Shelter from the Storms: How you can help

Port-au-Prince, Haiti

Monday, February 22, 2010

The rains poured down on Haiti last week, inundating an already suffering populace with yet another trial. An estimated 300,000 families lost their homes in Port-au-Prince, forcing about 1 million people on the streets after the January 12 earthquake. Those numbers include the Nazarene family: Reports from church leaders tell Nazarene Compassionate Ministries (NCM) that the homes of more than 1,500 Nazarene members were destroyed.

Some are living on the streets in front of their unsafe or demolished homes. Others have crowded into makeshift camps, with tarps and sheets serving as the most common forms of shelter. Health-care experts say conditions in these crowded tent communities are exacerbating cases of diarrhea, pneumonia, and malaria. When the full brunt of the rainy season begins this spring, those types of illnesses will spread more quickly. Weather is a fresh concern, joining disease, food, security, overcrowding, and other difficulties for the makeshift communities.

The United Nations (UN) has called for a record amount of donations to begin to respond to this disaster. The UN lists shelter as the most urgent need, reporting that "perhaps 20 percent of the city's structures collapsed. And perhaps 80 percent of those still standing suffered serious damage."

What can be done to help?

"Tents are needed for immediate shelter," reports Field Strategy Coordinator Bill Dawson from Haiti. "The rains have started already and nearly every day we get rain somewhere in Port-au-Prince. People are sleeping under draped sheets and cardboard. We have requests for more tents than we could possibly fill."

There is some relief on the horizon, though. In partnership with local Nazarenes and Heart to Heart International, NCM is now working on a third shipment of tents and sleeping bags to Haiti. The tents are being distributed to families and can house up to eight people.

The rebuilding of permanent structures will take time, but 24 volunteer teams are already scheduled to come in 2010 to help with those efforts through the Work & Witness program. The first group will be on the ground at the end of February.

Despite these glimmers of hope and relief, more tents - and teams - are desperately needed. As the international church continues to seek ways to minister to Nazarene brothers and sisters in Haiti, please join the church in prayer. Pray that relief materials be acquired, delivered to Haiti, and distributed wisely. Pray for those suffering loss and fearing for the future, as well as for those seeking to help. Please consider how you may contribute to the relief effort today.

Persons and churches wishing to make a donation for Haiti Earthquake Relief online can do so through Nazarene Compassionate Ministries at ncm.org. Checks can be marked "Haiti Earthquake Relief ACM1204" and mailed to Global Treasury Services, PO Box 843116 Kansas City, MO 64184. In Canada, checks should be made payable and sent to the Church of the Nazarene Canada, 20 Regan Road, Unit 9, Brampton, Ontario L7A 1C3.
--Nazarene Compassionate Ministries (Slideshow available)
 

 

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