workers hired to construct 500 "kit" houses in Haiti.
The picture here is the shelter team that will be doing the work. We all were pretty happy that this one shelter is put up. We took time at the end of the day to just thank Jesus and ask for more grace. We all need it. I don’t know where I would be without it. We should be putting one up in the field next week. I am excited to see what God is doing with this team.
There are those that are here to learn, and learn they did. The difference between Monday and Friday was huge—going from never using a drill to now building a complete structure using nothing but screws to hold it together. They went from moving individual pieces of metal out of a container to putting roof structures that they build onto a shelter. They went from bug-eyed wonder to wonderful smiles of joy and a sense of competence. They went from not knowing a thing about metal to teaching others about metal.
A team from Steel Elements that was brought in to build the jigs (jigs are templates to build the building by) was amazed at the progress. They even went from a “good luck” mindset to an attitude of “they are really going to get this and do well.” They worked very closely with our foreman and despite the language barrier, by the end of the week they were communicating fairly effectively. Our guys learned a lot from them and I am pretty sure they learned a lot from our guys.
I feel blessed by God with the quality of foremen that we have found. Honestly, I don’t know where we found all of them but I am impressed. By the end of the week they were coming up with solutions to problems that we faced, they were pushing the Steel Element guys aside and doing the work themselves. They were eager and willing to do the work. It was evident that some of them took home a set of plans and studied them. They want to do a good job, and by God’s grace they will. I think it might take a few shelters for them to really get the hang of it, but they will get it down and they will produce a great finished product.
World Concern Haiti staff member Jillian Thorp talks with engineers overseeing house repairs. Photo by Frank Thorp.
World Concern attracts people who feel called to help in the world’s most desperate situations. It attracts staff members willing—even longing—to live in poor, troubled places, and serve.
Jillian Thorp is one of those people.
Jan. 12 had been an emotional and busy day for Jillian. She was finishing one of several meetings at her office at another nonprofit in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, that day when the building began to sway. “It was almost like having a dizzy spell, then things started to fall off tables,” she recalls. A coworker grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her under a door frame. “About 10 seconds later, everything came down around us.”
Jillian and her coworker were both trapped from the waist down on the first floor of a two-story building. A door had fallen on top of them, miraculously protecting them from being hammered by debris. Another miracle is that Jillian had fallen with her cell phone. Although she couldn’t call out, she received several phone calls from friends in the U.S. and was able to tell them she was trapped and needed help. The last call she received was from her husband, Frank, who was working about six hours north of Port-au-Prince. “He said, ‘We’re coming,’” she remembers. Then the phone line cut, leaving them without communication.
Three hours later, Jillian heard someone calling her name. It was two other coworkers who had come back to see if she was safe. She was able to call to them, and they began digging with their bare hands. Eventually they had to leave to get more help and tools to break up and remove the concrete that surrounded her. She and her coworker were trapped for 10 hours. Frank arrived about an hour before she was freed.
“They pulled me up onto the roof,” said Jillian, who was gasping for fresh air and reeling with the realization of what she’d just been through. “The house had completely pancaked. I could see that the only place I could have survived is where I was. It was just a complete miracle that I was there and the way the house fell, that I was protected and we made it out.”
As an American, Jillian was able to be treated for her injuries at a hospital in the Dominican Republic and then fly home to the U.S. the next day. She struggled with survivor’s guilt, leaving behind those who had become like family and who had risked their lives to rescue her. “Why did I make it through something like that when so many others didn’t?” She wondered.
She returned to Haiti, just five weeks after the disaster. “I’ve just got to try,” she told herself. “I’ve got to see if there’s something still in me, that I could help these people.”
Jillian heard about World Concern from family members at home, researched the work we do, and saw it as a shining example of a successful aid organization. She liked that we have a 30-year history in Haiti, and that nearly all staff are Haitians. “So many organizations brought in so many people, so many foreigners, who didn’t understand,” she said. With a background in advocacy and a degree in diplomacy and conflict resolution, “It felt just right,” said Jillian, who accepted the position of Program Support Manager for the Emergency Relief Team in March – just two months after the quake.
“It’s been so healing for me to work with an organization that’s so supportive. It’s been a blessing,” she said. “I was looking for a higher purpose. I got through this earthquake. There’s got to be a reason.”
Jillian understands the frustration people feel, watching from afar, at the pace of the recovery efforts, but being involved in it every day, she sees much progress. “There’s such hope for the future of this country, but there’s a long way to go for sure. There are some hard decisions in front of the humanitarian community … we can’t figure it out in one day, or even a couple of years,” she said. “But we have 617 homes we’ve repaired. That’s 617 families who have returned to their homes. We have just over 2,000 people employed through Cash for Work,” which is World Concern’s program to employ local people to clean up rubble and rebuild.
“Whether you see it when you walk down the street or not, when you look at World Concern and you see those, it’s significant,” Jillian said.
Along with the entire World Concern staff, Jillian shares great compassion for the Haitian people. “They’ve been through a lot, but their spirit is so resilient. They still have dreams. They know all this money is coming into this country. They try to take ownership of this project – to be a part of the rebuilding process,” she said. “It really should be their own. The U.S. didn’t fall apart, Haiti did. Ask Haitians what they want and ask them to help us do it. World Concern is really great at that.”
This is all that was left of the building Jillian was in when the earthquake hit. Photo by Frank Thorp.Jillilan and her husband Frank are grateful she survived the earthquake and continue to work in Haiti.
World Concern Haiti Country Director Christon Domond inspects desks with Susan Talbot during a visit to our headquarters last month. The desk is one of dozens being loaded today into a shipping container bound for Haiti.
It’s like an enormous care package for Haiti from all across Washington.
Today, just south of Seattle, a 40’ shipping container is being packed with a variety of supplies to help children in Haiti, just in time for the new school year. We’re loading up dozens of desks, uniforms and school supplies for more than 1,300 kids. All of the items were donated – most by donors in Washington.
Eighty-seven desks from a Washington State University dorm in Pullman will be put to use in classrooms in Haiti, and a Port-au-Prince hospital will receive 25 patient tables and cabinets from an assisted living home in Bellevue.
Imagine the delighted smiles when 1,320 kids open packages filled with school supplies, hand packed with love by donors and churches around the Puget Sound region. The Kids’ Healing Kits also include soap, toothpaste and other hygiene items, as well as stuffed animals and other toys to help the youngest earthquake victims heal from emotional trauma.
Volunteers and homeless men hired for the day are helping World Concern pack the 40’ shipping container inside of a warehouse in Sumner. From there, the container will be trucked to a rail yard, then loaded on a train bound for New York. The final leg of the trip will be on a ship, the MSC Austria, which is scheduled to arrive in Port-au-Prince on Aug. 29.
We’ve put some thought into what we’re shipping. Our staff in Haiti has either requested these items, or has found areas where these items will fill a critical need – an important piece in making sure humanitarian aid helps communities, rather than hindering the healing process.
Thank you, donors and volunteers, for making this giant care package possible!
To read more about what we’re doing in Haiti, click here.
The following is a report from World Concern’s Jacinta Tegman, who is in Haiti this week with a team from the Seattle area:
A smiling young boy outside his newly repaired home in Port-au-Prince.
It has been almost four months since I was last in Haiti. When I was here in early March the city of Port au Prince was just ending a critical response phase. Some streets were impassable because of rubble. Very little business had started up. Schools were not in session and the normal hustle and bustle of the city was missing. I think the Haitians were still in a state of shock. As a part of World Concern, I was able to see the transition from phase one — meeting the immediate needs of water, food, shelter, and family reunification — to the road ahead of rebuilding lives
I can really tell a difference in the city since March. Much of the rubble has been cleared and there are signs of construction everywhere. Lots of street vendors are out, school children in their uniforms rush to class, and the remaining piles of rubble have become part of the city landscape.
As difficult a time as the people have had, there is little room for prolonged grief as little ones still need to be fed, work must be sought out, and the very real need of adequate housing is reaching a critical stage. We drove by camp after camp of tents, and the tents look like they can’t survive much longer.
The road ahead to sustainable recovery is a long one. Yet, even now I see signs of progress and for these people progress is made one small step at a time. When I was here in March, World Concern’s Cash for Work program was in a pilot stage. A few small groups were clearing the rubble of where they once lived, earning a salary to provide for their families and gaining hope that they would be able to leave the tent camps. Now World Concern employs 2,100 workers. Not only have massive amounts of rubble been cleared but homes have been made habitable and new, safer homes are being built.
Is there more to do? Absolutely! But I am so thankful for what has already been accomplished. When I looked into the eyes of a little boy standing outside of his newly repaired home, I know that there is hope in Haiti. In the middle of all this tragedy hope shines brightly. It takes so many to make this possible and I am profoundly grateful that I can say to these people that despite all the challenges they face, people are praying for them, people are giving to help them, and we will walk with them all the way through to full recovery. Isn’t that what Jesus sent us to do? I am so privileged to represent so many that have given to relieve their suffering. God bless you for your compassion.
A Haitian grandmother sits outside her tent, where she lives with nine other people.
It’s been six months. To me, it doesn’t seem that long since January 12. I know we’ve made progress in the recovery. But to Haitians still in need, the last six months probably have seemed like an eternity.
As someone who has visited the country a few times, before and after the quake, I am not surprised Haiti remains a mess. For homeless Haitians, they have no choice but to deal with it.
Last time I was there, I sat with a grandmother in an obliterated neighborhood who smiled, touched my hand – and reassured me – when describing her life in a tent with nine other people. She showed me how they prop up their tent on rocks during thunderstorms to allow rainwater to race underneath.
Let me step back and look at what life was like pre-quake. Before the earthquake, the fragile people – and the government – were surviving on a thread. This is a place that was enduring a food crisis, where the poorest people ate mud pies, just to feel like they were eating SOMETHING. Even then, Port-au-Prince looked a like a disaster zone.
For years, the lack of basic services and infrastructure – imagine city roads only passable by 4×4 because of rocks and ruts – and the astounding poverty (80% of the population) formed a framework of instability. Still, when I visited a year prior, the UN security force, MINUSTAH, was both tolerated by locals and was providing a baseline of stability. And amazingly, Haiti WAS slowly improving.
Countries teetering on the edge of failure, though, cannot handle something like a massive earthquake. Something of that scale would likely strain even solid governments. The quake seemed to push Haiti’s government off of the radar. It is easy to see why: nearly all of the government offices, including the presidential palace, still are in ruins.
But , here is the net effect: Right now, it is up to the desperately poor to pick up the pieces and continue on. These are people who make, on average, $1.25 or less a day, like the grandma in the tent. These are people who lost their homes, livelihoods and family members. THANKFULLY, the poor are not alone, as agencies like World Concern are providing critical assistance to rebuild.
I also know this to be true: Corruption and inefficiency remain in Haiti. I’ve heard first-hand stories about how the relief is not getting done quickly enough because of powerful people who want to control the flow of supplies – and get a cut from aid organizations. Add this to a crippled infrastructure and general complications with an enormous international response, and you have a mammoth ship with many captains that is difficult to steer.
Still, I get agitated when I hear people say that the U.S. should essentially write off Haiti. I often see comments like these in response to news stories about Haiti. The logic is, “Why don’t we spend that money here. It’s just going to waste over there.”
So – what should we do about it? What is the right thing to do about it?
I can tell you one thing for certain, that if we simply decide to look away, to say it is a lost cause, people will die. Haitians do not have the resources. Plain and simple. Thankfully, many compassionate people have decided that providing this aid is the right thing to do, even if it is complicated.
What do we value? To me, we have a responsibility – as people who are able – to save lives. In a situation like this, an epic humanitarian crisis, we must have the interest of the most vulnerable in mind, not an unwillingness to work in or with a country that has failed its people.
Though progress is slow, we are rebuilding lives. For its part, World Concern is using the money pledged to rebuild in productive ways. We have provided aid to 100,000 people in the form of some sort of relief supplies or services. We have rebuilt nearly 600 homes and are ready to assemble 500 “home kits.” And, we are restarting small businesses through grants, which total about $150,000 to date.
Without a doubt, Haiti has one of the most messed up governments in the world. And, by World Concern’s estimates, the recovery time needed to rebuild has gone from 3-5 years, to 20.
I wish people could sit with a grandma in Haiti as I have. It makes it so much more real. Instead of reciting the figure that 2 million people are directly affected by the quake, it is much more helpful to recall the individual people we are fighting for. The grandmother, who touches your hand in her miserable situation and prays and believes that she will get through this pain.
Despite Haiti’s troubles, that kind grandma, through no fault of her own, lives in Haiti – and just needs to go to bed at night knowing she won’t be washed away in the storm.
Mohammed, a 21-year-old refugee from Darfur, works in World Concern's Cash for Work program.
Stone by stone, 21-year-old Mohammed builds back a bit of his dignity. The tall, lean young man works with several hundred other refugees in 100 degree heat in Eastern Chad, picking up rocks, and dropping them into rows.
He joins other men, and many women wearing bright traditional dresses, to build these low rock walls on hillsides to reduce erosion.
The task: simple and exhausting. The outcome: dignity and freedom.
What I saw today was amazing. Darfur war refugees had an opportunity to work.
“This I like,” Mohammed tells me in English. “I buy clothes. I eat. It’s for my family.”
Mohammed left his home in Darfur, Sudan, seven years ago. He says Janjaweed rebels killed his father and many other family members, shooting rocket propelled grenades into his village.
Since he fled, he’s been living near Goz Beida, Chad. He’s in one of several camps here. In spite of his current life, he does not want to return to Sudan. All told, more than 400,000 people are refugees or internally displaced in Chad.
Because Mohammed and thousands of others are not at home, they have seen that finding work is an incredible challenge. Because they can’t work, they can’t provide for their families beyond what they are given.
World Concern’s program, called Cash For Work, allows them to earn an income, giving them some financial freedom again, while also improving their environment.
The low walls, called bunds, slow the rain runoff down hillsides. This encourages water to soak into the ground, raising the water table. Within a year, it will be a good place for farming and a better place to drill a well.
The influx of refugees has exacted a toll on the local environment, as they have torn down trees to burn for firewood. The rock walls – and tree replanting – are helping to heal the land.
For Mohammed, he treasures each opportunity to earn money. He enjoys learning, and says he likes America. His future remains uncertain, but he now has more of a chance to direct it on his own terms.
Carle in front of his home of 29 years, which was recently repaired by World Concern.
At first glance, this photo could be looked over quickly as one of the many that come through my inbox or are stored in our overflowing archives of photos from Haiti taken since January 12. But this one came with a story, and it really puts a face and a name on the long term effects of this disaster.
Carle is just one man among the millions who have had their lives rocked by trauma. He and his wife have lived in this house for 29 years. They raised all seven of their children here. Their home was recently repaired by World Concern through our donors’ contributions. It turns out, this essential act provided the foundation for stability he desperately needed.
Carle was working down the road when the earthquake hit. As buildings crumbled around him, he started running towards home. His house was severely damaged, but still standing. His neighbors’ home had collapsed, trapping its occupants inside. Carle worked frantically to rescue his neighbors, but by the time he was able to reach them, most of them had died. The memory of their corpses led to post traumatic stress, which Carle attempted to quell by drinking.
Having his roof replaced and cracked walls repaired not only provided practical help, it helped soothe his emotional wounds and was the starting point for his healing.
Carle told our staff members in Haiti that he hopes God would bless his children with work and that God would continue to move in his country. He also wanted to thank everyone, from the donors to the laborers who helped him remove the rubble from this home and brought, “help from above.”
“He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” Psalm 147:3
This woman is named Awal. She opened a new restaurant and has already seen $30 in profit in 12 days.
This is a story straight from a poor village in South Sudan. World Concern President David Eller is visiting Sudan right now, checking out how we are equipping the local people to learn skills and live better lives.
On Wednesday we drove out to one of our field locations about two hours away on a dirt road. There were military checkpoints along the way. At one such stop our Sudan Country Director, Peter Macharia, had to get out and talk for a while before we were allowed to continue.
This is a newly created town with many people settling there that have fled violence in other parts of the state. Florence is one of our field officers and started working with a women’s group there in December. They met twice a week for two months to learn skills in cooking, baking, yogurt making, grain grinding, hygiene, life, business and biblical values.
One of the women involved in the group, Arek, was pregnant during the training but she did not want to miss any of it. She would lay on a mat at the back of the group to listen and learn. The baby was born between classes and she was at the next class with the baby in her lap.
The group calls themselves Pundak which means doubting the government. They went to the government for help and received none. Now that World Concern has come and their situations have changed, they have talked of changing their name.
Each day they bake rolls in a new charcoal oven they bought from profits, which does a better job than the brick oven they used to use. They sell a bag of ten fresh rolls in the market for $2. When we arrived they were finishing a batch of rolls. Nothing like bread fresh from the oven-the rolls were warm and tasty. They also make 40 liters of yogurt a day to sell in the market. They have built a restaurant out of tin sheets to start a lunch time business and catering services.
Awal is another group member who has a difficult past. She has five children and her husband has moved to Juba, abandoning the family with no support. She could only afford to send one child to school so she sent her young son, Aken. School costs $10 a year plus a $10 uniform and writing materials fee. Awal said she was very miserable.
After joining the women’s group and receiving training she became the lead baker for the group. With her share of the group profits (30% of sales) she has been able to care for her family and has sent her older daughter Abuk to school for the first time.
Awal opened a restaurant of her own in the market just 12 days ago. It is built from wood poles covered in plastic tarps with a hard dirt floor. There is a cooking area up front and a customer seating area in back where she serves local dishes and fresh bread. In her first 12 days of operations she has made a $30 profit. I was very impressed that she knew her profitability. It is not an easy concept, but she said she was well trained by Florence to keep track of profits.
Awal is a great example of a life being transformed. She, and others like her, are the reason God has called us to this ministry.
This oven looks a little homely, but works great as a tool this woman uses for her baking business.A woman learning business skills had this baby and was back in the next class because she didn't want to miss out.The building in the background is a newly built restaurant, opened by village women.
Three people are needed to open the three padlocks on this savings box, ensuring accountability.
I received the message below from a dusty village in South Sudan. It’s from World Concern President David Eller, who is there visiting the people we serve.
He’s seeing how their lives are changing as they save money, grow businesses, and plan for their futures.
Talk about accountability … it’s fascinating to see how the savings group ensures everyone is playing fairly.
Here’s Dave’s post:
I started the day in Juba, Sudan half way to Wau from Nairobi. The airport was a chaotic crush of people with about four times as many people in the small ticketing area as the space should hold. By pressing through the crowds, Diane Bricker (Africa area director) and I got checked into the 90 minute UN flight to Wau.
When we arrived in Wau, we sat with Peter Macharia, the Sudan country director, and some of the program staff at the office. We reviewed pressing issues and decisions before leaving to visit a project site.
We met a savings group under two trees in an area on the edge of town. The area under the trees was hard packed dirt, as this is a common meeting place. This area is where many people fleeing conflict in their home villages have resettled. The homes are made of mud brick walls with tall grass thatched roofs.
We met outside, as the staff thought that it would be too hot inside the mud walled church where they usually meet. For us outsiders, temperatures in the 90s are hot; here, it is a cool time of year.
The World Concern-guided savings group called Piir Path, which means “Good Life,” was seated on benches and plastic chairs. One group member pulled their metal savings box out of a burlap bag and set it on the ground in the middle of the group. The box had three pad locked latches on it. In front of the whole group, the three key holders unlocked the cash box. This is how the group assures that no one can have access to their money without the whole group being present.
Once the box is open they counted the cash in front of the group to affirm it had not changed since last week’s meeting. This day they collected the one dollar a week agreed on savings from each member. When the collection was done the group secretary did his math calculations drawing in the dirt at his feet. If someone is absent they must send with another or face a 30 cent fine. The group had roughly $200 cash. Twice a month they make decisions about loans to group members from their savings. They make one-month loans of around $35, on average.
A testimony was given about how the savings program seems slow at first but can really make a difference over time. Ahok made the statement: “World Concern has never lied to us. They speak the truth and it leads to good ends.” This was very satisfying to for me to hear.
One of the goals in field visits is to determine how we are caring for the poor. Unsolicited statements such as this tell me the staff is connected and caring for those God has called us to serve.
Sudanese villagers do quick calculations in the dirt.Villagers in Sudan meet to give loans to the next business owner, and check on the progress of the savings.
Neighbors in Haiti work for World Concern clearing rubble.
We all have places we’d rather avoid – things we’d rather not look at: the attic filled with rubbish that needs to be purged, that far corner of the yard that’s overgrown with weeds, or the part of the city that makes us cringe, where society’s outcasts sleep on benches.
World Concern is now expanding its humanitarian reach into Fort National – one of the hardest hit neighborhoods during the quake – to begin rebuilding and repairing homes. It is one of those neighborhoods yet to see significant aid.
The rubble in this area has been a virtual tomb for hundreds of bodies. As we’re uncovering debris, we see Haitian workers overcome with the sights and smells. Our disaster relief director, Merry Fitzpatrick, says, “they appear almost drunk” as they stagger from the stench.
The pain is far from over here, but we see the importance of moving into the Fort National community. As we make progress, those in homeless camps can return home.
We’ve already helped more than 300 families move back into their newly repaired homes in the nearby Delmas neighborhood. In the meantime, 500 kit homes have arrived in Haiti – and assembly begins in the coming days. After that, we plan to build an additional 500 homes with local materials. Neighbors are working side by side to rebuild their own neighborhoods, providing a sense of tangible recovery.
“Leaders are stepping up into their roles and communities are banding together,” Merry says. “There is evidence of hope all around.”
Yet with all of this progress, the dark cloud of hurricane season looms on the horizon. Haiti was spared from major hurricanes last season, but forecasters, such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, have predicted a highly active season, which officially began on June 1.
Several major Category 3 or above storms are predicted before the end of hurricane season in November. Nature has created a deadline of its own for our disaster relief experts to move earthquake victims out from under tarps and into or back into homes before hurricane season peaks in August and September.
We are confident, with your help, we can beat this storm season and make sure as many vulnerable families are safe in homes this summer. We won’t seek to avoid this – but instead – take it head on.
