Tag: humanitarian

Why the world cannot "fix" Haiti in a year

Widzer was homeless after the earthquake, but worked and took full advantage of assistance provided. He sees a future beyond the quake.
Widzer was homeless after the earthquake, but worked and took full advantage of assistance provided. He sees a future beyond the quake.

I am glad that the eyes of the world media are scrutinizing what is happening in Haiti one year after the earthquake. Organizations have been stepping up their game in the last couple of months. Everyone wants to look like they’ve done a lot at the one year mark. After all, more than a billion dollars has been committed. And at one year, people want results.

So one year later – what did the world’s investment in Haiti yield?

If you look across Port-au-Prince right now, you may come to the conclusion that not much constructive has happened. I can see how someone would think that – especially if they are visiting for the first time. The UN says 810,000 people remain homeless. Cholera has killed thousands. Haiti’s displaced live in fraying remains of tent cities, intended to last months, but instead lasting a year … and counting.

In the last year, aid organizations have had mixed success. Some of the newer ones have faced a steep learning curve. More established organizations like World Concern have faced logistical frustrations, with some shipments being delayed in ports for weeks, even months, for example. And every international and domestic aid group must work in the context of Haiti’s supremely challenged government and fragile transportation network.

The fact is, Haiti’s government itself is in flux – with a violently disputed presidential election still unresolved. I expect that the backlash of the election recount will likely send the country into violent protest once again in the coming weeks.

So why am I optimistic about Haiti? Why do I think Haiti has a future – and remains a worthy investment?

I am optimistic because I see positive changes. I am optimistic because I see lives being touched, and even saved.

The good news for you if you have compassion for those who are hurting: you can make a real difference. If you invest in someone’s life in a meaningful way, it changes them.

Most of all, we should continue to invest in Haiti because of this: every human life has meaning. I am a Christian and have read the clear command from God to serve those who are poor and suffering. For believers, it is a spiritual calling.

Let me tell you about a man named Widzer. He lost his daughter in the earthquake, as well as his home and his job. When World Concern met Widzer, he was homeless. We paid him to clear debris in his own community through our Cash for Work program, which uses Haitians to help their own country. Then, we helped Widzer build a temporary shelter for his family of eight.

What Widzer did next was impressive.  He saved some money through Cash for Work and invested in his home – and his wife’s business. She now once again is selling in the market, and Widzer has made his small shelter a home, finishing it with a covered porch, toilet, kitchen and more.

He told me, “When you receive something, you are supposed to build upon it. We added a kitchen, we added a toilet. We added things that would allow us to live together safely and comfortably.”

This story is not perfect, as Widzer remains underemployed. But because we offered him opportunities that provided long-term hope, he began to see life was worth living again. He sees a reason to try – a reason to plan for the future – and that’s often the biggest obstacle.

Something also worth noting is that Widzer remains in his community, instead of in a remote camp. I realize that every situation is different, but World Concern believes that whenever possible, we should keep people close to where they lived before – if not on the same property. We have seen that by doing this, they’ll have a better chance of restarting a job or educating their children.

The good news is that the humanitarian community has touched thousands of people like Widzer, although I do wish there were more like him, one year in.

As for numbers, we have measurable results. Let me be clear: I can only speak for World Concern. Here are a few ways we’ve helped thousands of people in Haiti restart their lives since the earthquake:

  • 100,000 people received disaster assistance
  • 7,091 Haitians employed through Cash for Work program
  • 1,284 houses have been repaired for Haitian families
  • 530 transitional shelters have been constructed
  • 989 livelihood grants were given out, getting Haitian business owners back to work

To achieve these figures, it took an incredible amount of work. And even when you consider World Concern with all of the other assistance, there is likely much more left to do – than what has been done already. And that’s where it is helpful to look at a fuller picture.

Consider this:

1. This was a catastrophic disaster, one of the largest of our time. It killed 230,000 people, and directly affected 3 million people – that’s one out of three people in the country. Even if all of the non-profits and government agencies were working perfectly in the last year, there would still be years of work to do. We anticipate 5-10 years is a conservative estimate to “rebuild” Haiti. And know progress HAS been made. The UN says nearly half of the 1.5 million who were homeless now are off the streets.

2. The goal should not be to “fix” Haiti in a year, or spend all donations in a year. The goal should be to make meaningful progress toward a Haiti that is equipped to take care of itself. The best life-changing assistance is long-term community development, not dropping food rations off of the back of a truck (though there is a time and place for that). In order to positively affect someone’s life in a meaningful way, to empower them to be educated, to have a safe place to live, to have some reason to go on – it often takes years of relationship. This is not instant gratification, and it is not for the faint of heart.

3. Don’t paint a broad brush stroke as to the effectiveness of humanitarian agencies. Check them out. Do your research.

The reality is, one year out, Haiti remains of the edge. About a million people. They are real people like Widzer. I hope the media continues its scrutiny. At minimum, it means Haiti will not be forgotten. While we cannot “fix” Haiti in a year, we can make progress. World Concern is one part of this – and you are too. Together we can be committed to helping people long term – one life, one family – at a time.

For more information about what World Concern has done in the first year since the earthquake, check out: http://www.haitioneyear.org

Derek Sciba is writing this from Haiti. For media inquiries, call 206-713-5564 or email dereks@worldconcern.org.

Election Violence Halts Haiti Cholera Response

11 months after the devastating earthquake, cholera, homelessness and now violence hinder recovery.

As if Haiti needed more pain.

World Concern and nearly all other humanitarian relief organizations cannot respond to the rapidly expanding cholera epidemic.

For a second day, violent protests about the fraud-riddled election have taken over Port au Prince and have prevented World Concern staff from working to stop cholera’s spread, and rebuild the lives of Haiti’s homeless earthquake victims.

Since Tuesday night, people have been rioting in the streets of the capital city, and in other cities across the country. In many neighborhoods of Port au Prince, burning tires, makeshift barricades – and even toilets – block traffic.

Here are excerpts from an interview with Christon Domond, World Concern Haiti country director:

The chaos sparked by the election

“The office is closed. All businesses are closed. There is so much violence not only in Port au Prince but all over in Haiti. With the demonstrations that we have in all districts, we can expect cholera to spread quickly. In Jacmel, they have received a lot of cases of cholera. We could expect a large spread of cholera.”

“My staff can do nothing, because there is no possibility to go out. Those who try to go out, they cannot go. We need the leaders to talk to the population and get back into their homes.”

“Toilets have been moved out of camps and have been moved into the street as barricades. Thousands will be contaminated by cholera.”

What we can – and need to do (once it’s safe to go out)

“We need to mount an aggressive strategy to reach these people. We need people to go to their homes, to their churches, with this message.”

“We give them soap, water bottles, water treatment. Oral rehydration. Otherwise, we will have a lot of deaths. Our strategy is to reach local leaders, churches, and to mobilize the Christian community. They are going out to share the message. We can talk with them, walk with them.

“We can – we have to – make a difference. There is no other way. I like a challenge. Thank you for your support. Thank you for praying for Haiti and our staff.”

What we’ve accomplished so far

“My staff has done prevention activities with all projects. HIV and AIDS. They were able to come and be trained about cholera prevention. We have reached 5,000 people in Port au Prince.”

“We have equipped pastors and trained them how to reach their communities. In the Southeast office, they have printed t-shirts with a cholera message, and posters. But now there are demonstrations everywhere.”

Here’s how to help.


Haiti's Hurricane Tomas – 10,000 More Homeless

The worst impact from Hurricane Tomas appears to be focused on Southern Haiti, where World Concern helps farmers and schools. World Concern country director Christon Domond says about 10,000 people have fled their homes – or in many cases – tents.

Humanitarian organization World Concern has tarps and 2,000 hygiene kits in place in southern Haiti, which will go to those most affected by the storm. Another 1,000 kits are ready in Port au Prince. (You can donate to help with this.)

In the past few days, Haiti’s government has been telling people to get out of high-risk areas in Haiti, including low-lying camps for the homeless. They’ve uses text messaging and megaphones to get the message out. What’s so frustrating: the people at greatest risk have nowhere to go.

I spoke with Jillian Thorp today, our emergency program support manager, and she said it was heartbreaking to see that there were no good options for these families.

“They are saying, ‘If I had friends or family with houses intact, I would already be there. I wouldn’t be in a tent,’” Jillian said.

Haiti’s hurricane season was supposed to end 5 days ago. Someone – tell the weathr to pay attention to the calendar!

Understandably, these thousands of poor families are weary after living for almost a year homeless after the earthquake. Though Haitians are resilient, they are only human.

“People are tired,” Jillian said. “ They are exhausted at having to fend for themselves and to survive, and to always be in that survival mode. Not knowing what lies ahead is exhausting.”

This hurricane has caused a lot of flooding and devastating muslides already, and as the rain continues to fall, it will get worse.

We hope and pray this is the worst storm that Haiti earthquake survivors will have to endure this year.

Learn more about our response.

Help us respond with tarps and hygiene kits.

Water: It's not just for drinking

Reading the riveting accounts of the Chilean miners’ ordeal this week, I came across a story that described how they survived the first 17 days before contact was established with the world above ground. Not only did they have to ration tiny amounts of food, but they drank water that trickled through the mine from an underground spring. The water, they said, was oily and had a foul taste. But they knew they had to drink it to survive.

Dirty water in Chad.
Dirty water in Chad.

People around the world are forced to make this same decision every day: Drink the dirty water that’s available, or die from dehydration. Unfortunately, when they do this, people often become sick from the water, contracting diarrheal disease or parasites, which also result in dehydration and even malnutrition. The cycle worsens when their fragile immune systems make them more vulnerable to other diseases.

When I think of water as it relates to health, I think mostly of thirst and dehydration. But having clean water to drink is only one aspect of how water contributes to health. Being able to wash your body, your clothes, and go to the bathroom someplace other than a field or stream, are vital to good health.

When I used to bathe my children when they were young, I thought of it more as a comfort than a necessity for health. Sure, a mother knows keeping her child clean is important, but bath time was usually more about making sure they smelled and looked decent after a day of being toddlers. I’ve always appreciated being able to wash away the day in the shower or bath, and start the next day fresh and clean.

women in Kenya gather water
Women in Kenya gather water.

For many moms around the world, this luxury is not available. Dirty children are often sick children. In poor villages in Africa, touching a contaminated surface or the face of an infected person, then touching your eye can actually lead to blindness as diseases like trachoma are spread this way.

In crowded conditions (i.e. most homes around the world), skin diseases like scabies spread easily from sharing unwashed clothing and bedding. The incessant itching can lead to open sores and dangerous infection. Kids are not allowed to attend school for being too dirty, or displaying the symptoms of scabies. This creates another huge problem—kids not being educated—all because of lack of water.

When I first learned about World Concern distributing bars of soap to refugees living in crowded camps in Chad, I thought, oh that’s nice. Now they won’t smell bad. But running water and a bar of soap are much more than that; they are the solution to stopping the spread of many communicable diseases. The people there use the bars of soap to wash clothes and bathe with. And their overall health is improved. We also teach them the basics of hygiene, like hand washing and using a latrine. It’s amazing how many of them don’t know why this is important.

Since I started working at World Concern, I have become acutely aware of the blessing of taking a shower. I never take that warm, running water for granted, and I want so much to ensure that moms like me around the world have a way to bathe their children at night, making them smell good, and protecting their lives.

To learn more about World Concern’s water programs and get involved, visit www.worldconcern.org/water.

Tornado-Like Haiti Storm Kills 5

A serious tornado-like storm tore through Port-au-Prince Friday night, killing five people, injuring 50, and ripping nearly 6,000 emergency tents to shreds, according to Reuters. World Concern Haiti emergency coordinator Alfred Mondiwa says makeshift shelters “were just overwhelmed and destroyed by the storm.”

Storms spell trouble for the more than 1 million left homeless from the Haiti earthquake. (2-27-10 REUTERS/Carlos Barria - www.alertnet.org)

“It was pretty scary,” said Mondiwa. “It came so unexpectedly. We had not heard any forecast for this.”

Mondiwa is assessing the damage and expects that World Concern will give tarps to families whose shelters were destroyed in the next few days. In addition, World Concern may provide other humanitarian aid for families, depending on need.

“We may give other items, like bedding, pots and pans, clothing,” said Nick Archer, senior director of disaster response. “We’re going to assess the damage and respond as needed.”

In the meantime, construction of semi-permanent transitional shelters will continue on Monday. Mondiwa expects that Haitian work crews will be able resume repairing damaged homes and building sturdy transitional shelters as they have been for the last several months.

The transitional shelters, built from metal, brick and plastic sheeting, are designed to last for 3-5 years or longer. So far, World Concern has built or repaired about 800 homes since the Jan. 12 earthquake.

The Atlantic hurricane season lasts through November, according to the National Weather Service. Most years, Haiti is hit by at least one hurricane. In 2008, Haitians endured three hurricanes and a strong tropical storm.

To learn more or donate to World Concern’s response in Haiti, visit www.worldconcern.org/haiti-earthquake

Why We Won’t Give Up On Haiti

A Haitian grandmother outside her tent.
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.

Read more about what we’re doing now in this Reuters article.

Learn more and join our response.

Repairing broken walls—healing broken lives

Carle in Haiti
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

Like Doublemint Gum, Except Bad

It is too common for children to see child labor in Chad. The country has an overall literacy rate of 26%.

You know the old commercials for Doublemint gum? Two unusually beautiful twin sisters or brothers pop out from behind a cabana, or do a spread-eagle on a ski slope, grinning with their white teeth and minty fresh breath? Double your pleasure, double your fun? I had a realization like that today, except less minty.

So I’m in Chad right now. Some have called it the “Dead Heart of Africa.” Don’t read into it, other than it’s in the middle of Africa. I’m in Ndjamena, the capitol, and will catch a UN flight in the morning to World Concern’s project area in refugee camps on the far eastern part of the country, near Sudan. That’s where the Darfur war has been going on.

I’ve been researching some basic data on the country to prepare for this trip, and I found:

  • One in 10 children die before the age of five here.
  • 62% of people are in extreme poverty, making less than $1.25 a day
  • Only one in four people can read and write

Pretty mind-boggling stuff, right? And then I realized that where we’re working, these figures are generous.

Jane Gunningham, who helped start our humanitarian relief work in eastern Chad, tells me illiteracy there is more than double the country average. She said:

“Literacy in the eastern zone is about 10%. Virtually no women are literate in the east.”

And as for incomes, also worse than the country average. But perhaps the most startling, is that instead of one in 10 children dying before the age of five, it’s one in five kids. Double the number of child deaths.

Really? I wish it was not true. It’s tough enough here. It’s no wonder, though. Introduce a war that impacts families already living on the edge, sending 400,000 refugees or displaced people to camp within Chad, and it should be no surprise these figures are far worse.

There is a ray of hope, though, as I prepare to fly out in the morning to see the camps. Jane says the work we’re doing, is making a real and noticeable difference. Whether it is help with farming, with temporary employment doing community service, or it is in small savings and loan groups – these small interventions bring big results.

“The whole economy across the board is struggling to get by,” Jane told me. “It takes only a small input to increase a family’s survivability.”

I’m looking forward to seeing first-hand how this is working.

Learn more and take action: www.worldconcern.org/darfurcrisis

Documenting Darfur War Refugees

World Concern's Derek Sciba is traveling to Chad to visit refugee camps.

Ever since I have worked at World Concern, I have seen the photos and heard the stories about Goz Beida. It’s a small town in Eastern Chad that grew from about 5,000 people to 70,000 people as the Darfur War and associated conflicts. It’s dirty, overcrowded – and the only safe haven thousands of families have experienced since they were chased from their homes by crazy gun-wielding maniacs. They’ve left their farms, they’ve seen their homes and communities burned, they’ve lost loved ones in the violence. Now – they are camping. Camping from now until who-knows-when. Their lives have become upended, and they are trying to see a future in chaos.

World Concern supports these refugees and displaced people with humanitarian aid in a variety of ways. In general, we help ensure thousands of them don’t die from health epidemics and empower them to make money so that they can buy food and provide for their families with dignity.

So that’s why I have the privilege in traveling there right now. Over the next couple of weeks, I will be meeting those who we serve, and seeing the ways their lives have changed since they left their homes. My job is to document what we do in photos and video.

Please let me know what questions you would like answered, as I would love to be your eyes and ears there in the camps.

– Derek Sciba

School Supplies For Darfur War Children

Children in refugee camps in Chad need school supplies.
Children in refugee camps in Chad need school supplies.

Did you ever want to have a direct impact on children in Africa? You can make a big difference right now by donating school supplies. Even used supplies would be great!

As kids around here are going into summer break, World Concern is planning for a big shipment of school supplies to Chad, Africa.

You may have heard about all of the craziness in Chad with news about the ongoing war in the Darfur region of Sudan, which is the country just to the east of Chad. The poor families in this region have been burned out of their homes and chased from their villages by crazy men with guns. These families are ending up in Goz Beida, Chad, where World Concern is playing a key role in keeping these families alive and healthy.

So – here’s what we need. We’re looking for anything relatively small, but especially notebooks, paper, pencils, pens, rulers, scissors, calculators … if you think it would be useful for learning here … it will be a huge hit in Chad.

The main purpose of the shipment has been to send furniture and computers to equip a classroom. But a we’re getting this all together, we’re seeing that there is still a lot of space for these school supplies. We want to fill the container!

If you want to help, drop off or mail your supplies to us here at World Concern in Seattle. It would be good to get it to us by this time next week (June 18), if possible, so that we will have time to sort it out.

Here’s where it should go:

Susan Talbot – Gifts in Kind
World Concern
19303 Fremont Ave. N
Seattle, WA 98133

If you have any questions, feel free to email Susan at susant@worldconcern.org